Chapter 3
The whole morning I could barely sit still. I must have checked the time on my phone at least twenty times before noon. Every task at work felt slower than usual, my mind drifting back to the same thought again and again. Oliver's birthday.
A small smile kept tugging at my lips no matter how hard I tried to hide it.
For months I had been saving quietly, cutting back on little things so I could buy the watch I knew he wanted. The elegant silver Cartier watch was now carefully wrapped and resting inside a small gift bag on the passenger seat of my car.
Every time I looked at it, my chest filled with a warm, excited flutter.
I could already imagine his reaction. The surprise. The smile that would follow. Maybe he would pull me into a hug and laugh, telling me I didn't have to spend so much on him.
By the time the evening arrived, I could hardly wait any longer. Oliver had once given me a spare key to his apartment months ago. I had tucked it away in a drawer and forgotten about it because I never really needed it. But today?
Today felt perfect. I wanted the surprise to be unforgettable.
When I reached his apartment building, my heart was racing with excitement. The gift bag swung lightly in my hand as I stood outside his door. I pulled the spare key from my pocket. The metal felt cold against my fingers. "Perfect," I whispered to myself.
If I had known what was waiting on the other side of that door, I would have walked away.
I slid the key into the lock and turned it quietly. The door opened without a sound. Inside, the lights were already on.
Good. He was home. I stepped inside carefully, closing the door behind me. My shoes barely made a sound as I tiptoed forward.
I was already picturing the moment.
Maybe I'd jump out and scare him.
Maybe I'd pretend I forgot his birthday before handing him the gift. The possibilities made me smile. Then I heard it. A sound drifting from down the hallway. Soft, muffled....
At first I couldn't place it. Then it came again. A quiet moan. I froze. My mind scrambled for an explanation. Maybe he was watching something. People did that sometimes. Maybe he was watching porn. The excuse sounded weak even to my own ears.
But love has a strange way of protecting the lies we want to believe. So I forced a smile and walked further inside. Then the sound came again. Clearer this time, more distinct and a little familiar. A woman's voice.
"Aah... Oliver... faster..."
The gift bag slipped slightly in my hand.
My heart dropped straight to my stomach. Another voice answered. Oliver's. Low. Breathless.
"God... you're so pretty. This is the best birthday gift I could ask for..."
That was the moment everything inside me shattered. But my body hadn't caught up with the truth yet. I kept walking. Down the hallway. Toward the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. Just a crack. A clear sign of impatience.
I stood there for a moment, staring at it.
My chest felt tight, my hands were shaking.
Even then I tried to convince myself there had to be another explanation.
Taking a slow breath, I pushed the door open.
The small creak it made went completely unnoticed.
They were too absorbed in each other to hear it.
But they did hear the sound that came next.
The soft thud of the gift bag hitting the floor. And the broken sob that escaped my throat. Both of them froze. Oliver's head snapped toward the door. Anne turned at the same time. Their expressions shifted instantly from pleasure to shock.
I stood there, my hands covering my mouth as tears streamed down my face.
The Cartier watch lay on the floor between us.
Months of love, years of trust. Reduced to a piece of metal on the carpet. Neither of them spoke for a second. Then Oliver scrambled for the sheets.
"It's not what you think!" he blurted.
Anne stared at me like she had seen a ghost. "You said you'd be busy!" she snapped. "What are you doing here-"
Her voice trailed off when the truth finally settled over the room. For a moment, no one spoke. The only sound was my uneven breathing. The excitement, the anticipation, the love I thought we shared... All of it collapsed in that one moment.
And suddenly the watch lying on the floor felt like the cruelest joke in the world.
I couldn't believe what was happening in front of me. I desperately prayed for whatever this might be to be a dream-a nightmare I would wake up from in a few seconds. But the truth was already laid bare.
How long had this been going on?
How many times had they done this? How many times had they both smiled at me, talked to me, laughed with me, while hiding this behind my back?
Questions flooded my mind.
Mostly one.
Why?
The word echoed inside my head again and again, but I couldn't force it past my lips.
My throat felt tight, like the air had been squeezed out of it.
The pain was unbearable. For a moment none of us moved.
They kept talking-Oliver saying something, Anne trying to explain-but their voices sounded distant, like I was hearing them through water.
I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want their explanations. I didn't want their lies.
My legs moved before my mind could catch up. I turned and walked out. No-ran. I barely remember crossing the living room. My vision had blurred with tears, the hallway spinning slightly as I stumbled toward the door. I heard Oliver call my name behind me.
"Elera wait!!"
His voice followed me down the hallway, desperate and panicked.
For a moment, just a moment I almost stopped. Old habits die hard.
But then Anne's voice followed, sharper.
"Oliver, wait-!"
That was enough.
I yanked the door open and stepped out into the corridor, the cool air hitting my face like a slap. My hands were shaking so badly. Somewhere behind me the apartment door opened again.
"Elera!" Oliver called.
I didn't turn back. I couldn't.
If I looked at him again, I might break completely.
So I ran. Down the stairs. Past the lobby. Out into the evening air. Only when I reached the sidewalk did I realize I was still crying, my chest heaving like I had been running for miles.
