His Signal Played Favorites

Jason Collier was an RV vlogger with over ten million followers. He was also my fiancé. He spent more than half the year in Northreach, a remote stretch out west with empty desert highways and snowcapped mountains. He said the backcountry had zero signal, so going MIA for two weeks was totally normal. I bought it. To bankroll his road trip across Radenska, I mortgaged the apartment we were supposed to live in after the wedding. I helped pay for the RV build, his crew, and the channel that made him famous. He promised once the trip blew up, he'd come home and marry me. So every day, I checked the weather, scared he'd get buried in a blizzard, flip the RV, or die alone out there. Then a local travel creator named Mabel Jibb dropped a new video. Jason was standing on top of a sixteen-thousand-foot mountain, using the satellite phone I'd bought him to livestream the sunrise over the snow-covered peaks for her. Mabel whined that she was cold. Jason turned the camera away right away and spent the next half hour babying her. That same day, I came down with acute appendicitis. The pain hit so hard, I dropped to my knees outside the ER. I sent him ninety-nine messages. He ignored every single one. Turns out, the backcountry never killed his signal. Just mine. From that day on, I stopped mailing him freeze-dried meals. Stopped paying the RV loan. Stopped taking his collection calls. And stopped sending him three safety reminders a day. Not long after, a towing company stopped his RV at a rest stop. That finally got him to call. "Why'd you stop making the RV payments?" No hello. No asking how I was. I snapped a picture of the collection notice and termination agreement and sent them over. "Because starting tomorrow, the RV, the channel, and your ten million followers aren't my problem anymore." Chapter 1 After sending the photos, I tightened my grip on my phone. "Nora, do you seriously have to keep score right now?" Someone from the towing company kept telling him to sign the paperwork. Jason lowered his voice. "They impounded the RV. If I don't fix this today, the whole trip falls apart. Just send the money first." "So you saw the photos?" "Yeah." "And the medical report?" "I don't have time for this, Nora. I'm not letting all this content go to waste." "I told you three months ago I was done paying your bills." "You were mad. I didn't think you meant it. I'm on the road—I can't keep up with everything back home." I stared at the IV taped to my hand. "Everything back home? Is that what my emergency surgery was too?" Wind howled through the phone. Then Mabel cut in. "Jason, are we still going live tonight?" He went quiet for a few seconds. "I've put too much into this trip to stop now. Just help me fix this, and we'll talk when I'm back." "When you livestreamed the sunrise for Mabel, your satellite phone had signal, right?" Jason paused. "That was work." Then Mabel took the phone. "Nora, blame me if you want. But don't pressure Jason while he's on the road. He's exhausted." I sent him photos of the collection notice, the towing notice, and the unpaid balance for our wedding venue. Then I hung up. That night, Jason posted a photo of the RV parked outside a rest stop. [Being out here is hard enough. Even harder when everything back home starts falling apart.] Then our mutual friends started blowing up my phone. Every message said the same thing. [Stop making things harder for Jason.] I shut off my screen. Then another collection call came in. They said if they still couldn't reach the borrower, they'd call the emergency contact. I texted Jason. [Don't let my mom find out.] The message just sat there. *** In the middle of the night, the doorbell rang. I went to the door. Through the peephole, I saw Jason standing there with a bag of roasted chestnuts. Back when we first started dating, he'd driven across the city just to get them for me. He came back with his freezing hands tucked into his sleeves, smiling. "I'd never forget what you like." The second I opened the door, Jason stared at my hand braced against the frame. "Why aren't you wearing a jacket?" He reached for me. I stepped back. Then Mabel came out from behind him, wearing the spare outdoor jacket I'd mailed to the RV. She didn't look at me. "Jason, is my charger still in the guest room?" I kept one hand on the doorknob and didn't move. Jason stepped in front of her. "She'd just come down from the mountains. The headache and chest tightness wouldn't go away, so I brought her here to rest for one night. