icon 0
icon TOP UP
rightIcon
icon Reading History
rightIcon
icon Sign out
rightIcon
icon Get the APP
rightIcon

Reserved For Me

Chapter 5 The Umbrella He Didn't Open

Word Count: 1333    |    Released on: 14/07/2026

. Of

ill at the

hts wer

's screen

ne had

a left

els left

eaners came

st her an

dn't lo

lew across th

had 4 more pha

uldn't

she'd think ab

is glas

his voice said

e typ

eard the sound of

ll didn'

stoo

s suitcase wheels

his things

ontrolled he was

rd him

he thought he'd

still

ing ho

idn'

r clicked open

o minutes, then sh

ack h

es bur

ach was

bag and walked t

it through th

aining h

ed roads into rive

against the

heart d

checked the

e exit door o

hit her

ed her skin

lla. No

louse and

alking to the

ver her head lik

when she

de

the small awnin

tcase in

ella in th

t gettin

ne dr

lready l

opped w

r hair, her clothes, h

lanced

aw h

met for hal

n't pa

fer the u

say "

brella forward and wa

his shoulder. His

didn't

e getting beate

ing down h

her e

her n

" she said

as lost in

this time, though he was

jer

rned in h

he left her

d handle

or half a second she th

s umbrella looked bigger

rm watching a man choose himself over her, and

from her face wit

walk awa

umbrella and his

through t

car soaked and

d make him pay fo

strat

hadow P

ated

ar, shivering, she real

o notice when he d

58

hone scr

Ridl

already

dn't s

he second ring, h

Ms. Ri

w," Ms. Ri

comma

from yesterday

hadows unde

it

osed he

M, Ms. R

w isn't

t the crew," Ms. R

about my

about

utes or I'll find

all e

her ceiling f

off the blank

bbed he

her la

w it on her kit

r pape

but it still smelled

ank it

M. St

d into the

was alrea

am. Hai

perf

perf

" Ms. Rid

look at Lyl

d at the

panel is t

me look

was t

fix

oward the l

s felt

up to adjust

gers sl

ght wo

dley said, sha

op my equ

not

voice c

coug

ent white at

t stand

d her waist

before the stand

stumb

gainst a

wood and cl

s Aid

nd with his other hand

io went

dley stoppe

let go of Lyl

d her waist for half

ould stand

steppe

12 degrees lower," he

m. Profes

d diffuse the

yes come from hard

y looked

ack at

ack at

she didn

," she

n mo

ted the

d in a d

he camera

looking at L

ack against the wal

r reasons that had nothin

walked up

er up an

ick," she s

nod

uldn't

y sighed,

in

do 3 t

're goin

managers to faint

blink

.. almost

Ridley," Lyle

walked to

thank

me look

mera r

w to breathe f

Ms. Ridley

ust the focus wit

cipated what she needed

looked

on her feet, his hand wou

eady to catch

t.

Ms. Ridl

ed the pl

d this

l learning how to

nod

d out her

nds sh

t her to pack up

topp

w. Only

't eat,"

ques

dn't an

sigh

s suitcase and pulled o

mea

t on her

t i

u're unfit to work and she

ked up a

would

," Aiden

eyes for on

needs you al

hero

before she co

ed at the

e in smal

r phone, already pla

ould be i

e would f

in this quiet

container of food fr

ed up the

e one

at burne

e anot

d him a litt

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open
Reserved For Me
Reserved For Me
“Lyle Norris writes other people's bestsellers. She handles clients, hits #1, and survives Ms. Ridley's 2AM deadlines. She's good at control. Then James hands her a pod called "Reserved For Me." One click behind her ear and her nervous system pulls her into a gallery of perfect men. Men made from data, built to match what her body wants before her brain can lie. First door: Hudson Grayson. CEO. Skates on water. Proposes on a rooftop in the rain. For five minutes Lyle believes she can be chosen. Then the system crashes, the target unavailable. The next day his face is on every billboard. Twelve thousand girls get proposed to by the same man, Hudson is only Level 1. The pod isn't finished, More doors wait. CEO, soldier, artist, stranger. Each one designed to make her forget the cold man who types at his desk while she breaks. The rules are simple, Connect. Feel. Disconnect. But Lyle keeps disconnecting. She keeps thinking of Aiden. His jaw ticks, sleeves roll. His glass of water has no ice. He left her in the rain, caught her when she fell. He never looked. She hates him for it. While twelve thousand girls fight for Hudson, Lyle faces a worse truth: the man who never chose her might be the only one she can't simulate. The pod is just getting started. What if every door in the gallery opens for her... and the only one she wants stays locked?”