In the hallway, Myles pulled the door closed and then whispered, “Do you honestly think Cole’s going to write anything that sappy?”

Paulina shifted awkwardly, lost for an answer. Anyone with sense would bet against it. Writing something like that just wasn’t in Cole’s nature. Still, Elliana had always been his exception. Predicting what he might do for her was impossible.

“I think I’ve really messed up this time!” Myles grabbed his chest, his voice shaking. “If Cole follows my advice and churns out some embarrassing nonsense for Elliana—and she ends up laughing in his face—am I dead meat?”

Paulina’s sharp glare landed on him. “No one told you to hand out terrible advice. You brought this on yourself.”

Regret took hold of Myles. “It just slipped out! How was I supposed to know Cole would take it seriously?”

A laugh slipped from Paulina. “Well, consider it a lesson learned the hard way. Good luck!” With a smirk, she walked away.

Myles lingered a moment, scratching his head in regret before trailing after her, nerves jangling.

Back inside, Cole picked up Myles’s stack of love letters again and began poring over them line by line, forcing himself to absorb every clumsy metaphor and cringe-worthy phrase. The task left him squirming, but he persisted, determined to understand the strange essence of over-the-top romance.

Not that there was any real art to it—every word made him wince! Copying someone else’s lines felt pathetic. He couldn’t imagine using recycled confessions from strangers to win Elliana over.

Pulling lines off the internet was out, too. Elliana was sharp enough to catch a fraud from a mile away. If he tried anything phony, she’d call him out for being insincere on top of everything else.

Only one option remained—he would have to invent his own ridiculous, heartfelt lines from scratch, all for the chance to make Elliana smile.

: g?ν

Cole, a man of eloquence who could usually compose a masterpiece with a single flourish of his pen, found himself completely stumped by a new challenge—crafting cheesy romantic lines.

All afternoon, he’d barricaded himself in the study—writing, crumpling the paper, and restarting in a maddening loop. He had wracked his brain to the point of exhaustion, yet he hadn’t produced a single satisfying sentence.

By the end of the day, crumpled papers littered the carpet, nearly swallowing the floor.

A golden sunset painted the windows, but Cole barely noticed. He sat at his desk, staring down a fresh sheet of paper as if it were his greatest adversary. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to push away the headache that had been brewing for hours.

He finally had to admit it. Sappy declarations of love were his ultimate weakness. He couldn’t find the magic spot between sweet, ridiculous, and genuinely moving—no matter how hard he tried.

A soft creak broke the silence. The study door inched open.

Elliana’s curious face appeared in the doorway. Her eyes widened as she took in the disaster zone around Cole. The room looked like a cyclone had passed through.

.

.

.