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd misunderstand." "I was in the hospital." I said it again. "So you brought her to our apartment?" Mabel clutched her chest and ducked behind Jason. "Nora, I can leave. Jason was just scared something might happen to me." He grabbed her arm to steady her. "Every hotel in town was booked. She still hasn't recovered, and the oxygen machine is here. I couldn't leave her on the street. You were never like this before." I looked at their hands. "I paid for this apartment. My name is the only one on the deed." Jason glanced at Mabel, then back at me. "I know. But we're getting married. Don't make this a thing. Just let her in." Mabel looked toward the guest room. "Maybe I'll stay in the same room as last time. I already know where everything is." Chapter 2 I stayed planted in the doorway. Jason glanced down the hall. "Nora, don't let the neighbors see this. Just let her in." "When I got rushed to the ER, didn't that count as sick?" He looked away. "Don't drag up old fights. You just got out of the hospital. Go rest." In the end, I stepped aside. Mabel rubbed her eyes. "Don't blame Jason. He was struggling with the altitude too, and he still stayed with me all night." She looked at him. "Out there, I was the only one with him." I pulled up that video. Jason was using the satellite phone to livestream the sunrise for her. "When she had chest pain and couldn't breathe, you stayed. When I was on my knees outside the ER from the pain, who stayed with me?" Jason reached for Mabel. "Sit down." He used to help me the same way whenever I had a fever. "Do you still have that medicine? Mabel needs a couple too." "It's fine, Jason. I can handle it." He handed her a glass of water. "Don't push yourself." I watched in silence. Then Jason set the bag of roasted chestnuts on the table. "I remembered they're your favorite." I opened it. Half were gone. Mabel held the top of the bag. "My blood sugar dropped on the way here. Jason told me to eat some." Jason frowned. "You never used to care about stuff this small." I pushed the bag back toward them. "That was before." Mabel took the guest room. Late that night, my incision hurt so bad I got up for water. Her door was cracked open. She was livestreaming from a backup account, panning the camera across the room. "After being on the road so long, Jason finally brought me home." The comments poured in. [They're meant to be.] From beside the camera, Jason said, "Don't film Nora. She'll be uncomfortable." He never told her to stop streaming. I stood outside the door for a long time, gripping my glass. *** The next morning, I told Jason to get Mabel out of my apartment. He was pouring her another glass of water when he looked up. "She's still not doing well. Give her one more day." "This is my apartment." He kept pouring. "It's mine too. Nora, stop overthinking it. She's only here temporarily." Then the manager of our wedding venue called. "Ms. Neil, we had two event options ready and were waiting for Mr. Collier's approval." "Last night, he confirmed that the wedding hall booked for three days from now will be used for a fan meet-and-greet instead. "He said you're recovering from surgery and the wedding will be postponed. He didn't want the venue to go to waste." "I never agreed to that." I turned to Jason. He wouldn't look at me. "It's not canceled. We're just using the venue for one night. When this is over, I'll make it up to you and plan a new wedding." Mabel stood by the dining table, still holding her glass. "Nora, you can't keep him here. He wants to keep moving." My gaze dropped to her phone. The event schedule was open. First, a joint interview with Jason and Mabel. Then a special film about their trip through the mountains. *** A message popped up from the bridal shop. [Ms. Neil, Mr. Collier said the bride won't be in the wedding promo, so Ms. Jibb will fill in for the shoot. Do you approve?] I took my pain meds like I was supposed to. Still, cold sweat covered me as I rushed to the hotel. I pressed one hand to my stomach, stopping every few steps. In my bag were the collection notice, the wedding contract, and the old dashcam hard drive. The debt. The wedding. The apartment. I was ending it all today. But Jason's RV posters were already plastered outside the hotel. The welcome sign with our names was gone. In its place: [Never Alone on the Road.] The poster showed Jason beside the RV, Mabel in the passenger seat. Behind them was the wedding backdrop I'd picked. Jason rushed over. