Happily Ever After… Without HimChapter 1
It was Sabrina’s birthday. My parents’ adopted daughter. The girl I had once called my little sister. The same girl I’d defended from bullies back in high school, when the four of us—Sabrina, Nathan, Gabriel, and I—were supposed to be a makeshift family.
I had genuinely believed I was doing the right thing back then. Helping her would bring us closer. We’d all live under one roof, sharing laughter over dinners. I never imagined she would twist it all against me.
Sabrina had always been clever, quietly inserting herself into everything. At first, she simply tagged along with us—me, Nathan, and Gabriel—but over time, it became something else. Whispering into Nathan’s ear when I wasn’t looking. Making Gabriel laugh in ways that had once belonged solely to me. I told myself not to overthink it.
Until the night I saw it. The kiss.
It was supposed to be quiet, just me and Nathan—the boy who eventually became my boyfriend—confessing our love. But instead, I caught him pressing his lips to Sabrina’s.
I let it slide. Once. Twice. Too many times.
Every time I confronted him, Nathan brushed it off. “You’re imagining things,” he’d say. “She’s like a sister.”
Gabriel chimed in, echoing the dismissal. “Stop ruining everything with your jealousy, Elena.”
It wasn’t jealousy. It was betrayal.
Now, at her birthday party, I watched them laugh and clink glasses like stars of some twisted romantic comedy. Nathan had just taken a shot, tilting the empty glass to Sabrina’s lips, his hand grazing her waist as though they belonged together. My chest tightened.
I rose quietly, slipping to one of the guest rooms upstairs. Pulling the blanket over me, I tried to block it all out. Then the door creaked.
“Elena?” Sabrina’s voice was false, sweetly concerned. “They’re looking for you downstairs. Fireworks are about to start.”
“I’m tired. Leave me alone,” I said.
She stepped closer, coaxing. “Come on… it’s my birthday. You’re really going to sulk?”
I faced her, voice low, icy. “Sabrina, isn’t it enough that I was forced to be here?”
Her frown deepened. “Do you hate me now? You think I stole them from you? That was never my intention. We were best friends once—”
“Stop.” I raised a hand. “Go enjoy your stupid party.”
But she grabbed my wrist, pulling. “Come on! It’ll be fun. I’m happy when you’re around—”
“Don’t touch me!” I yanked, but her grip only tightened.