Healing His Shadows

Chapter 3: The Patient Who Knows Too Much

-POV Elara

I barely slept after that dinner and the weird hallway moment with Fletcher. His gray eyes kept looping in my head, that almost-touch on my shoulder still prickling under my skin even hours later. I tossed and turned until the sky started to lighten, then gave up and dragged myself through another long shift at the hospital. By the time I got home, my body was done. The ring on my finger kept catching on everything, digging in like a reminder I didn’t want.

Glenn texted earlier saying he had a late family meeting—something about his mom needing him for some Voss business. “Don’t wait up, babe. Love you,” he wrote. I believed him. Or at least I wanted to. I crashed early, telling myself tomorrow I’d figure out what the hell was going on with us.

But sleep didn’t last.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand around midnight. Once. Twice. I blinked awake, heart already picking up speed. Unknown number. I opened the message and the screen lit up my face in the dark room.

A photo.

Glenn. In a hotel room. Shirt half open, that familiar lazy smirk on his face. Gloria right there with him—her hand on his chest, lips close to his ear, wearing almost nothing. The kind of picture that didn’t leave any room for doubt.

My stomach dropped so fast I thought I might actually throw up. I sat up in bed, sheets tangling around my legs, staring at the image like it would change if I looked harder. Sensory anchor—that cheap hotel lamp in the background, the same coral lipstick smear on his collar I’d seen before. It was all real.

I scrolled up. No text, just the photo. Anonymous sender, but I knew. Gloria. My best friend. The one who was supposed to have my back.

Before I could even process, another message came in. This time it was a short video clip.

I pressed play with shaking fingers, volume low. Gloria’s voice filled the quiet bedroom—low, mocking, full of that degradation edge that made my skin crawl. “Look at you, baby… so hard for me while your fiancée is probably waiting at home like a good little doctor.” She laughed softly, then spit right on him, slow and deliberate, spit play dripping down his chest as Glenn groaned and pulled her closer. “Tell me how much better this feels than her boring ass.”

The video was only twenty seconds, but it felt like forever. Degradation pouring out of her mouth while Glenn ate it up, eyes half-closed in pleasure. My bestie and my boyfriend. In a hotel. While I was here believing his “family meeting” bullshit.

I paused the video, chest tight. Emotional misdirection—part of me still wanted to text him “where are you?” and give him a chance to lie his way out. But I already knew.

I typed fast, fingers flying.

Me: Family meeting, huh?

No reply. Of course not.

Another deflection loop started in my head. Maybe it’s old. Maybe someone faked it. But the timestamp was tonight. The sheets looked fresh. The cologne I smelled on him yesterday was all over that room.

I stood up, pacing the bedroom in the dark. The mansion felt too big, too empty. My bare feet were cold on the marble floor. I kept replaying the video in my mind even though I hated it—the way Gloria called me boring, the way Glenn didn’t even push back. Incomplete denial. He never said no to any of it.

My phone buzzed again. Another photo from the same number. This one closer. Gloria straddling him, his hands on her hips, both of them laughing like they owned the night.

I sank down on the edge of the bed, the ring catching the phone light and throwing tiny reflections across the wall. It didn’t feel like a promise anymore. It felt like a f*****g joke.

Why the hell was I still wearing it?

I twisted it around my finger, tighter and tighter, until the skin underneath went white. Part of me wanted to throw the damn thing across the room. Another part—the stupid, hopeful part—was still waiting for Glenn to walk through the door and give me some half-assed excuse I could almost believe.

The phone stayed quiet after that. No more messages. Just the photos sitting in my gallery like evidence I couldn’t unsee.

I didn’t cry. Not yet. I just sat there in the dark, heart hammering, wondering how long this had been going on behind my back.

And whether I was going to confront them… or keep pretending everything was fine until it all blew up in my face.

End of Chapter 3