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" "My wedding gets postponed, and I need your permission to show up?" He glanced at the staff around us. "We're just using the venue for tonight. The fans are already here. We can't shut it down now." "Then what am I?" Jason looked away. "Don't make a scene." Mabel stepped out of the dressing room in my wedding dress. The day I tried it on, Jason had wrapped his arms around me from behind and smiled. "This one's for my wife." Now Mabel was wearing it. Fresh pins cinched the waist. The bridal shop employee clutched the hanger and quickly explained. "Mr. Collier said it was for the wedding promo. Ms. Jibb was only testing camera angles. Her face won't be shown." "Who told you to take in the waist?" Chapter 3 The employee looked at Mabel. Mabel gripped the skirt. Jason stepped in front of her. "Nora, it's just a quick shoot. Don't make it a whole thing." I looked at him. "So now even the wedding dress is up for grabs?" His jaw tightened. "Everyone's watching. Do you have to humiliate me?" The MC stepped in to keep the program moving and announced the thank-you segment. Then I heard the MC mention the bridal bouquet. I turned toward the stage. My bouquet had been torn apart. Some of the flowers were pinned to Mabel's dress. The rest were scattered across the stage and photo area. I looked at Jason. "Do you even know I picked that bouquet myself?" He went quiet for a second. "It's just flowers. I'll buy you another one." A relative called to ask if the wedding was off. Then she asked why social media was blowing up with posts about Jason and Mabel's fan event. "Stop being so controlling." Jason heard her. "See? Everyone thinks you need to grow up." He reached for my hand. "Nora, when this is over, I'll go home with you." "Which home?" His hand stopped midair. Right before the fan event started, Mabel's blood sugar dropped. She leaned against the wall and swore she was fine. Jason scooped her up in front of everyone and carried her to the lounge. Someone lifted a phone. "They're the ones who belong together." I stayed frozen as my phone buzzed. [The emergency contact has been notified.] Then Mom called. "Nora, they just came looking for me. Right in front of the neighbors." Her voice shook. "Did you mortgage the apartment for Jason?" "Mom, don't worry. I'm coming right now." "I don't blame you. My heart just hurts for you." A nurse spoke in the background. "Please stay calm. Her blood pressure is climbing again." I turned to leave. Jason grabbed my wrist. "Handle what's happening onstage first." I looked down at his hand. "My mom's in the hospital." His grip loosened. Then tightened again. "It's not that I don't care about her. We just can't let tonight fall apart." He stared at me. "You don't want your mom lying in a hospital bed, watching everyone online tear you apart, do you?" I stopped. Onstage, the MC announced that Jason's fiancée was here. The crowd exploded into cheers. Jason grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the stage. I flashed back to the night he drove through the rain to bring me medicine. "You were sick. Of course I came." I tried to yank my hand free. I couldn't. The MC asked if the RV loan drama was true. Jason said, "It's just a misunderstanding between Nora and me. She hasn't been doing well lately, and she's been a little emotionally unstable." Someone in the crowd laughed. "She's just a jealous girlfriend having a meltdown." Mabel took the mic, her eyes glossy. "Nora doesn't mean any harm. She's just scared Jason will drift too far away." The crowd murmured in agreement. Then the big screen lit up with footage from the mountains. Mabel wore the outdoor jacket I'd sent. She breathed from the oxygen I'd packed. Jason held up the satellite phone, filming the snowy peaks glowing at sunrise. The final caption appeared. [Thank you for staying with me in the backcountry.] Applause thundered through the room. Jason handed me a statement and leaned in. "Read it, and we can put this behind us." It said I'd interfered with his travels because I was controlling. It blamed me for the RV loan, the postponed wedding, and Mabel. The last line told me to apologize to Jason, Mabel, and everyone there. I looked at him. "You wrote this?" "The team did. But yeah, that's basically it." "So you think this is all my fault too?" Jason said nothing. The crowd started chanting for an apology. They said I was the one holding Jason back. My phone buzzed again. A voice message from Mom. "Nora, I'm okay. Don't worry." At the end, I heard the doctor. "Don't upset her again." I moved to step off the stage. Jason stopped me. He held me there and lowered his voice. "Nora, please. Just read it." Tears slid down Mabel's face. "If Nora really doesn't want me here, I'll leave." The crowd's shouting drowned out everything coming through the speakers. Jason stared at me, his fingers digging into my wrist. "Don't make this harder for me." I grabbed the mic. "Jason, that whole backcountry blackout thing—was there really no signal?" He reached for the