Betrayed By My Ex Claimed By His Two Friends

CHAPTER 4

I clenched my fists, my whole body shaking as I glared at the woman who had ruined my life time and time again. I wasn't going to let her take Trey away from me—not without a fight.

Before I could think twice, my hand swung through the air, landing a sharp slap across Valerie's smug face.

Slap!

A loud gasp filled the room as Valerie's head jerked to the side. She staggered backward, hand flying to her cheek, eyes widened in shock.

"You b***h!" she yelled, her voice coated in anger and disbelief.

I did not move, my breaths heavy in my lungs. "Whatever lies you try to spew, Valerie," I sneered, "it won't get you to steal my husband away from me.

Valerie's face changed in an instant as she played the part of pitiful, her lips trembling. "See, Trey?" she whined, her eyes shining with false tears. "She's always trying to hurt me! She's always trying to take what I love away from me!"

I laughed. "Are you serious? "

Valarie turned away from me, hanging onto Trey's arm like she was the victim. "Lena's always been like this," she snuffled, her voice quivering dramatically. "She pretends to be innocent, but she's the real bully. She took you from me, Trey! She took the only man I ever loved!

I took a deep gasp of breath. "You're lying." My voice trembled. "You didn't love him! You pestered him when we were children! You called him ugly, fat, pathetic—you made his life a nightmare!"

Valerie gasped as if I'd accused her of killing him. "It's not true!" She clung to Trey's hand tightly. "She's twisting all of it around!"

I took a step forward, ready to rip her lies apart, but before I could utter another word—

Trey pushed me.

Hard.

I wasn't expecting it. My body stumbled back, my feet slipping against the smooth floor. A startled cry left my lips as I lost my balance and fell.

Pain shot through my back as I landed on the ground, my hands breaking my fall at the last second.

The air was knocked out of me.

I lifted my head, dazed.

Trey towered over me, his eyes filled with nothing but disgust.

"Stay the hell away from Valerie," he spat, his voice cold and venomous.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe.

Trey… just pushed me?

The man who, once upon a time, had sworn to love me, with whom I found myself in his arms and against whom he would whisper forevermore—just discards me, like trash in the street.

Tears filled my eyes; I did not let them out. I gritted my way up to stand, holding myself against the nightstand. "Trey …" My voice cracked, speaking pleadingly. "You.You can't mean this. You can't."

Trey's lips curled in cruel amusement. "You still don't get it, do you?"

I shook my head, unable to believe the hatred in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Trey took a slow step forward, his towering frame making me feel unbearably small. "I never loved you, Lena." His voice was sharp, each word cutting deeper than the last.

My heart stopped.

No.

No, this had to be a nightmare.

He wouldn't… he wouldn't say that.

I stumbled a step of uneven step. "That isn't true."

Trey heeled a merciless laugh. "It is very true." He glanced over at Valerie, who was watching the scene play out with a smug smirk, before he looked back at me. "I only married you to spite her."

I felt my world crumble into pieces.

Trey went on, his voice oozing venom. "I proposed to Valerie first. But she turned me down. And when she did, I needed a way to get back at her. And guess who was right there, waiting for me like some desperate little puppy?"

I grabbed my chest, like I couldn't breathe.

No. No. No.

Trey leaned in, his eyes black with hatred. "You were nothing but a pawn." He smirked and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Really thought I could ever love someone like you?"

The breath left my lungs.

A stifling silence clamped down in the room, wrapped around me like a cold, merciless grip.

This was a lie.

It had to be.

Trey loved me. He loved me once. I wasn't making it up. I wasn't insane.

Then why did this hurt so badly?

Why did it feel like he'd just torn my heart straight from my chest and smashed it beneath his heel?

I swallowed hard, my shaking lips pushing forward. "Then… why sleep with me?" My voice came out small, broken. "Why pretend?"

Trey let out a humorless chuckle. "Because it was convenient."

Something inside of me snapped.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my hands shaking at my sides. He was lying. He had to be.

This didn't make sense.

I forced myself to meet his gaze, though my vision was blurry with tears. "If you hated me so much," I whispered, my voice shaking, "then why did you look at me like I was your whole world? Why did you hold me like you never wanted to let go?"

Trey's jaw tightened.

I saw it.

That tiny flicker of something in his eyes. Doubt? Guilt?

