Rebirth: Love me Again

[

BONUS

Chapter

for reaching 200 GT! Thank you all!🤍 ]

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[EVE]

"So . . . this is the

emergency

you mentioned?" I asked, staring at the restaurant where Riri had summoned me like it was a life-or-death situation.

Riri clasped her hands together as if she were about to pray to me. "Please, Eve, just this once! Come with me to a mixer!"

I raised an eyebrow, my expression deadpan. "This is your emergency? You called me, huffing and puffing like you were on fire, and rushed me here for this?"

"It

is

an emergency!" Riri exclaimed, nodding so vigorously her glasses almost slipped off her nose. "This is my chance, Eve. My one chance to finally have a love life!"

I blinked, torn between frustration and amusement. "A love life is your

emergency

?"

"YES!" She pointed dramatically at the restaurant like it was some sacred battlefield. "It might not sound threatening, but this is serious! This could be my last shot before Christmas!"

I folded my arms and gave her a skeptical look. "I’m not following."

Riri sighed dramatically, looking as if she were about to bare her soul. "Look, Eve, I’m not . . . exactly a ’love at first sight’ kind of gal, but I think you already know that? I don’t have your looks, your elegance, or your whole

mysterious charm

thing going on. Guys don’t just fall for me. I have to work for it!"

"Riri, come on," I said, trying to sound reassuring. "What matters is what’s on the inside. A guy who’s worth it will see how cool and fun you are."

For a moment, her eyes sparkled with gratitude. Then she snorted. "Yeah, right. Maybe I’d believe you if

you

weren’t drop-dead gorgeous, Eve. But you are. So, no offense, your pep talks don’t really help."

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. She had me there.

"And besides," Riri continued, straightening her posture as if delivering some profound truth, "nobody likes

your

personality at first sight either."

"Wha—what’s that supposed to mean?!" I sputtered.

"It’s true, isn’t it?" she shot back with a sly grin. "You’re cold, aloof, and intimidating. But somehow, it works for you. Me? I need a whole strategy!"

"Well . . . ," I stammered, unsure whether to defend myself or agree. "I—I’m not

that

bad . . ."

"Please, Eve!" she pleaded, grabbing my hands and giving me her best puppy-dog eyes. Enjoy exclusive content from empire

"Why me, though? Out of everyone you know?" I asked, trying to dodge the obvious trap.

Riri huffed like I’d asked the dumbest question in the world. "Because you’re single, you’re my friend, and I’m desperate! We’re short one person for the mixer. If we can’t balance the numbers, the whole thing’s off, and I’ll die alone!"

"Riri—"

"Think about it, Eve!" she interrupted, throwing in a dramatic flair that would’ve earned her an award in theater. "Good-looking guys! Rich families! Respectable careers! They’re like rare Pokémon, and we need you to catch them!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, already regretting my decision to answer her call. "You’re being ridiculous."

Her hands flew to my shoulders. "Christmas is around the corner! My family reunion is coming up, and if I don’t show up with a date, I’m going to be the laughingstock of my entire extended family! Do you know how humiliating it was to go dateless to the school Christmas festival?

"This is my last shot, Eve. My last shot! Before graduation I have to have a boyfriend! I don’t want to be immortalized in the yearbook as the

only

one who graduated with a perfect record of zero boyfriends! It’s not a Hall of Fame, Eve—it’s a Hall of Shame!"

I sighed, glancing at the restaurant again. It was already too late to walk away, and frankly, the idea of sitting through this chaos seemed easier than dealing with her dramatic outbursts.

"Fine," I relented, throwing up my hands. "I’ll do it. But only to even out the numbers—and that’s it. No promises about actually socializing."

Riri’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You’re the best, Eve! I owe you big time!"

I rolled my eyes as she dragged me toward the entrance. "Let’s just get this over with before I change my mind."

As we stepped inside, I glanced around, half-expecting Cole, to materialize out of thin air and glare Riri into killing herself for dragging me here.

Thankfully, he was busy with some business meeting, but I knew my ever-present bodyguards weren’t far behind.

Let’s just get this over with.

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[COLE]

Cole was buried in a mountain of paperwork, the result of days spent chasing after Eve instead of focusing on their businesses.

The meeting room buzzed with a heavy silence as executives shuffled nervously in their seats, avoiding eye contact with the stoic man at the head of the table.

Then, his phone rang.

The sound echoed in the room like a gunshot, slicing through the quiet tension. No one flinched. No one dared breathe. This was

Cole Fay

, after all—the heir of the Fay legacy, as famously overbearing and unapproachable as his father.

It was an unspoken rule: questioning him was a shortcut to a pink slip.

Without a word, Cole leaned back in his chair and casually picked up the call. His voice was low and calm.

"What?" he said curtly, rising from his seat. "A

MIXER

?!"

The executives stiffened in unison, their postures so rigid it seemed as though they might snap in half. A wave of cold dread swept through the room, and one brave soul glanced at the clock, silently praying the meeting was over.

As Cole paced toward the window, phone in hand, the room became a collective performance of "pretend I’m invisible."

Papers were shuffled unnecessarily, pens scratched blank notebooks, and one poor intern even started typing on a dead laptop, desperate to seem busy.

Cole’s sharp, clipped responses carried across the room, his tone growing icier with each word. "I’ll be there."

Someone audibly gulped.

By the time he ended the call, Cole turned back to the table, his piercing gaze sweeping across the room. Everyone froze like deer caught in headlights, terrified to draw his attention.

"Meeting postpones," he said simply, and exited the door in a hurry.

Everyone in the room collectively sighed in relief.