Aftermath And Betrayal

Chapter Five: Aftermath and Betrayal

I woke up with a start. Light sliced through the dim room, my head pounding, my body sore. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. The sheets beneath me were unfamiliar. The air smelled of something that wasn’t mine.

And then it all came rushing back.

The man. The stranger. The night.

Panic surged through me as I bolted upright. My clothes were in disarray, my skin humming with the aftermath of what we’d done. My breath came in short gasps. What have I done?

I turned my head, my heart hammering. He lay beside me, his back rising and falling in slow, steady breaths. So different from the broken man of last night, the one who clung to me like I was his last lifeline.

Now, in the cold light of day, I couldn’t even look at him.

I scrambled out of bed, grabbing my clothes with shaking hands. Shame burned my skin. I had come here to escape, to breathe, to clear my mind. Instead, I had done the unthinkable.

I needed to leave. Now.

As I reached for my purse, I heard him shift.

“Where are you going?” His voice was rough with sleep, yet something in his tone—something unreadable—made my spine stiffen.

I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t.

“I can’t stay,” I whispered. “I have to go.”

And then I ran.

My hands trembled on the steering wheel as I drove home. The night before played over and over in my mind, clashing with the reality I had to face.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into.

The door was ajar.

And inside, on our couch—Adrian and Sophia.

My breath caught in my throat.

His hands roamed her body. Her fingers tangled in his hair. Their lips moved together like they had done this a million times before.

The room tilted. My stomach dropped.

I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t breathe.

Every kiss, every touch, was a knife stabbing into me. I wanted to scream, to cry, to demand answers. But my body refused to obey.

And then Adrian looked up.

For a fleeting second, shock flashed in his eyes. But just as quickly, it vanished, replaced by something worse. Cold indifference.

“Lily,” he said, his voice disturbingly calm. “You’re back early. I didn’t think you’d still come here after last night.”

The words hit like a slap.

He knew.

He knew I had left. He knew where I had been. And yet, he sat here with her, utterly unbothered.

Sophia turned her head, a sickeningly sweet smile curving her lips. “Did you have a good time, Lily?” she asked, her voice laced with mock innocence.

I wanted to claw that smile off her face.

I swallowed, my throat burning. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

Tears blurred my vision. I hated that I was crying. Hated that they could still make me feel this way.

Adrian stood, his expression unreadable. “Lily, we need to talk.”

Talk? About what?

About how he had shattered me? About how he had thrown our vows away like they meant nothing?

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.

“No,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I’m done.”

Then I turned and walked away, each step breaking me a little more.