Aiden’s POV

The phone lay flat on my desk, screen up, silent as a corpse.

For the hundredth time that morning, I unlocked it, hoping the tiny message icon would finally light up. It didn’t.

No message. No friend request. No Rue.

My thumb hovered over her name again—just in case the system had glitched, or maybe she’d sent a request and withdrawn it. But there was nothing. Empty.

It was ridiculous how much silence could hurt.

She’d always answered before. Always. Even when we fought, ...