Jordan’s thumb hovered over the YES button.

He hesitated.

The restriction list floated in his vision. Target must initiate all escalation. User must not pursue actively. User must not lie about relationship status. Existing relationships must not be compromised.

The System wasn’t asking him to be cruel.

It was asking him to be himself. The new himself. The version that had two girlfriends and a business and a body he’d actually earned. The version that could sit across from Eliza Hartwell and feel nothing.

If Eliza wanted to chase that version of him, that was her choice.

If Eliza wanted to throw away her relationship with Cameron to pursue someone who no longer wanted her, that was her choice.

If Eliza wanted to sleep with him hoping it would lead somewhere and discovered afterward that it wouldn’t, that was a lesson she probably needed to learn.

The System Note had called it therapeutic intervention.

Jordan wasn’t sure he agreed with that framing.

But he also wasn’t sure he disagreed.

He pressed YES.

✨ QUEST ACCEPTED ✨

"Bitch Breaker" is now active!

Time Remaining: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes

Current Progress: 0/5 objectives complete

Target Status: Eliza Hartwell

Attraction Level: 34% (↑12% from baseline)

Note: Target’s attraction has increased significantly following today’s interaction. Indifference is proving effective. Continue current strategy.

Good luck, User. Try not to enjoy this too much.

(You’re definitely going to enjoy this too much.)

Jordan locked his phone and stood up from the toilet.

His reflection in the bathroom mirror showed someone he barely recognized from three weeks ago. Broader shoulders. Sharper jaw. Eyes that held something besides desperation and self-loathing.

The old Jordan would have agonized over this decision. He would have drafted mental paragraphs justifying why revenge was morally wrong. He would have convinced himself that Eliza deserved understanding and forgiveness and a second chance she absolutely had not earned.

The new Jordan understood something the old version never could.

Some people only learned through experience.

Some lessons only stuck when they hurt.

And some bitches needed breaking.

Jordan walked back out to the gym floor.

Kyle and Leo were exactly where he’d left them. Kyle had resumed his assault on the heavy bag, each punch connecting with the kind of controlled violence that came from years of proper training. His form was textbook perfect—rotation from the hips, shoulder drive, exhale on impact. Leo had returned to his phone, thumb scrolling with the dedication of someone training for an Olympic event in social media consumption. The contrast would have been funny if it wasn’t so perfectly predictable.

"Everything okay?" Kyle paused mid-combination. His hands stayed up in guard position even when he wasn’t actively punching. Good habits died hard. "You were in there a while."

"Fine." Jordan started stretching his arms, reaching across his chest and pulling with the opposite hand. The bathroom interlude had given his muscles time to cool down, which meant he needed to warm up again before Maya inevitably appeared to beat him senseless. His shoulders protested slightly. He ignored them. "Just some notifications I needed to handle."

"Anything important?"

Jordan thought about the fifteen thousand dollars. The fifty quest tickets. The Platinum Gacha access that was apparently valuable enough to warrant multiple exclamation points from the System. The trait upgrade that would make him even better at doing exactly what the quest required—turning Eliza into someone who wanted him, then walking away when she did.

"Business stuff." He wasn’t lying. This was business. The System had made it transactional. "Nothing that can’t wait."

Leo looked up from his phone.

"So what’d you think about my plan? The whole make-her-fall-for-you-then-reject-her thing?"

"I think you watch too much anime."

"That’s not a no."

"It’s not a yes either." Jordan dropped into a lunge. His hip flexors protested the stretch, that particular tightness that came from sitting too much and moving too little for too many months. He pushed deeper into it anyway. "I’m not going to chase Eliza. I’m not going to pursue her. If she wants to keep showing up in low-cut tops hoping I’ll notice, that’s her problem. Not mine."

Kyle nodded slowly. His expression suggested approval, the kind that came from watching someone finally make a decision that didn’t involve self-destruction.

"Good. That’s the right approach. Don’t give her anything to work with. No reactions, no acknowledgment, nothing. You’re a wall."

"Exactly."

Leo made a disappointed sound. The noise carried the particular quality of someone who had been promised entertainment and received none.

"You’re no fun. This is the perfect revenge opportunity and you’re just going to let it pass? You could have her begging. You could have her actually losing sleep over you. And you’re choosing to do nothing?"

"I’m not letting anything pass." Jordan switched legs. "I’m just not doing anything. There’s a difference."

"The difference is boring."

"The difference is strategic." Kyle’s voice carried the weight of someone who had thought about these things more than Leo ever would. "If Jordan pursues her, he looks desperate. If Jordan ignores her, she has to come to him. And coming to him means admitting she was wrong. It means acknowledging that she made a mistake. That’s worse than any revenge scheme you could cook up."

Leo considered this.

"Okay but what if she does come to him? What if she actually throws herself at him? What then?"

Jordan stood up from his stretch.

"Then I guess we’ll find out what happens."

The gym door opened.

Maya Santos walked in.

She was wearing her usual training gear. Black compression shorts that ended mid-thigh. A dark sports bra that left her defined abs fully visible. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail that swung with each step. Her olive skin gleamed with the thin layer of sweat that suggested she’d already been running before arriving.

Every male head in the gym turned to track her movement.

Maya ignored them all.

Her eyes found Jordan immediately, and something in her expression suggested she had plans for him that would leave bruises in places he didn’t know could bruise.

"McKnight." Her voice carried across the gym floor with the authority of someone who had never been ignored in her life. "You’re late."

"I’m three minutes early."

"For you, that’s late." Maya jerked her head toward the ring. "Get wrapped. We’re working clinch work today."