9
1682 Words
Elena’s POV
“Elena, please.”
Ryan’s voice followed her the moment she stopped in front of her apartment door.
The exhaustion in her body disappeared instantly, replaced by something hot and painful.
Anger.
He stood there looking like he hadn’t slept all night. His shirt was wrinkled, his hair messy, and his eyes desperate.
Good.
Let him suffer.
For one second. Just one. Let him be miserable even though Elena knew it wouldn’t be half of what she’s going through.
Because she had spent the last twenty-four hours feeling like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.
“You need to leave,” she said coldly as she tightened her grip on her bag.
Ryan stepped closer immediately. “Not until you listen to me.”
Elena laughed softly.
Because she genuinely couldn’t believe him.
“You still think you deserve my attention after what you did?”
“Elena—”
“No.” Her voice cracked sharply through the hallway. “You don’t get to say my name like everything is normal.”
Ryan flinched slightly.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The hallway suddenly felt too small. Too quiet.
Then Ryan sighed heavily and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
Elena stared at him.
“That,” she whispered, “is your explanation?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
“Then explain it to me, Ryan.” Her eyes burned with tears again. “Explain how my boyfriend ended up kissing my best friend while I was downstairs looking for him.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“You were not ready to listen to me.”
“Because I caught you cheating!”
Several apartment doors nearby shifted slightly.
People were probably listening now.
Elena didn’t care.
Ryan lowered his voice quickly. “Can you stop yelling?”
The disbelief that crossed her face was immediate.
“Stop yelling?” she repeated softly. “You betray me and your concern is that I’m embarrassing you?”
“Elena, please—”
“No!” she snapped. “You don’t get to calm me down right now.”
Ryan looked frustrated now instead of guilty.
And somehow that hurt even more.
“You think this was easy for me?” he muttered.
Elena blinked slowly.
“…What?”
Ryan exhaled sharply like he had been holding things in for too long.
“You were never around anymore,” he said. “Every day it was work or the hospital or another problem. You stopped seeing me. It was always Daniel.”
The slap came before Elena even fully realized she moved.
The sound echoed violently through the hallway.
Ryan froze. So did she.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as tears spilled down her face.
“You do not,” she whispered shakily, “get to blame my sick brother for your cheating.”
Ryan touched his cheek slowly, stunned.
“I’m not blaming Daniel—”
“Yes, you are.”
Her voice broke completely now.
“I spent every single day trying to survive, Ryan. Trying to keep my brother alive while still loving you the best way I could.” Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. “And all this time… all this time you were sleeping with my best friend.”
“It wasn’t serious,” he said quickly.
That sentence shattered something inside her.
Not serious.
Like her pain was small.
Like her trust meant nothing.
Elena let out a broken laugh.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You really don’t understand what you did.”
Ryan stepped toward her carefully. “I made a mistake.”
“You made choices.”
“Elena—”
“No. Listen to me for once.” Her voice trembled violently. “I defended you to people. Do you know that? When coworkers said Tessa was too close to you, I defended both of you like an idiot.”
Ryan’s eyes softened slightly. “Baby—”
“Don’t call me that.”
The coldness in her tone silenced him immediately.
Elena wiped angrily at her tears.
“We’re done.”
Ryan’s expression hardened instantly.
“No.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Excuse me?”
“Please just listen. We can’t break up.”
For a second, Elena genuinely thought she misheard him.
Then anger exploded through her chest again.
“You cheated on me.”
“And I said I’m sorry.”
“You think sorry fixes this?”
Ryan moved closer desperately. “I love you.”
Elena stared at him for a long moment.
Then laughed bitterly through tears.
“You love me?” she whispered. “Ryan, people don’t cheat on the people they love.”
Pain flashed across his face briefly.
But then his jaw tightened stubbornly.
“You’re angry right now.”
“I hate you right now.”
Silence.
The words hit harder than she expected.
Ryan looked like she had physically hurt him.
But Elena couldn’t take them back.
Because they were true.
Right now, she hated him for making her feel stupid.
For making her doubt every memory they shared.
For taking the little trust she still had left in people and crushing it completely.
