I hesitate, my fingers curling into fists at my sides. I’ve never been the type to push myself onto anyone. It’s survival—my way of protecting the parts of me that no one else bothered to. If I don’t ask, if I don’t reach, then I don’t have to face the cold sting of rejection. I know this about myself. It’s carved into my bones.

And calling him after this? After being blocked?

No.

Love is a loaded gun. Hope causes you to hand it over, placing it in his hands. His rejection is what pulls the trigger. And heartbreak is the bullet that never misses.

“I can’t, Vi⁠—”

“Fuck yes, you can. You deserve answers. He owes you that much.”

My hands are shaking as I open my phone and scroll through my contacts. I don’t want to do this. Fuck, I don’t want to do this.

I land on the number for Alex’s office and hesitate for a long moment before pressing the number.

The phone rings once. Twice.

“Thank you for calling Sebring Hotels Corporate Headquarters. This is Courtney. How may I help you today?” Her voice is calm. Familiar. Controlled.

The opposite of me right now.

I straighten, pressing the phone tighter to my ear. “Hi, Courtney? It’s Magnolia. Can you please put me through to Alex?”

There’s a pause, long enough to set every one of my nerves on edge. Her voice shifts to something colder, clipped, distant. “Mr. Sebring isn’t taking your calls.”

My stomach plummets. “I just need to speak with him for a moment.”

“I’m sorry.” She says the words, but there’s no empathy in her voice. “Mr. Sebring has made it very clear. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”

The ground tilts beneath me, sending my world sideways.

“He was quite specific with his directions, Miss Steel. No calls. No messages. No exceptions.” Each of her words is cold as ice.

I’m frozen in place, phone still pressed to my ear, when Violet lunges forward and takes it from me. “Listen up, Courtney.” Her voice is sharp as a blade. “You put his ass on the phone right this fucking minute.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

Violet snaps. “Bull… shit…Courtney.”

“I’m only following his instructions.”

Violet takes a breath, ready to tear Courtney a new asshole, but the call ends before she can get a word in.

“Fuck you, Courtney!” Violet screams at my phone and then throws it on the couch like it’s burned her. “What a bitch.”

Violet mutters a string of curses under her breath, so tangled and furious, it sounds like she might be speaking in tongues.

“That motherfucker.”

I’m quiet because I’m at a loss for words.

Alex broke my heart and threw up a wall between us so I couldn’t reach out to him.