11. Katie
— ? —
Katie
A full month of total silence means waking up to an empty apartment every single morning, picking at cheap noodles for dinner, and trying to convince myself that the absolute quiet isn’t completely suffocating.
This is what I wanted. This is what I NEEDED. So why does it feel like I’m slowly suffocating?
I’m elbow-deep in dishes when the knock comes.
A series of sharp, impatient knocks rattles the door, the rhythm instantly recognizable enough to send a sickening chill straight down my spine.
“Katie. Open the door.”
Kyle. My hands go still in the soapy water.
“Go away.”
“Please. I just need five minutes.”
“You don’t get five seconds.”
“KATIE.”
Something in his voice makes me pause. He sounds... broken. Desperate in a way I’ve never heard before.
Against my better judgment, I dry my hands and walk to the door. Open it just enough to see his face through the chain.
He looks terrible.
His eyes are red and sunken. He’s lost weight, the kind that makes his cheekbones look sharp and unhealthy.
“What do you want?”
“To talk. Just to talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Something happened to the business. My mom won’t speak to me.” His voice cracks. “My dad cut me off completely.”
“Sounds like consequences.”
“And Erin left me.” He laughs bitterly. “For some guy she met on a dating app. Said I was too needy. Can you believe that? After everything I gave up for her.”
“My heart bleeds.”
“You RUINED my life, Katie.”
I stare at him through the gap in the door.
“Say that again.”
“You heard me. That video. The gala. You destroyed EVERYTHING.”
“No.” I slide the chain off. Open the door wider. “YOU ruined your life.”
“I made a mistake!”
“You made a CHOICE.” My voice rises, all the rage I’ve been swallowing for months bubbling to the surface. “You CHOSE her, Kyle. Over and over and over again.”
“I was confused!”
“You were HORNY. There’s a difference.”
“I loved you!”
“You loved CONTROLLING me!” I’m shouting now, and I don’t care if the neighbors hear. “You loved having a wife at home and a girlfriend on the side. You loved making me feel crazy so you could sneak around without consequences.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s EXACTLY true. And the sickest part? You almost convinced me I was the problem. That I was paranoid. Jealous. Imagining things.” I step closer, watching him flinch. “Do you know how many nights I lay awake wondering what was wrong with ME? Why I couldn’t make you happy? Why I wasn’t ENOUGH?”
“Katie...”
“And the whole time, you were screwing my sister God knows where else.”
“I said I was SORRY!”
“Sorry doesn’t unbreak what you broke!” My voice cracks. “Sorry doesn’t give me back the years I wasted with you. Sorry doesn’t erase the humiliation of finding out on my wedding day that my husband and my sister were laughing behind my back.”
Kyle’s face twists. The wounded puppy act dissolves, replaced by something uglier. Something real.
“You know what? Fine. Keep playing the victim. That’s all you’re good at anyway.”
“Excuse me?”
“Poor Katie. Poor innocent Katie. Never did anything wrong. Never pushed me away. Never made me feel like I was never good enough for you.”
“Don’t you DARE turn this around on me.”
“You were so perfect all the time. So put together. So successful.” His lip curls. “Do you know how exhausting it was, being with someone who never made mistakes? Who had to have everything just right?”
“So you cheated because I was too PERFECT?”
“I cheated because Erin made me feel wanted! Because she looked at me like I mattered! Because she didn’t spend every dinner talking about work or making me feel stupid!”
I just feel tired.
“You’re pathetic.”
“And you’re going to die alone.” He steps closer, eyes blazing. “When Henry gets bored of you, and he WILL get bored of you, you’ll come crawling back. And I won’t be there.”
“You realize we’re not dating anymore and I haven’t crawled back to you?”
“I mean it, Katie. No one else is going to want you. You’re damaged goods now. The whole world knows your dirty laundry. What man is going to sign up for that?”
I smile.
It’s not a nice smile.
“Get out of my apartment.”
“You need me. You just don’t know it yet.”
“What I NEED is for you to leave before I call the cops.” I grab the door. “And Kyle? If you show up here again, if you call me, if you so much as LOOK in my direction, I will make that birthday video look like a birthday card. Do you understand?”
His mouth opens.
“Goodbye, Kyle.”
I slam the door in his face.
For a long moment, I just stand there, heart pounding, waiting for him to knock again. To shout. To do something.
