When we were older, I saw her drape herself over Xander at family parties. They’d been closer than siblings, even though they weren’t by blood. She told me they were together. But then she left him for her acting dreams abroad. He was drunk the night I found him alone on the balcony, eyes red, whiskey in hand.
I was stupid. I thought comforting him meant I mattered. That night was a mistake for him — for me, it was the start of my ruin.
When the tabloids leaked photos of us, the scandal nearly destroyed both families. A quick wedding was the only fix. I convinced myself it was fate. And for two short years, it almost felt real. Until she came back. Until she stood in my kitchen, sipping my coffee, saying I’d seduced her man.
Xander defended me, or so I thought — until I found them in my bed. It never really ended. It only grew more blatant.
And now they didn’t even bother to hide it.
My mind snapped back to the hallway when I heard footsteps. Voices. Laughter.
“…are you sure you’re okay to be here?” Nadia asked, her voice a low, sweet drawl.
“Of course,” Xander replied, so casual. “It’s not like she died.”
My breath caught behind the corner. I pressed my back to the cold wall.
Nadia giggled. “But what if she finds out about our baby?”
“So what?” he scoffed. “It doesn’t matter. You’re the one I want to have my child, not her. We’ll surely get married soon. I promise you.”
The words stung worse than any wound on my body. They disappeared into his room, shutting the door. Three months pregnant, I heard Nadia say. Their baby. And yet they’d stolen mine from me like it was nothing.
When I got home, I opened the closet and started packing. Everything Xander had ever given me — the clothes, the jewelry, the perfume he said made me smell expensive. All of it went into a black trash bag. He didn’t deserve to see me draped in anything he’d bought to cover the truth.
I was shoving shoes into the bag when the front door slammed. I froze as my mother’s perfume hit me before she did.
She slapped me so hard my ear rang. “What the hell did you do with our money, Lauren?”
I stared at her, blinking back the stars in my vision. “What are you talking about?”
She shoved a folder of bank statements into my chest. “Gambling? All those debts under your name? We lost everything! Do you know how embarrassing this is for me?”
I shook my head, my voice a whisper. “No… I didn’t— I never—”