Ryan woke up with a pounding headache. He hadn’t been able to sleep properly all night. He had called Serena multiple times after returning from Kate’s house, but she didn’t pick up any of his calls. Each ring that went unanswered only fueled his frustration. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his face. “Why won’t she just answer?” he muttered to himself, staring at his phone screen. A dozen missed calls and no response. Dragging himself out of bed, he freshened up, took a quick shower, and got dressed for work. Today, he had two meetings lined up in the morning, and his plan was simple—get through them as fast as possible and head straight to Rocky’s Design to see Serena. “Maybe she’s just playing hard to get,” he mumbled to himself as he adjusted his tie in front of the mirror. Bu

