The View From The Bottom
313 Words
While the elite clinked crystal flutes of champagne, Lucas and Sarah were huddled in a cramped booth at a dive bar, staring at a small television mounted on the wall.
The news segment flashed: "THE POWER COUPLE OF THE CENTURY? ETHAN THORNE AND AVERY DIVINE ANNOUNCE MEGA-MERGER."
Lucas watched the screen in a trance of mounting horror. He saw Avery, glowing in gold, standing next to a man who made Lucas look like a beggar. He saw the way Ethan looked at her—not with the boredom Lucas had felt, but with a predatory, protective adoration.
"It’s... it's not real," Sarah shrieked, her voice shrill and desperate. She gripped her glass so hard it nearly shattered. "She’s a rural girl! She’s a fraud! She must have tricked him. Lucas, do something!"
"Do what, Sarah?" Lucas snapped, his voice hollow. "She didn't just rent those cars. She is the Divine Group. And now she has Thorne."
He looked at the divorce papers, which he had carried in his pocket like a lucky charm that had turned into a curse. He realized that Sarah, with her constant whining and shallow greed, was a peasant compared to the queen he had thrown away.
"I need to talk to her," Lucas muttered, standing up unsteadily. "She loved me for three years. She won't just forget that. This Thorne guy is just a rebound. If I can just get her alone, I can explain..."
"Explain what?" Sarah screamed. "That you’re a failure? You’re not going anywhere!"
But Lucas wasn't listening. He saw the way Avery smiled at Ethan on the screen—a real, happy smile—and a toxic mix of jealousy and greed ignited in his chest. He was going to get her back, even if he had to burn her world down to do it.
- Writer
