Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed novel Chapter 38

Murray was enjoying a candlelit dinner with Millie at an upscale steakhouse when his phone buzzed with a message. His face darkened instantly.

Seeing the sudden change in Murray's demeanor, Millie asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

Murray held his breath, not making a sound, then replied to the message tersely. [None of my business.]

On the other end, Corley couldn't help but smirk with a knowing look as he texted back, [Looks like it's truly over between you and Roseanne, huh?]

Murray glanced at the message and clenched his jaw, but his reply was indifferent. [Yeah, so? Got a problem with that?]

Corley responded with a surrendering emoji, [No, wouldn't dare to have an opinion.]

Then he added, [So, you wouldn't mind if someone else starts chasing Roseanne?]

York interrupted out of nowhere, [What's the deal? You're after her now?]

Corley's reply was a cheeky GIF that said, 'Oh yeah.'

Cliff burst into laughter. [Hahaha, that's rich!]

York added, [You've got guts, man.]

No one took it seriously.

Murray saw the GIF but didn't care, typing back, [Sure, go ahead and chase her.]

Corley put away his phone, satisfied. He wondered if Murray would regret it later.

...

Millie smiled. "Babe, thank you for making my birthday the happiest yet."

It was 9 PM when Murray dropped Millie off at her dorm.

The honk of a horn snapped him back to reality as the traffic light turned green. He accelerated away. Arriving at the bar, Murray tossed the keys to the valet and went inside, a regular among regulars.

"Where's Corley?" he asked the manager, who greeted him promptly.

"They're upstairs in the VIP lounge," the manager replied.

Ignoring the manager's eagerness to please, Murray headed straight for the stairs.

Inside the VIP lounge, the group was drunk, their laughter and conversations slurred.

Murray scanned the room. Roseanne was absent, but Corley was relatively sober.

"What are you doing here?" Corley looked surprised, "Weren't you with your girlfriend?"

"Just dropped her off at her place," Murray replied indifferently, then found a seat among the group.