Ryan swallowed hard.
“You think I’m just going to let you walk away from us?”
“There is no us anymore.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I absolutely mean it.”
Ryan’s eyes darkened slightly.
“No,” he said quietly. “I’m not losing you.”
Something about the way he said it made unease crawl down Elena’s spine.
“Leave,” she said firmly.
Ryan stared at her for several tense seconds before finally stepping back.
But before turning away, he looked at her one last time.
“This isn’t over.”
Then he walked away.
The next morning, Elena felt hollow.
She barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard Alexander’s voice.
“Marry me.”
And then Ryan’s.
“This isn’t over.”
By the time she entered Hartwell Corporation, her nerves were already stretched thin.
Then she saw them. Ryan and Tessa.
Standing near the elevators together.
Like they hadn’t shattered her life.
Elena stopped walking immediately.
Her stomach twisted painfully. She hated that she worked with them and would have to see them whenever she comes to the office.
Tessa noticed her first.
The guilt on her face appeared instantly.
“Elena…”
Ryan turned quickly.
Relief crossed his expression the moment he saw her.
“Elena, wait.”
She turned sharply to leave.
But Ryan caught up quickly beside her.
“Please talk to me.”
“Move.” Elena said angrily.
“Elena—”
“Move.” She repeated.
Tessa approached slowly now, looking nervous and pale.
“I know you hate me right now—”
“Hate you?” Elena turned toward her finally. “Tessa, you slept with my boyfriend.”
The words landed brutally between them.
Nearby employees suddenly became very interested in their phones.
Tessa’s eyes filled with tears immediately.
“Elena, it wasn’t planned. That was a mistake.”
Elena laughed in disbelief.
“That’s supposed to make it better?”
Tessa shook her head desperately. “No, I just—”
“How long?”
Ryan and Tessa exchanged a quick look.
That alone gave Elena her answer.
Her chest tightened painfully.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “It wasn’t just once.”
“Elena…” Ryan started.
“How long?” she repeated louder this time.
Tessa looked down.
“A few months.”
The world tilted slightly.
A few months.
All those dinners.
All those laughs.
All those moments Tessa sat beside her pretending to be her friend while secretly sleeping with the man she loved.
Elena felt sick.
“You both looked me in the eye every day,” she whispered.
Tessa started crying openly now. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” Elena said coldly. “You’re sorry I found out.”
Then she walked away before they could stop her again.
Her hands shook so badly she almost dropped her bag when she reached her desk.
A few hours later. Liv walked up to Elena’s desk.
“Oh no. You look terrible.” She said to Elena.
Elena laughed bitterly. “That obvious?”
“You look like you want to commit murder.”
“Maybe I do.”
Before Liv could answer, another employee approached nervously.
“Um… Elena?”
She looked up tiredly.
“The CEO asked for you.”
Her stomach dropped instantly.
“What?” She asked trying to compose herself.
“Mr. Vale wants you to bring coffee to his office.”
Elena blinked slowly.
“…Coffee?”
The employee nodded awkwardly. “Yes.Black. No sugar.”
Then he hurried away.
Liv stared openly.
“Why would the CEO specifically ask you for coffee?” She asked Elena in surprise.
Elena grabbed the bridge of her nose tiredly.
“I have no idea.” She answered.
“That’s literally not your job.” Liv said.
“I know.” Elena confirmed. Alexander Vale wanted her in his office and now she is more distraught than ever.
She stood reluctantly and went to the coffee stand and picked up the coffee tray.
As she was walking the hallway towards the executive elevator, irritation slowly mixed with her anxiety.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath.
Then suddenly—
Someone slammed into her shoulder.
The tray tilted violently.
Coffee spilled everywhere.
Hot liquid splashed across her hands, the floor, and another person’s white blouse.
“Oh my God!”
Elena looked up sharply.
And froze.
Tessa stood in front of her.
Coffee dripping down the front of her clothes.
Her eyes wide with shock.
For one long second, neither woman moved.
The tension between them became suffocating.
And then Tessa whispered softly,
“You are never careful, are you?”
- Writer
