Dear Ex, WATCH ME WIN

Chapter Three: Love?…..Never!

Eliana’s POV

The dress was black and simple but hugged my body in all the right places. My red lipstick was bold enough to say I don’t care, even though I did.

Dee wore a simple cream dress, it complemented her skin perfectly.

We got there late. The place was filled with laughter, soft music, and people who thought too much of themselves. I hated it. I loved it. I needed it.

Then I saw him.

Jeremy.

Leaning against a marble pillar, drink in hand, whispering something to the same red-haired woman I’d seen in my bed.

My stomach flipped, but I smiled anyway.

Two can play this game.

I grabbed a drink, even though I hadn’t eaten all day. It burned my throat, but it made me feel braver. I gulped it all down and took a second glass.

I laughed too loudly, smiled too easily, flirted with the first guy who gave me a second look.

He was tall, handsome in a simple way, and didn’t seem to care that I was clearly tipsy. He talked, I laughed, and soon enough I was touching his arm and swaying to the music.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeremy watching. His jaw tightened. He noticed.

Perfect.

Then one of his friends, that loud one, Kyle, came up beside him. I saw him lean over and whisper something. Jeremy’s face changed. Anger. Embarrassment.

Kyle laughed. I could almost read his lips: Can’t even keep a job, now can’t even keep your girl.

Good. Let them laugh.

I leaned closer to the stranger, my lips brushing his ear. “Kiss me now,” I whispered in a deep, sultry voice.

He looked surprised but didn’t hesitate. His lips met mine, warm and reckless, and for a moment I forgot to breathe. The room spun a little, but I didn’t care.

When I opened my eyes, Jeremy was staring, eyes red. Fury in his face. His drink shaking slightly in his hand.

Then he did it. He turned to the redhead, grabbed her by the waist, and kissed her. Hard. Right there. Right in front of everyone.

Something inside me cracked. I couldn’t take it.

I tore away from the guy I was kissing and stumbled toward Jeremy. “Are you serious right now?” I shouted. My voice came out too loud, too broken. “After everything? After what you did to me?”

People turned. The music dimmed.

Jeremy turned too, his smile sharp, a triumphant look in his eyes. “Eliana, you’re drunk.”

“Answer me!” I cried. “Why did you do it? Why her?”

He stared at me for a second, then said it, calm, cruel, and final.

“You were never enough, Eliana. I got tired of pretending you were.”

The words hit me harder than any slap could. My breath caught in my throat.

“Wow,” I whispered. “That’s was all I was to you? Something to get tired of?”

He shrugged. “You should go before you embarrass yourself more.”

“Five years, Jeremy.

I gave you five years of my life, I loved you, I stayed with you despite everything and this is how you treat me? like a piece of trash?”

He sneered, checking his watch. "And look where it got you. Go home, Eliana."

The redhead laughed, that ugly, high-pitched laugh. Then she picked up her glass and threw the drink right at me. Cold liquid splashed down my chest, soaking my dress.

I gasped. People around us murmured, some laughing quietly.

The redhead smirked, looking at Jeremy for approval. He smiled.

The cold shock of the alcohol hit my skin, and something inside me snapped. The sadness was gone. The heartbreak was gone.

I turned to leave, but my heel caught the slick pool of the spilled drink on the floor.

My foot slid completely out from under me. Time slowed down. I gasped, my hands flying out to catch myself, but there was nothing to grab.

Dee rushed toward me, but before she could reach, I slipped.

A sharp, agonizing pain shot through my palms and knees as they scraped across the shattered glass. Tiny shards bit into my skin, making me cry out in pain.

The room went dead silent. The gasp from the crowd was deafening

Cameras flashed. Laughter echoed.

Jeremy didn’t move. He just stood there, arms folded, watching me fall apart.

“You really are pathetic,” he said softly.

Security came over. Someone said I was “causing a scene.” Before I could defend myself, two guards were already pulling me up and walking me out. Dee screamed at them to stop, but no one cared.

She tried to reach for me again, but she was pushed aside.

Outside, the cold air hit me like a slap. I stood there shaking, my mascara running, my heart shattered.

I looked up at the bright building, the place where I had just been broken in front of everyone, and something inside me hardened.

No more tears. No more begging.

If he wanted to destroy me, he should’ve done a better job.

I wiped my face with my trembling hand and whispered, “He broke me. But he didn’t destroy me.”

I took a deep breath, the kind that hurts your chest. “I’ll destroy him first.”

And right there, in my soaked dress under the city lights, I made a promise to myself.

I would never fall in love again.

Never.

And Jeremy would regret ever making me believe in it.

And if that meant becoming someone colder, sharper, someone who could plan and hurt back—so be it. I would learn. I would build. I would fight.

Tonight I had been humiliated. Tomorrow I would start to rise.