My hands felt empty. It took me a few seconds to realize why.
The gift.
The watch.
I had left it there.
Months of saving... lying on Oliver's bedroom floor. For a moment I considered going back. Then the image flashed through my mind again-Anne's voice, Oliver's hands, the two of them tangled together like I had never even existed.
My stomach twisted violently.
No.
They could keep it.
They could keep the watch.
They could keep everything.
I turned away from the apartment building and started walking with no real direction in mind. I didn't care where I went. I just knew I couldn't stay there.
Because if I stayed even one minute longer, I might completely fall apart.
I don't remember how I got back to my apartment that night. I remember unlocking the door. I remember stepping inside.
After that, everything felt... distant.
Like I was watching someone else move around in my place.
At some point I sat on the floor beside my bed and just stayed there. I didn't turn on the lights. I didn't take off my coat. I didn't even wipe the tears from my face.
I just sat there, staring at nothing. My phone buzzed somewhere in the room.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
I didn't look at it. I didn't need to. I already knew who it was. Oliver. Maybe Anne too. They probably had explanations ready by now. Excuses, apologies, promises.... But I couldn't hear them.
Not now. Because if I did, I was afraid something inside me might break beyond repair.
So I left the phone where it was and stayed on the floor until the sky outside my window slowly turned gray.
Morning came eventually. I hadn't slept.
My eyes burned and my head felt heavy, but the tears had stopped sometime during the night. In their place was something worse. A hollow feeling in my chest. Like someone had scooped everything out and left nothing behind.
When my phone buzzed again, I finally picked it up. Dozens of messages filled the screen. Oliver, Anne, missed calls, voicemails... I didn't open any of them.
Instead, I opened my work email. My fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before I typed.
'I'm sick today. I won't be coming in.'
The message looked strange on the screen. Too simple for the disaster my life had turned into overnight. But it was the only explanation I could give.
For the next few days, I stayed inside my apartment. The world outside kept moving. Emails arrived. Messages appeared. My phone kept ringing. I ignored most of them. Sometimes I slept.
Sometimes I stared at the ceiling for hours. Sometimes the memories came back and the tears followed again. And sometimes... the questions started.
How long?
How long had they been lying to me?
Every moment I shared with them began to look different when I thought about it again. The laughter. The inside jokes.
The small looks I had once thought meant nothing. Had they always been there? Had I just been too blind to notice? But I had completely trusted them. And trust makes fools out of people.
By the fourth day, ignoring work was no longer an option. The Arclight project didn't care about my broken heart.
Neither did Sienna. My phone buzzed again that morning.
Her name appeared on the screen.
For a moment, I considered ignoring it.
But that would only make things worse.
So I answered.
"What?" My voice sounded rough even to my own ears.
Sienna didn't bother with greetings. "The Arclight client is requesting revisions again," she said flatly. "I assume you're still capable of doing your job?"
"I said I was sick."
There was a short pause then Sienna sighed. "You can be sick and still reply to emails."
Her tone was as sharp as ever. Normally, it would have annoyed me. But that morning... I didn't have the energy to care.
"I'll handle it," I said quietly.
Another pause. Then she spoke again, her voice colder now. "Personal issues are not an excuse for incompetence, Elera. If you're going to let other people ruin your life, at least don't let them ruin your work too."
The words were blunt. Cruel, even. But something about them stuck in my chest like a thorn.
If you're going to let other people ruin your life...
I didn't reply.
Sienna ended the call a second later. For a long time, I just stared at my phone. Strangely enough, it wasn't sadness that settled in my chest this time. It was something else something sharper, something bitter, maybe she was right. Maybe I had let them ruin my life.
The thought sat quietly in my mind for the rest of the day.
And by the time I finally returned to the office, that bitterness had started to grow into something darker, something hotter, anger.
Of course, Oliver and Anne were waiting for me. I saw them the moment I stepped onto the floor. Oliver approached first, his expression full of guilt and desperation.
"Elera, please. Just listen to me-"
Anne stood a few steps behind him, looking equally miserable.
"We didn't mean for it to happen like that," she added quickly.
For a moment I simply stared at them.
My mind struggled to process what they were saying. Then a small sound escaped me. A laugh. Not a happy one. A disbelieving scoff.
"Listen to you?" I repeated.
The words tasted strange in my mouth.
They looked relieved, like they thought I was finally going to hear them out. That made it even worse.
"How shameless can you two be?" I said quietly.
Oliver flinched, Anne looked away but I wasn't finished. For the first time since that night, the anger inside me finally broke through the numbness.
"You betrayed me," I said, my voice was calm, but my hands were shaking.
"And now you want me to listen?"
Neither of them answered.
I looked from one to the other.
My boyfriend.
My best friend.
Two people I had trusted more than anyone else. And suddenly something became painfully clear.
I hadn't been surrounded by friends.
I had been surrounded by vipers.
The realization settled in my chest like ice.
Without another word, I walked past them. And that was the moment my pain finally began turning into something else. Anger. Resentment. Disgust.