Chapter three: the perfect disguise
708 Words
Chapter Three: The Perfect Disguise
He asked me out with a bouquet of red roses and a handwritten love letter.
I stood there, staring at him in disbelief.
“Wow… why are you being so nice?” I asked myself.
The same man who had shattered my life now stood before me with the sweetest smile, looking like every girl’s dream.
The irony almost made me laugh.
Little did everyone know, he was a devil hiding behind the face of an angel.
Or maybe… I knew exactly who he was.
After that night, everything about him changed. He became gentle, patient, and caring. He bought me flowers, wrote me letters, and treated me like I was the most important person in his life.
Sometimes I caught myself wondering if that horrible night had only been a moment of lust. If he had approached me this way from the beginning, with respect instead of force, maybe I would have fallen in love with him.
Maybe we could have built something beautiful together.
Maybe…
But every “maybe” disappeared the moment the memories came rushing back.
No bouquet of roses could erase the pain he had caused me.
So I smiled.
I accepted every flower.
I read every letter.
I held his hand.
I even told him I loved him.
Every single word was a lie.
While he believed he was winning my heart, I was searching for the truth.
Whenever he left me alone in his hostel room, I quietly searched through his drawers, his backpack, his notebooks, his laptop, and even his phone whenever I had the chance. I was convinced he had made a mistake somewhere. Maybe there was a message, a picture, a recording, or something that could prove what he had done to me.
But every search ended the same way.
Nothing.
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
Months turned into years.
He became one of the most admired students on campus, while I buried myself in my books and counted the days until graduation.
I made myself a promise.
I would not make a move until I had left the university. I refused to risk my future before it had even begun.
So I stayed.
I smiled whenever he surprised me with flowers.
I laughed at his jokes.
I let everyone believe we were the perfect couple.
Even when I discovered he was seeing other women, I refused to leave.
He cheated because he wanted pleasure.
I stayed because I wanted justice.
If pretending to love him for years was the price I had to pay, then so be it.
Sometimes I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered who I had become.
The girl who once believed in love had disappeared.
Standing in her place was a woman whose heart had become cold enough to fake an entire relationship just to see the man who destroyed her pay for his sins.
Was I becoming just as broken as he was?
That question haunted me every night.
Still, I convinced myself that God had seen my tears. He knew the truth. He knew the pain hidden behind every smile I forced.
Finally…
Graduation day arrived.
Just like always, he came carrying a huge bouquet of red roses.
For the first time, he met my parents.
My mother couldn’t stop smiling.
My father shook his hand proudly.
They thanked him for standing by me throughout my years in school.
Watching them laugh with the man who had stolen my peace felt like someone was driving a knife deeper into my heart.
But I smiled.
No one noticed the pain behind it.
Everyone celebrated my success.
Everyone believed I had found the perfect man.
Only I knew the monster hiding beneath his smile.
As the celebration came to an end, he gently slipped a small note into my hand.
“I’m proud of you,” it read. “This is only the beginning of our future together.”
I looked into his eyes and smiled back.
A smile convincing enough to fool anyone.
Inside, my heart was as cold as ice.
He thought graduation was the beginning of our forever.
He had no idea…
It was only the beginning of the end.
- Writer