But there’s only silence.
Then footsteps, retreating down the hall.
My phone buzzes.
I almost ignore it. Probably Kyle, trying a different approach. But when I glance at the screen, the name makes my blood run cold.
ERIN.
We need to talk. Please. I know you hate me. But I need to tell you the truth about what really happened.
I stare at the message for a full minute. Then, against every instinct screaming at me to delete it, I type back.
Tomorrow. 1 PM. The coffee shop on Fifth. Don’t be late.
***
Erin is already there when I arrive.
She looks worse than Kyle did. Pale with dark circles carved under her eyes like bruises. Her hands shake around her coffee cup.
“Thank you for coming.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “I know I don’t deserve this.”
“You don’t deserve anything from me.” I slide into the seat across from her. “Talk fast.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Try the beginning. The part where you decided to sleep with my husband.”
She flinches.
“Kyle didn’t seduce me.” The words come out strangled. “I seduced HIM.”
My stomach drops.
“What?”
“I know everyone thinks he pursued me. That he was the predator and I was the victim.” Tears well in her eyes. “But that’s not what happened. I went after him. I made the first move. I... I made it happen.”
I can’t breathe.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m tired of lying.” She wipes her cheeks with a trembling hand. “I’ve been lying my whole life, Katie. To you. To Mom and Dad. To myself. And I can’t do it anymore.”
“So this is about making yourself feel better? Confession cleanses the soul and all that? What, you decided to join a spiritual cleansing group?”
“No. This is about you deserving the truth.” She looks up at me, and for the first time, I see something real in her eyes. Something that isn’t manipulation or jealousy or spite. “I was jealous of you. I’ve ALWAYS been jealous of you.”
“Erin...”
“You got the good grades. The scholarship. The career. The perfect boyfriend who turned into the perfect husband.” Her voice breaks.
“That doesn’t excuse what you did.”
“I know. I KNOW.” She’s crying openly now, makeup streaming down her face. “But when Kyle started paying attention to me, flirting with me, making me feel special... I finally understood what it was like to be you. To be wanted. To be chosen.”
“So you stole my husband to feel special?”
“I didn’t think about you at all. That’s the worst part.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t think about how it would hurt you. I didn’t think about the consequences. I just... wanted something that was yours. Something that proved I could have what you had.”
I know I’m supposed to be completely furious right now but honestly, I don’t even have the energy to be mad. I just feel incredibly sad.
I’m mourning the sister I thought I had, the future relationship that’s now completely impossible, and the memory of the little girls we used to be before jealousy and resentment warped our entire dynamic.
“You destroyed my marriage.” My voice is flat. “You destroyed everything.”
“I know.”
“And you can’t fix it. Some things are too broken to put back together.”
She reaches across the table, then pulls back when I stiffen. “I’m not asking for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I just... I needed you to know that it wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t my fault.”
“But you wondered, didn’t you? Late at night. When you couldn’t sleep.” Her eyes search my face. “You wondered if there was something wrong with you. Something that made us both betray you.”
My throat tightens. Because she’s right.
I did wonder. For months, I wondered.
“Thank you for telling me the truth.” I stand, grabbing my purse. “That’s more than Kyle ever gave me.”
“Katie, wait.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.” The words tumble out, raw and desperate. “I know it doesn’t mean anything. I know sorry can’t undo what I did. But I need you to hear it. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
I look at my sister.
“Maybe someday.” My voice softens despite myself. “Not today. Not for a long time. But maybe someday I’ll be able to look at you without wanting to scream.”
Hope flickers in her eyes.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Yeah. It is.”
I walk toward the door.
The afternoon light hits my face as I step outside, and I take a deep breath. The air tastes different somehow. Like something heavy has finally been lifted off my chest.
I start walking, no destination in mind.
Just putting one foot in front of the other, trying to figure out what comes next. Who I am now. Who I want to be.
My phone buzzes. Probably Erin, wanting to say more. Or Kyle, refusing to take no for an answer.
I ignore it. I turn the corner onto a street I don’t usually walk down.
And freeze.
There’s a small coffee shop I’ve never noticed before. Cozy, warm light spilling through the windows.
But that’s not what stops me.
Behind the counter, wearing an apron, steaming milk with practiced ease, is Henry Wilson.
He looks up.
Our eyes meet.