What Lies Between Us

Nora's POV I felt the knife cut through my rib cage, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. For a second, I couldn’t understand what had happened. I stared at the woman standing in front of me. Her chest rose and fell rapidly beneath her expensive dress. Tears streamed down her face, ruining the makeup she had probably spent hours perfecting. Her hand trembled around the knife. The blade was still buried inside me. Then she pulled it out. A scream tore from my throat as pain exploded through my body. I stumbled backward, clutching my side as warmth spread between my fingers. My knees weakened, and I grabbed the edge of the table to keep myself from falling. The private lounge suddenly felt too quiet. Only the soft music playing from the speakers filled the room. The expensive champagne on the table remained untouched, two glasses sitting beside it as if nothing had happened. I had come here because Chris asked me to meet him. I thought we were going to talk about our wedding. Instead, I was bleeding on the floor. The woman stared at me, tears streaming down her face. “You want to steal him from me!” Her voice cracked. “But he is mine!” She cried the words as if they were being ripped from somewhere deep inside her. I stared at her in confusion. “I don’t understand.” My voice came out weak as I fought to stay alive. “You don’t understand?” She laughed bitterly through her tears. “You’ve been sleeping with my husband. You’ve been planning a wedding with my husband. You’ve been dreaming about a future with my husband!” My heart pounded against my ribs. “Who?” I swallowed, fighting against the pain ripping through my side. “Who is your husband?” I was crying now. I didn’t even care that the tears were running down my face. Her eyes widened. Then she said the one word that changed everything. “Chris.” My blood ran cold. Chris. I stared at her. No. It couldn’t be. My mind immediately rejected it. Chris wasn’t married. He couldn’t be. I searched her face, waiting for her to laugh and admit she was lying. She didn’t. Instead, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, and suddenly, every memory I had of Chris began playing inside my head. The nights he disappeared. The calls he couldn’t answer. The weekends when he suddenly had somewhere else to be. The way he always avoided talking about his family. I had thought he was private. I had thought he was busy. I had trusted him. God, I had trusted him. “Chris…” I whispered. The woman shook her head. “He told me he was working late when he was with you.” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “He told me I was imagining things whenever I asked if there was another woman.” Her voice broke. “And then I found you.” I stared at her, unable to breathe. She wiped her tears angrily. “I knew he was cheating. I just didn’t know with whom.” My legs finally gave out. I fell onto the marble floor. Pain shot through my body, but it barely registered anymore. My mind was screaming louder. Chris had a wife. My fiancé had a wife. And I had been the other woman without even knowing it. I looked at the woman through my tears. “You were going to take my husband from me,” she said. Her voice trembled. “But I won’t watch that happen.” The anger in her voice broke into another sob. I looked at her. She was crying openly now. “I spent years loving that man,” she whispered. “Years believing that whatever happened between us, he would always come home to me.” She looked down at the knife in her hand. “And then you came along.” Her fingers tightened around it. I wanted to tell her that I had never known. I wanted to tell her that Chris had lied to me too. But my mouth barely worked. My breathing was becoming harder. I pressed my palm against my wound. Blood covered my hand. Too much blood. My fingers trembled as I stared at them. This was my blood. I was losing too much of it. My vision began to blur. “Please…” I didn’t even know what I was asking for. Please help me. Please believe me. Please don’t leave me here. The woman stared at me. Then she looked at the blood covering the marble floor. For a second, regret flickered across her face. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something. But whatever she was thinking, she swallowed it. She turned away. She walked toward the door. I tried to move. “Wait.” I said weakly. She stopped. I struggled to lift my head, but I was too weak. “Please…” My voice was barely a whisper. She didn’t turn around. The door opened. Then she walked out. The door closed behind her. And I was alone. The silence was deafening. I could hear my heartbeat pounding inside my ears. Thump. Thump. Thump. Each beat seemed weaker than the one before it. I tried to breathe, but every breath felt like fire tearing through my chest. I looked down at myself. My clothes were soaked in blood. My hands were shaking. I tried to crawl toward my phone, but my arms were becoming too weak. The phone was only a few feet away. I reached for it. My fingertips brushed against the cold floor. I tried again. Nothing. My strength was disappearing. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. Fear rushed through me. I was going to die. I was actually going to die here. Alone. In a private lounge where I had come expecting to see my fiancé. My eyes filled with tears. How could Chris do this to me? How could he look into my eyes and tell me he loved me while having a wife waiting somewhere else? How many times had he lied? How many times had I smiled at him without knowing that another woman was waiting for him at home? All those promises. All those kisses. Every time he told me I was the only woman he wanted. A lie. It had all been a lie. I squeezed my eyes shut as another wave of pain tore through me. I wanted to scream, but I no longer had the strength. I wanted my mother. I wanted someone to find me. Anyone. My vision darkened. I fought to keep my eyes open. I didn’t want to die. Not here. Not because of him. Not before I made him answer for everything he had done. Not before I looked into Chris’s eyes and asked him why. I wanted him to know that I knew. I wanted his wife to know that I had never been her enemy. I had been lied to just as much as she had. But most of all, I wanted to live. I wanted another chance. A chance to wake up tomorrow. A chance to make Chris regret every lie he had ever told me. And if I survived this night… I would make sure Chris lost everything he had ever had. His money. His reputation. His perfect life. Everything. My eyes slowly closed. The last thing I heard was the lounge door opening again. Then everything went black.