Chapter 9
979 Words
~ Becca ~
I wasn’t supposed to hear it.
That’s the cruelest part.
If I had walked in five seconds earlier, I would have screamed.
If I had walked in five seconds later, I might have missed it entirely and spent the rest of my life wondering if I imagined how little I meant to him.
But I heard every word.
I had gone back to the apartment for one reason only to grab my passport.
I told Nate I wouldn’t be long. I told him I didn’t want to see Stephen. I believed that.
The place smelled wrong the second I stepped inside. Not like us. Not like home. It smelled sharp. Sweet. чужая. Someone else.
I moved quietly, my shoes in my hand, my heart already pounding like it knew before I did.
Their voices came from the kitchen.
Stephen’s first.
Casual. Relaxed. Laughing.
“…I swear, Bri, I tried. I really did.”
I stopped breathing.
Brielle giggled. A soft, pleased sound that made my stomach twist.
“Then why did you propose to her if you knew you weren’t attracted to her anymore?”
There was a pause.
Then Stephen laughed.
Not nervous.
Not guilty.
Amused.
“Because it was easy,” he said. “Because she worshipped me. Because I knew she’d never leave.”
My knees locked.
Brielle snorted. “You’re horrible.”
“I’m honest,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”
I pressed my hand against the wall, steadying myself.
Brielle spoke again. “But come on… you have to admit, it was embarrassing.”
My chest tightened.
“Walking down the aisle with her?” Stephen said. “Yeah.”
They laughed together.
The sound felt like glass in my ears.
“She really thought she was the lucky one,” Brielle continued. “Like… look at me, I landed a Hale.”
Stephen exhaled through his nose. “I mean—did you see the dress? That thing was fighting for its life.”
I swallowed hard.
“She cried during the fitting,” Brielle said. “The seamstress had to keep letting it out.”
Stephen laughed louder this time.
“That’s what happens when you let yourself go,” he said. “I tried to motivate her. Gym memberships. Salads. Hints. But she always took it personally.”
My vision blurred.
“She really believed you loved her,” Brielle said.
Stephen didn’t answer right away.
Then:
“She loved me,” he said. “That was the useful part.”
I felt something inside me go quiet.
Dead quiet.
Brielle hummed. “You don’t feel bad at all?”
“For what?” Stephen replied. “She was comfortable. Safe. Taken care of. Some women would kill for that.”
I wanted to throw up.
“She just wasn’t… desirable anymore,” he continued. “Not like you.”
Brielle laughed softly. “So what now?”
Stephen sighed, like this was all mildly inconvenient.
“Now she’ll cry. Disappear for a bit. Then she’ll come back. She always does.”
My fingers curled into my palm so tightly my nails bit skin.
“She’s not strong enough to leave,” he added. “She needs me.”
Brielle’s voice dropped. “And if she doesn’t?”
Stephen scoffed. “Then she’ll be alone. And she knows it.”
Silence followed.
Not awkward.
Comfortable.
Like they had just agreed on a fact.
I backed away slowly, every step careful, controlled, quiet.
My heart didn’t race anymore.
It felt heavy. Cold. Settled.
So this was it.
This was what I had been loving.
This was what I had been shrinking myself for.
Not love.Not loyalty.Convenience.
I slipped out of the apartment without making a sound.
The hallway felt too bright. Too loud. Too real.
When I reached the car, my hands finally started shaking.
Not because I was surprised.
Because something inside me had finally stopped begging.
Nate was waiting when I got back.
He took one look at my face and stood up immediately.
“What happened?”
I handed him the passport.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
His jaw tightened. “Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter.”
He searched my face. “Did he say something else to you?”
I hesitated.
Then I said the truth.
“He never loved me,” I said. “He loved that I stayed.”
Nate swore under his breath.
I sat down slowly, my body feeling hollow.
“I heard them,” I continued. “Laughing. About my body. About the wedding. About how I’d never leave.”
Nate’s fists clenched. “I’ll kill him.”
“No,” I said quietly.
He looked at me, surprised.
“No,” I repeated. “You won’t.”
I stared down at my hands.
“He already killed something,” I said. “I just need to bury it.”
Nate swallowed. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
“I do,” I said. “If I stay, I’ll forgive him. And I won’t survive that.”
Silence stretched between us.
Then Nate nodded once.
“How long?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Long enough to become someone they won’t recognize.”
He didn’t smile.
But something fierce flickered in his eyes.
“Then go,” he said. “And don’t come back until you’re ready.”
I stood up.
My chest hurt, but not the way it had before.
This pain was clean.
Sharp.
Purposeful.
I walked toward my room, toward the life I was about to erase.
Stephen thought I would come back.
He thought I was weak.
He thought my love made me small.
He was wrong.
And he would learn that.
Just not yet.
- Writer
