I SLEPT WITH MY EX'S ROLE MODEL

Rain began falling ten minutes before the last lecture ended. It wasn’t a storm nothing dramatic enough to send students running for shelter. Just a cold, steady drizzle that clung to skin and clothes, turning the sprawling campus of Blackthorn University gray and hollow. By the time the final bell rang, students poured out of lecture halls in noisy clusters, their laughter carrying across the marble courtyard. Umbrellas bloomed overhead in shades of black, navy, and crimson, dotting the square like dark flowers. At the center of it all stood Ethan Blake. And, though no one around him knew it yet, his life was slowly falling apart. He stood beside the old stone fountain near the student commons, one hand loosely gripping the strap of his backpack. Rain dampened his dark hair, strands falling across his forehead as droplets traced the sharp line of his jaw. At twenty two, Ethan wasn’t the kind of man people forgot.He had the sort of face that became more striking the longer you looked at ,it was clean, masculine features, high cheekbones, and eyes so pale they almost looked silver beneath the storm clouds. But most people on campus never looked twice.Not because he lacked presence ,but because Ethan Blake wore poverty like a second skin. His black hoodie had faded from too many washes. The edges of his sneakers were splitting apart. The canvas straps of his backpack were beginning to fray. Next to him stood Vanessa Carter. And Vanessa looked like she belonged to a world Ethan had only ever seen through glass.Her chestnut hair fell in soft waves over the collar of a cream colored designer coat. Gold earrings caught the glow of the courtyard lights, flashing whenever she moved. Her makeup was flawless, her lips painted a muted red Ethan used to find impossible to ignore, he could barely look at them without feeling sick. Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest and studied him with an expression that made something inside him tighten. It wasn’t anger. Anger would’ve been easier. This was disappointment. Around them, conversations began to die.Students slowed their steps. Heads turned. Phones quietly appeared. At Blackthorn University, people never missed public humiliation especially when it involved Vanessa Carter. She wasn’t just popular. She was untouchable. “Ethan.” Her voice was calm. Too calm. “We’re done.” For a second, he thought he’d misheard her. The words hung in the damp air before finally sinking in. Ethan blinked at her. “What?” are you deaf arrrrghhhh Vanessa let out a quiet breath, as if this were already exhausting her. “Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” A few people in the crowd snickered. Ethan’s fingers slowly curled into fists. Rain slid into his eyes, but he didn’t blink. “You said we’d talk tonight.” “I am talking.” Then a hand slid around Vanessa’s waist. Confident. Casual. Possessive. Ethan’s stomach dropped before he even looked up. Logan Pierce. Six foot three, broad shouldered, perfectly dressed in a tailored navy coat that probably cost more than Ethan’s monthly rent. His dark hair was effortlessly styled, his expensive watch gleaming beneath the campus lights. Golden boy. Basketball captain. Son of billionaire developer Richard Pierce.And, without question, the man Ethan hated most. Logan pulled Vanessa closer and grinned. “Seriously, man?” he said. “You actually thought she was still yours?” Laughter rippled through the crowd. Ethan felt his pulse begin to hammer. What hurt most wasn’t Logan. It was Vanessa. She didn’t step away, neither protest nor even looked ashamed. Ethan stared at her. “You planned this?” Vanessa held his gaze. “No.” She paused. Then added, almost gently “I just finally grew up.” The crowd murmured. Someone in the back whispered, “This is definitely going online.” Phones lifted higher. Logan stepped closer, lowering his voice just enough to make it feel personal. “You know what your problem is, Blake?” Ethan said nothing. Logan smiled. “You were never enough.” The laughter that followed cut deeper than Ethan expected. Vanessa looked away for a moment before speaking again. “I need someone who fits the life I’m building.” Her words landed harder than anything Logan had said. Ethan stared at her as memories flashed through his mind. Vanessa eating instant noodles with him on the floor of his apartment. Vanessa laughing beneath the library stairs. Vanessa whispering promises she swore she meant. And now She looked at