It was there for only a split second before Valerie grabbed his arm, pressing herself against him. "Baby, let's go," she purred, rolling her eyes. "She's just trying to manipulate you."

Trey tore his gaze from mine, his expression hardening again.

"Sign the damn papers, Lena," he muttered before turning toward the door with Valerie at his side.

He turned to me, his expression cold and detached. "Stop embarrassing yourself, Lena."

I flinched at the sharpness in his tone, but I refused to back down. "Why are you doing this?" My voice cracked as I searched his face for something—anything that made sense. "Why are you protecting her? Why are you acting like you love Valerie?"

Valerie let out a melodramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, this is pathetic." She reached out and clasped Trey's arm, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder. "Baby, come on, can we go? I don't want to spend any more time with her."

Trey let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples as if I were nothing but an irritation.

When he was through, and he turned that look on me, it cut deep—merciless.

“Lena,” he said, his tone so lifeless that it sent chills down my spine. “Stop pretending.”

I blinked, my throat tightening. “P-Pretending?”

His lips curled into something cruel. “That you’re some innocent victim in all of this.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “You always act like you’re so pure, like you’ve never done anything wrong. But the truth is—you’re just like everyone else.”

I shook my head, confusion clouding my mind. "What are you talking about?"

Trey exhaled, exasperated, like I was exhausting him. "You think you're better than Valerie? That you never hurt anyone?" He scoffed, his gaze darkening. "You're not some saint, Lena. And frankly? You're exhausting."

The words hit me like a wrecking ball, knocking the air from my lungs.

I was nauseous.

Was I really hearing this?

The person who was meant to love me… was he standing there, telling me I was tiring?

Trey exhaled heavily and turned to Valerie and shut me up. "Let's go," he snarled.

And with that… he began to walk away.

My legs went weak, my chest compressing so it was almost too hard to breathe.

He was abandoning me.

Like that.

Every step he took further from me felt like a dagger to my heart.

"Trey!" My voice broke as I made a desperate move forward. "You can't do this! You can't just—just throw me away like I never mattered!"

But he didn't even turn around.

He kept walking.

With her.

Valerie turned to shoot me a triumphant smirk over her shoulder, her eyes filled with nothing but victory.

And that was when it hit me.

A fractured laugh bubbled up from my throat.

It started softly, almost a whisper. But then it grew.

Louder.

Manic.

It tore through my frame like a storm, my head tilted back as laughter burst through my lips.

The laughter turned to gasps. And then—

Sobs.

Uncontrollable, gut-wrenching sobs.

I dropped to the ground, my body shaking, my hands curled into fists over my chest as I cried.

Trey didn't stop.

He didn't turn back.

I cried and cried, but the man who once swore to love me forever still walked away, his hand wrapped protectively around Valerie.

And just like that…

He was gone.

Hours Later…

I lay unmoving on the cold marble floor, my body drained from crying. My throat was raw, my eyes were swollen, my heart… empty.

I had nothing left inside me.

Nothing but pain.

I lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling as my mind replayed every moment, every memory, every little warning sign I ignored.

The hospital.

The day I saw Trey again after ten years.

Back then, I thought it was fate.

But now?

Now, I realize…

Trey never wanted me.

He was formal. Distant. Even when he proposed, there was no passion in his eyes. No warmth. No love.

I was just too blind to see it.

Or maybe—I did not want to see it.

The proposal… it was all a manipulation, wasn't it?

I let out a humorless laugh and shook my head. How could I have been such an i***t?

How could I have believed he loved me?

I curled up into myself as fresh tears slipped down my face.

It was all over.

Everything was over.

I had lost Trey.

I had lost the one person that I fought for.

Or maybe—he was never mine to begin with.

I squeezed my eyes shut, inhaling shakily.

But then… something inside me shifted.

A cold realization settled in my chest.

I had spent my entire life being the victim.

I had begged for love.

I had begged Trey to stay.

And for what?

To be humiliated? Discarded?

Slowly, I sat up, wiping my tears.

I wasn't going to cry anymore.

I wasn't going to beg anymore.

Trey thought he could destroy me?

He thought I would just break and disappear?

He was wrong.

Because this was the last time I would ever let anyone walk over me.

I clenched my fists, my eyes blazing with a new kind of fire.

Trey wanted me to sign the divorce papers?

Fine.