003:WET PUPPY
1519 Words
~~Selene~~
Ethan hasn’t replied to my texts. It’s been hours, and he hasn’t even read them. This is a first. He always has his phone right by him just so he can hear from me all day.
My knuckles clench around the steering wheel, maneuvering my car away from the Vaughn estate. Grandfather had locked me in all day just to get me to agree to this farce of a marriage. I barely managed to slip out through the thick security detail ten minutes ago.
I need to see Ethan. I need to tell him everything before he hears it from someone else. My mind drifts to Grandfather’s last words this morning.
“Think about your mother.”
My mother.
My vision blurs. Mother has been away for as long as I remember, confined in an asylum for mental issues. I don’t even remember what she looks like anymore. She is as healthy as every other member of the family, yet grandfather has her locked up for reasons I don’t know. How could he be so cruel, dangling her freedom in front of me like a bait just so I would meet his demands?
What if this is her chance to be free? What if she loses her freedom forever just because I couldn’t make sacrifices?
My chest tightens. I need to see Ethan. I need my safe space.
A relieved sigh escapes me when I spot his car in the driveway. He’s home, thank god! Within seconds, I let myself in with the spare key he had given me on our fifth anniversary. The lights are on, his scent lingers, and I bolt for the stairs.
Then I hear it.
A low, familiar groan floats into my ears, causing me to stop in my tracks. Something nags at me, urges me to leave, but I trudge forward stubbornly.
The door is ajar. Soft, wet sounds fill my ears, followed by Ethan’s ragged moans.
“f**k… Just like that, Vivienne.”
My world crumples before me.
Vivienne is on her knees in front of Ethan, her lips gripping his c**k. His pants are in a pool around his ankles, one hand fisted in her hair and guiding her as she moves. His eyes are closed, head tilted back, lips parted in pleasure. The wet sounds fill the room —intimate, filthy.
Devastating.
A strained cry leaves my lips. Ethan jerks upright, shoving my cousin away from him. “Damn, Vivienne! You said she was locked up at home.”
He yanks his pants from the floor to cover up, as if that’s enough to erase everything I just witnessed.
Vivienne, who had been pushed away roughly, picks herself up. She turns to me, her eyes clouded with disdain. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that question.” Tears burn my eyes. What did I just witness? Ethan, my boyfriend of eight years has been cheating on me with my cousin?
How long has this been going?
I claw at my chest, finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden. Vivienne wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, a triumphant glint in her eyes.
“Selene,” Ethan says, his voice hoarse. “It’s not -“
“Don’t.” I cut him off, shaking my head vigorously as tears stream down my cheeks. “Don’t you dare try to lie to me.”
Smoothing her designer skirt, Vivienne rises. “Well, this is awkward timing,” she huffs dryly. “I hope you are not too shocked, Selene. Thinking you and Ethan would be end game was a pipe dream anyway.”
I stare at her in shock, my heart breaking into a million pieces. Vivienne has tormented me since childhood. She had everything I didn’t. Love, approval, yet it wasn’t enough. How could she take the one person I could call mine?
Was he ever mine?
“I know this hurts, Selene,” she drawls, her tone laced with so much arrogance. “You’ll get over it. Did you really expect Ethan to marry you? Besides that meager subsidiary father dumped on you, you own no shares in the Vaughn group. Why would a man like Ethan want to marry you?”
My body trembles. I tear my gaze from her to my boyfriend.
“How long has this been going on?”
Remorse floods his expression. But despite that, he pulls Vivienne close. “Six months now,” he replies. “I’m sorry, Selene. She’s right. I will take over from my father. I need a woman with a strong foundation, and you can’t give me that.”
Vivienne leans into him. “We were hoping you’d find out after getting married to Rain Manchester.”
We? Wait! Ethan knows about Rain Manchester?
Everything clicks all of a sudden. The video circulating, the fact that her face didn’t show in it, the deliberate showcase of that brooch. She knew grandfather would sacrifice me if he needed to.
“Did you two plan what happened with Rain Manchester?”
No one replies.
They don’t need to. The answer is evident on their faces.
It feels like I was doused with thousands of ice cubes.
“That was the only way I could let you go without hurting you,” Ethan says. He steps forward, reaching for me. I flinch back so hard my back hits the door frame.
“Without hurting me?” I draw in laboured breaths. My throat is parched, lungs devoid of oxygen all of a sudden. “I loved you, Ethan. I have always loved you. How could you do this to me?”
Ethan rolls his eyes, tired of playing nice. “Selene,” he mocks. “I stayed with you because it was beneficial. Your grandfather may be cold to you, but being the boyfriend of his granddaughter still meant something in certain circles.”
He runs a hand through his hair in apparent frustration. “I never wanted anything permanent. I should have broken up with you a long time ago.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I yell at him. “Why did you choose to string me along while sneaking around with my cousin.” The more I speak, the more tears fall. Ethan knows all Vivienne has put me through. Every time she schemed to make me fall from grandfather’s favour, I’d vent to him. Ethan would comfort me, listen to me. Was it all fake?
“You should have just ended things. Why didn’t you?”
“You were pathetic, like a wet puppy in the rain that had to be saved. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you even more.”
His words are like tiny knives being thrust into my heart. I wipe my tears, trying to stop my lips from quivering. If I had known he only dated me out of pity, I wouldn't have devoted eight years of my life to this man.
“And no,” he goes on. “You never loved me. You loved the stability I offered. I treated you differently, hence your feelings.”
My knees wobble. I grip the doorframe to steady myself. I don’t know what hurts more, hearing his words or the knowledge that he hated being with me so much that he threw me to someone else.
“Setting me up with another man wasn’t needed, Ethan.” A sniffle follows my words. “I may be pathetic, but I know when to leave when I’m not needed.”
“Believe it or not, Vivienne has done you a great favor by setting you up with Rain Manchester.”
“Yes,” Vivienne chips in. “You should be grateful to us, Selene. No family would want to accept the daughter of a crazy woman if we didn’t step in. You’re marrying into the Manchester family. That’s enough reason to be happy.”
The room spins. Everything I thought was real: the late-night talks, promises, the way he held me while I ranted to him about my day, none of it was mine. I was nothing but a stepping stone to be replaced by someone better.
I can’t believe I almost traded my mothers freedom for a scum bag like him. Without another word, I turn around and walk out the door. Vivienne fires slurs I don’t hear. Ethan doesn’t even try to follow.
By the time I reach my car, my hands are shaking so badly I can barely grip the wheel. I want to scream. I want to curse them out till the house crumbles and buries them under rubble.
Instead, I pull out my phone and dial my grandfather’s line. He answers on the second ring. “Selene? Where are you? I clearly instructed you to stay here until —“
“I’ll marry Rain Manchester, Grandfather.” My tears soak my shirt. “I’ll do it.”
There’s a pause. When he speaks again, it’s with immense satisfaction.
“That’s a wise decision, Selene. We’ll begin arrangements immediately.”
- Writer
