Hunting The Mistress Chapter 1

Once Luke finally became my official boyfriend, his jealousy went off the charts.

If I had dinner with a colleague, he threw a tantrum.

If I waved to a neighbor, he started crying.

Even when my ex got into a car accident and I went to the hospital to visit, he completely lost his mind.

Suffocated by his overbearing possessiveness, I ended up screaming at him right outside the ward.

"I literally just came to bring him a fruit basket!"

"But that's exactly how I got you in the first place, by playing the pity card!" His eyes were bloodshot. "Don't think I didn't hear him! He just said if he could do it all over again, he’d cherish you and never let me slide into your DMs!"

"Mia, if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't play the side piece either. This guy is keeping his dignity!"

And just like that, his wish came true.

The next day, everything reset to the very afternoon Tucker first introduced Luke to me.

* * *

Yesterday, Luke slammed the door and stormed out, his eyes raw and red.

I was used to him running away whenever we fought. Figuring he would cool down, talk himself out of his anger, and crawl back on his own tomorrow, I climbed into my king-sized bed and drifted off to sleep.

But when I opened my eyes, I was lying in a narrow twin bed in a crowded college dorm.

My roommate pulled back my bed curtain and peeked in. "Oh, you're awake? Your boyfriend said you weren't answering his texts. He asked me to wake you up."

Completely bewildered, I grabbed my phone.

Tucker's messages immediately popped up.

[Still asleep? Get up and put some makeup on.]

[My roommate said he's buying us dinner today.]

Staring at the word "roommate," my heart skipped a beat. The memory of Luke's tearful, indignant face from the night before flashed in my mind.

Mia, if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't play the side piece either. This guy is keeping his dignity!

After a few seconds of silence, I typed back.

[Sorry, Tucker. I'm not feeling well today. Tell your roommate I'm really sorry for missing out.]

Tucker called almost instantly. I hesitated for a moment before picking up.

"Hey, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

The younger version of Tucker sounded exactly the same as he did in my memories. I made up a quick excuse and hung up.

Lying back down, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

In our college days, Tucker and I were the golden couple everyone envied. No one could have guessed how toxic and ugly things would get just six months later.

With my mind in a chaotic whirl, I finally dragged myself out of bed and took a hot shower.

When I got back to the room, my roommate looked up. "Your phone keeps ringing. There's no caller ID, so I didn't pick up."

I walked over and picked up the device. Looking at the familiar number, my heart did a violent flip.

The phone rang again. I slid the screen to answer.

The person on the other end was silent, as if waiting for me to break first. I didn't say a word either.

Finally, after ten agonizing seconds, Luke spoke, his voice dripping with barely suppressed rage.

"Mia, you are unbelievable!"

The line went dead.

I climbed back into bed, rubbing my temples. It was obvious. Luke had reset too.

In this timeline, the current Luke shouldn't even know me, let alone have my phone number. We were supposed to meet for the first time at dinner today, introduced by Tucker.

But I hadn't gone. And now, he was furious all over again.

Only this time, I wanted to give him a chance to make a different choice. After all, in our three years together in my past life, he had spent two and a half of them angry.

It hadn't really bothered me, but I used to catch him sitting at the edge of the bed in the middle of the night, quietly crying. I had honestly worried he would give himself a heart attack from pure frustration.

The next morning, Tucker called to tell me he was downstairs.

I paused for a second before asking, "Did you come alone?"

Tucker sounded confused. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

An odd sensation settled in my chest. Luke hadn't come with him. It seemed he, too, was letting things slide back into their original, separate tracks.

"Thanks for the breakfast," I said, taking the bag from him.

Tucker reached out to ruffle my hair. "Why are you being so polite today?"

My instinctive flinch made both of us freeze. A shadow crossed Tucker's eyes before he quickly masked it with a smile.

"I have a basketball game this afternoon. Come bring me some water."

As his girlfriend, showing up to hand him water and mark my territory was practically a given. But back then, Tucker would never let me go to his games.

I remembered how I used to tease him, clinging to his arm. "What, are you afraid some other girls will get jealous if they see us?"

Tucker would gently push me away, a flicker of guilt washing over his face, though younger me had been too blind to notice.

"I..."

Now, I didn't want that role at all.

Just as I was trying to think of an excuse to refuse, Tucker leaned in close. I took a sharp step back. The darkness in his eyes deepened.

"Babe, what is wrong with you today?"

I forced a dry laugh, quickly changing the subject. "What kind of drink do you want me to bring this afternoon?"

Seeing me agree, his expression softened a bit.