microphone. Mabel froze, one hand clutching her skirt. I pulled the old dashcam hard drive from my bag. "The first time you took the RV into the backcountry, I installed a dashcam. When the RV came back for maintenance, I removed the old drive and backed it up. These are the original files." I held up my phone. "I already sent the audio to my lawyer and saved a copy here. I can play it right now." Jason gritted his teeth. "Nora, stop." "I'm not making a scene. I just want everyone to hear one thing." The big screen went black. Then the RV recording started playing. Jason's laugh echoed through the ballroom. "Don't answer Nora's calls on the satellite phone. If she thinks I disappeared, she'll definitely borrow more money tonight." Jason lunged for the cable. Too late. "The last time she mortgaged the apartment, isn't that exactly how we did it?" Chapter 4 The recording ended. The whole ballroom went dead silent. The same people who'd been screaming for me to apologize stood frozen, phones still raised. Jason's hand hovered over the audio cable. He couldn't decide whether to pull it or leave it. The MC recovered first. "There may be some misunderstanding. Everyone, please stay calm—" I didn't look at him. I only looked at Jason. "Is it a misunderstanding?" He turned around. His face had gone pale, but his voice stayed low. "Nora, you can't take that out of context. We were joking." "A joke?" I played the next recording. "Then let's hear the whole thing." The RV door slammed through the speakers. "Jason, isn't this too cruel? Nora already mortgaged her apartment for you." Jason laughed. "She'll never leave. Her biggest fear is me dying out there." Someone in the crowd gasped. The recording kept going. Then Mabel's voice came through, way steadier than it had been onstage. "What if she finds out you actually have signal?" "She won't. She never checks the satellite phone bill. She just pays it." Mabel went quiet for a second. "Don't you trust her a little too much?" "It's not trust. She can't live without me." My hand was still steady. I thought I'd be shaking. Instead, I felt weirdly calm. Because Jason had never forgotten me. He knew exactly what scared me. He knew I'd always try to save him. And he knew exactly how far I'd go for him. Jason lunged forward. "That's enough." I met his eyes. "What are you scared of? Them finding out you were never stranded? Or finding out you had signal the day I got rushed to the ER?" His voice softened. "Let's go home and talk. There are too many people here, and you're still recovering." "Home?" I gave a quiet laugh. "Which one? The apartment Mabel stayed in, or the one you used to keep me tied to you?" His eyes turned red. He reached for me. I stepped back. Mabel went pale. "Nora, I only asked casually. I didn't know about you two—" I cut her off. "Didn't know what? That he had a fiancée? Or that I paid for that apartment myself?" Her mouth opened. Nothing came out. I pulled up the satellite phone bill on the screen. "The night I went to the ER, Jason and Mabel talked for forty-six minutes. From 9:17 to 10:03. During that same time, I sent Jason ninety-nine messages." The screen filled with every unanswered text. The last one was a seven-second voice message. Jason stared at it. The color drained from his face. "What happened to you that night?" I looked at him. "A little late to ask." "Nora." His voice came out rough. "I really didn't know you were in the ER. If I'd known—" "You never would've." I held his gaze. "Because you told everyone not to answer my calls on the satellite phone." His own recording had just proved it. Jason had nothing left to say. I slipped off my engagement ring and set it on top of the apology statement. Right over the word [controlling.] "I'm not marrying you." Jason reached for the ring. Then stopped. Like it finally hit him. I wasn't throwing a tantrum. And I wasn't waiting for him to make it better. Mabel suddenly stepped forward, her voice shaking. "Jason, explain. You said you'd handle this." The room went even quieter. Jason turned to her. For the first time, he looked at her like a stranger. "What exactly do you want me to explain now?" I didn't stick around for the rest. I grabbed my bag and walked offstage. As I passed the MC, I handed him the mic. Someone called out softly. "Ms. Neil... what about your mom?" I paused. "I'm going to the hospital." I didn't look back. I walked out, called a ride, and went straight to the hospital. Behind me, Jason shouted my name. For the first time, he sounded panicked. "Nora! Where are you going? I'll drive you!" I didn't look back. The phones in the ballroom were still recording. And for once, Jason was the one trapped under everyone's eyes.