him like he was something unfinished. Something temporary. A chapter she’d already outgrown. Logan reached into his coat and pulled out a platinum card, holding it between two fingers like a joke. “You know what this buys?” More laughter. He slipped it back into his pocket with a smirk. “More condoms.” The crowd erupted. Vanessa looked at Ethan one final time. with cruelty. Not with regret. With indifference. And somehow, that hurt most of all. “you filthy beggar you think you deserve a queen like me ,” she said quietly,then turned walking with Logan being in intemate position. The crowd followed them like they were part of the show. Some laughing. Some filming. Some pretending to feel sorry while uploading clips for strangers to judge. Within minutes, Ethan Blake was becoming campus entertainment. He stood alone in the rain. His chest felt hollow. As if someone had reached inside him and taken something he’d never get back. suddenly His phone began vibrating in his pocket. Once. Twice. Again and again Notifications popping Messages. Tags. Mentions. He pulled it out. Bro got replaced. She upgraded. Poor guy never had a chance. Ethan switched the phone off. Then he started walking. ****** The city looked different when your heart was broken. Streetlights felt colder. Traffic sounded sharper. Even the glow of store windows felt distant, like life was happening behind glass. Ethan walked for nearly forty minutes before he reached his apartment building. A cracked five story block squeezed between a convenience store and a cheap noodle shop. Peeling paint. Broken lights. An elevator that hadn’t worked in months. He climbed to the third floor, unlocked Room 309, and stepped inside. Silence greeted him. The apartment was barely bigger than a dorm room. A mattress on the floor. A folding table covered in textbooks. A mini fridge humming in the corner. Near the sink sat a chipped ceramic coffee mug. Vanessa’s favorite mug. Ethan stared at it for several seconds. Then he grabbed it and hurled it against the wall. The ceramic exploded into pieces. His breathing turned ragged. He ran both hands through his wet hair and sat heavily on the edge of the mattress. And for the first time that night He let himself break. A laugh escaped him. Then another. Sharp. Bitter. Almost manic. Because crying felt too honest. Too exposed. Three years. Three years of skipped meals. Late night shifts. Missed opportunities. Three years of sacrificing everything for a future that had just walked away in someone else’s arms. His phone vibrated again. Unknown number. He ignored it. Then a message appeared. Check your account balance. Ethan frowned. "nowadays scammers are too bold to even scam a poor people like us " He nearly deleted it,,,,stared at it for around one hours and decided to open his banking app , because he knew even if he was to be scammed the scammer could not get anything. His fingers trembled as he entered his password. Loading... One second. Two. Then the screen refreshed. Ethan stopped breathing. Current Balance: $5,000,014.45 He blinked. Refreshed. Same number. Again. Still there. Five million dollars. His legs nearly gave out. “No…” He backed into the wall, staring at the screen as his heart pounded against his ribs. “This has to be fake…” He opened the transaction history. Incoming transfer. Verified. No fraud alerts. No reversal. No error. Real. Completely real. A laugh escaped him. Then another. Soon he was laughing so hard his chest hurt. Only hours ago, he’d been calculating whether he could afford groceries for the week. Now ,,,He had five million dollars. His knees finally gave out, and he sank to the floor. Then a memory surfaced. A warm voice. A silver ring. Rain against a car window. And two faces he could no longer fully remember. His parents. Dead since he was six. At least... That’s what he’d always been told. His phone buzzed again. Another message. Your life begins now. A chill ran down his spine. Who was doing this? And why him? His thumb hovered over the number Then someone knocked on his door. Three slow, deliberate knocks. Ethan froze,,many thoughts ran in his mind or is this money fake ,are those FBI agent?,are those DCIs ? ,are those robbers? The apartment suddenly felt much smaller. Another knock. Then a calm male voice spoke from the other side. “Mr. Blake.” Ethan’s blood turned to ice. “We’ve been looking for you.” And in that moment Ethan realized the five million dollars might be the least shocking thing waiting for him.