Discovery

Chapter Two

There was silence between us, the betrayal hanging thick in the air. Luke was standing there, Sophia beside him, and he made no effort to explain himself. He didn't even look sorry this time. He looked relieved. Relieved the secret was out, relieved the charade was over. The truth was finally out, and I was left standing there, a stranger in my life.

"Rose," Luke finally said, cold and distant. "Now that you know, we can start off the process of ending this. We'll file for divorce, and you can go your way."

His words felt like a blow to my chest. Divorce. Just like that. Without any digression, without emotion. He was talking about a marriage, of a life built together, like he would discuss some stock deal. All the years, all the memories reduced to absolutely nothing.

"Why?" I whispered, barely holding back the tears which threatened to flood my eyes. "Why did you do this?

My friend Sophia, who had betrayed me with my own husband, stepped forward. A smile began to play on her lips. It was not a smile of comfort or kindness. It was the smile of one who already knew he was going to win.

"Because Rose, he never wanted you," she said smoothly, the malice in her tone simply dripping. "You were a means to get to what he needed, and I helped him with your father's connections, the power. Luke and I, we were meant to be.

Her words stung, deep into my heart, with every syllable. I had been a pawn in their game, and I hadn't even known it. All this time, I'd thought I was loved; I'd thought I mattered. But to Luke, to Sophia, I was just another stepping stone, a means toward their goals.

Luke didn't even defend me. Arms crossed, he just stood there, looking at me as if I was the one in the way, the one who didn't understand. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation, but I knew there was no point. They had made their choices. And I wasn't a part of those choices anymore.

"Luke." My voice shook as I began. "How could you? How could you do this to me?"

He exhaled an impatient sigh because I made it so hard. "Rose, you knew this wasn't real. You knew what you were getting into. Now we're done, and I'm done."

It was as if someone had plunged a knife into my chest and was twisting and turning it. I couldn't breathe; I couldn't even think. All that love given, the years spent hoping, praying that things would get better, suddenly felt like nothing. I had been a fool. And now I was paying for that.

Sophia, sensing my distress, stepped closer toward Luke, her hand slipping into his. I couldn't bear to look at them, bear to see them so happy, so comfortable while I was left in the wreckage of what we once had.

I glanced at them a last time, then turned my back on them, on the only life I had ever known. I did not know in which direction I was headed. I only knew I needed to get out of there. I needed to get away from the numbing pain, the pending tears that were merely waiting to break loose-the numbness overtaking me.

I walked through the empty streets, my feet moving to a routine that was now instinctive, but my mind elsewhere-on the acts of betrayal, on the life that I thought I had, on the man that I thought I knew. The world around me seemed so far away, like a haze. I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to face the empty house, the life no longer mine.

My mind spiraled, everything weighing down on me. I tried to keep my legs moving-to clear my head-but my body wasn't agreeing with me. My chest felt tight, and I couldn't breathe. The world was spinning, and everything was a blur; it was as if I were drowning. It was as if the walls had begun to close in around me, the noise of the city mute and drowned out by the deafening silence within me.

And then, everything went dark.