Chapter 2
1401 Words
Hope's POV
“Where are we heading to?” The driver asked, already tapping something into his meter.
“Westview Restaurant.” I said, barely getting the words out before he stepped on the accelerator and sped into traffic.
My heart was hammering so loudly it felt like it echoed inside the small cab. I clutched my phone tight, the video Riley sent looping endlessly as I watched Alex laughing and kissing the girl he was with.
“No… this can’t be him.” I whispered under my breath, as I tried to convince myself it was someone else and not him. “Maybe he has a lookalike. It has to be a lookalike.”
I replayed the video again, leaning forward as if pressing my face closer would change the truth. The woman with him was his coworker, Sarah. The one he’d sworn was like a “sister" to him. The same woman he'd insisted was harmless, and I’d never felt comfortable around but forced myself to trust because he’d said I was “overthinking.”
I hated how naive I suddenly felt and how right my cousin turned out to be.
The cab rushed down the busy street and my cousin Sophia placed a hand on my knee, trying to steady me, but even her presence couldn’t stop the feeling in my chest.
“Hope… breathe.” She said softly.
And before I knew it, the cab came to a halt.
“We’re here.” The driver said, as Westview Restaurant’s glowing sign came to full view.
I paid quickly and practically stumbled out of the cab. The door had barely shut when Riley rushed out from behind a parked car.
“Oh my God.” She said, pulling me into a tight hug. “I’ve been watching them. They haven’t left. They’re still inside, acting like they’re on some honeymoon.”
“Show me.” I said, pushing past Riley before she could say anything else.
We walked toward the glass windows, and I stopped before I could get too close. I didn’t even need to. I could see Alex clearly from where I stood.
And he wasn’t just sitting with her.
He was leaning in and stroking her chin with the same hand he used to stroke my cheek while whispering something that made her giggle and cover her mouth shyly.
I felt my world tore into two as my heart shattered watching him.
“Alex?!” His name escaped me in a voice that didn’t sound like mine and I stepped closer, unable to help myself.
He slowly looked in my direction and scanned me from my head to my toes slowly and dismissively like he was bored. Then he looked away like I was some stranger interrupting his dinner.
He stroked the other woman’s chin again, Sarah's, and drank from his glass, intentionally ignoring me.
My entire body went cold.
I walked right up to him before my courage could evaporate.
“Alex?” I called his name again, still in shock.
This time he stood, exhaling loudly like I was inconveniencing him.
“What?!” He asked.
What?
“What do you mean ‘what’?” I snapped, as my voice began to break. “You’re cheating on me. Alex, you’re cheating on me!”
His date looked me up and down with a smirk that made my blood boil.
And suddenly, phones started coming out as people started recording like this was a show.
Just great.
“Let’s talk outside." I grabbed Alex’s hand gently, trying to pull him aside. "Alex, please. Let’s just go—”
He yanked his hand away like my touch disgusted him.
“Alex, what are you doing?” My voice cracked, and embarrassment crawled up my neck.
Sarah stood and inserted herself right between us.
“He clearly doesn’t want to be with you." She said in that annoying voice of hers. “He wants to be with me. Why don’t you run off like the little puppy you are and go home and cry?”
“Stay out of this.” I warned her sternly. “This is between me and Alex.”
“Or what?” She lifted a brow and stepped closer with her drink in hand.
And before I could respond, a cold splash hit my chest as her entire drink spilled down my front.
The liquid soaked my top instantly, dripping down my skin and the bralette I wore underneath.
People gasped, and more phones went up as they started recording and taking pictures.
I stared down at my wet clothes, then up at her as disbelief cracked inside me.
"Oops." She said nonchalantly.
“You did not just—”
“It was an accident.” She said with the fakest innocent tone I’d ever heard.
"Hope, let’s just go." Riley said as she pulled my hand. "She’s provoking you. Alex isn’t worth it.”
“Yeah, Hope, come on." Sophia echoed her. "Let’s leave before this gets worse.”
But I couldn’t move even though in my mind I tried. My feet were rooted in the ground.
I stared straight at Alex, with tears forming in my eyes.
“What did I ever do to you?” I whispered. “Alex… all I ever did was love you.”
He sighed dramatically and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“I never loved you.” He said coldly and his words hit me straight like a bullet, piercing my heart.
And he didn’t stop there.
“You’re too clingy and I'm tired of you. Honestly, you were more like a chore than a girlfriend.”
His words sliced even deeper than anything I’d ever felt.
Sarah then sauntered over to him, lifting his arm around her shoulders and resting her head on him, looking straight at me with triumph.
“Run along, pup.” She said with a lazy smirk. “He’s mine now.”
And then I snapped.
I lunged at her shirt before I even thought it through, my fingers catching the fabric. I didn’t care about the cameras or the crowd as I felt like beating the hell out of her.
Before I could get a grip, Riley and Sophia grabbed me from both sides.
“Hope! No—stop! Stop!” They cried, holding me back.
And Alex stepped in between me and Sarah like I was the threat.
“Can you stop?!” He yelled. “You’re embarrassing yourself. Just leave already, Hope. God, you’re always creating a scene.”
“I'M creating a scene?” I shot back, my tears spilling over. “You call THIS creating a scene? You cheated on me! How am I the one embarrassing myself?!”
“Everything doesn’t always revolve around you.” He said dryly. “You always act like you’re the victim.”
I felt my heart ripped further into pieces as he said that and he kept on going.
“I saw no future with you." He continued. "And honestly? I don’t think any man out there will ever love you for who you are. You’re too much. Get a life and leave me alone.”
It felt like the world tilted under my feet at that moment as I suddenly felt a little dizzy.
Someone in the crowd gasped and Sarah giggled.
"How cute. Your n*****s are literally showing.” She said as she pointed at my breasts popping through the mess she had made on me.
My hand flew up before I could think as I was about to slap her.
I didn’t care if it got me arrested and I didn’t care if the whole world was watching.
But Riley and Sophia blocked my arm again.
“HOPE! No!” They said simultaneously and Alex rolled his eyes as if I was the problem.
“Go home." He barked. “You’re making everything worse.”
I stared at him in disbelief as my eyes were running with streams of tears now.
And just then, I turned and practically ran.
Riley and Sophia called after me and sprinted behind me, trying to keep up and I swear I could hear Sarah laughing even as we left the scene.
I hailed the first cab I saw, yanking the door open. Riley and Sophia dove in beside me just before the driver sped off.
- Writer
