I BEGGED HIM TO STAY

CHAPTER 1: The Door I Shouldn’t Have Opened “Don’t stop… she’s not coming back.” My hand froze on the doorknob. That voice… I knew that voice. A soft, breathy laugh followed. “Are you sure?” a man asked. My heart dropped. I knew that voice too better than my own. “Of course,” she replied casually. “She’s probably still at the venue arguing about flower colors. You know how she is… boring and obsessed with perfection.” The word boring hit harder than it should have. I stood there outside my own bedroom, fingers trembling against the handle. My mind screamed at me to walk away to pretend I hadn’t heard anything. But I couldn’t move. Inside, the bed creaked, followed by a low groan. “God… you’re so much better than her,” he muttered. Something inside me snapped. No. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. I tightened my grip and pushed the door open. And just like that, my entire world shattered. They were on my bed. The sheets I had picked out myself tangled around their naked bodies. My fiancé. My best friend. For a moment, everything went silent. Like the universe had paused just to let me feel the full weight of what I was seeing. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to look. Her hands were on his chest. His lips trailed along her neck. The way they moved together… it looked practiced. Familiar. Like this wasn’t the first time. A tear slipped down my cheek before I even realized I was crying. They finally noticed me. Her eyes widened first. Then his. But not in guilt. Not in shame. In annoyance. “Seriously?” he said, pulling away from her with a sigh. “You don’t knock?” I blinked, trying to process what he had just said. Knock? This was my house. My room. My bed. And he was asking why I didn’t knock? “I…” My voice cracked. “I came home because I wasn’t feeling well.” It was true. I had left the wedding venue early. All day, something had felt off a strange uneasiness I couldn’t explain. I thought it was just stress. In three days, I was supposed to marry him. The same man now looking at me like I was an inconvenience. “Clearly,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. I stared at him, my chest tightening. This man… the one I had loved for five years, trusted with everything, built my future around… didn’t even look sorry. Not even a little. “Say something,” I whispered. My voice sounded small. Broken. He glanced at her, then back at me, like he was deciding whether I was worth the effort. “Fine,” he said at last. “Since you’re already here… we might as well stop pretending.” My heart clenched. “Pretending? What are you talking about?” My best friend—no, the woman I thought was my best friend—sat up slowly, pulling the sheet over herself. There was no shame in her expression. If anything, she looked irritated. “I think it’s obvious,” she said coolly. “We’re together.” Together. The word echoed in my mind like a cruel joke. “No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “No, this… this is just a mistake. A moment. It doesn’t mean anything.” Even as the words left my mouth, I hated how desperate they sounded. He laughed. Actually laughed. “A mistake?” he repeated. “You really think this just started today?” My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?” He leaned back against the headboard, completely at ease. “We’ve been seeing each other for months,” he said. Months. The room seemed to tilt. “No…” I whispered. “That’s not possible.” I turned to her, my voice trembling. “You’re my best friend.” She shrugged lightly. “And?” That single word shattered something inside me. “How could you do this to me?” I asked. She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, don’t make this dramatic. If anything, you should thank me.” My mind went blank. “Thank you? For what?” “For showing you the truth,” she said smoothly. “He was never really yours.” I couldn’t breathe. I turned back to him, searching his face, hoping desperately that he would deny it. That he would say something to fix this. But he didn’t. He just looked at me with that same cold expression. And in that moment, something terrifying became clear. I had already lost him.