Chapter 1
902words
His partner wasn't a woman, but his best friend—another man.
And my best friend Ava sat beside me, her face stone-cold as she pressed pause.
---
Three hours earlier, everything had still seemed normal.
Ava's text pierced through my day like a needle through fabric.
"Movie night. My place. Now. Drop everything and come over."
No greeting, no emojis, not even a single unnecessary word—every character radiated command. This wasn't Ava's style at all. As a lifestyle blogger with millions of followers, she typically paired even breakfast cereal photos with a barrage of cute emoticons.
A sharp sense of unease gripped me. I snatched my car keys and bolted out the door, leaving my pasta boiling on the stove.
As I sped toward her penthouse overlooking the city, my mind raced through worst-case scenarios—stalker fans breaking in, a business deal gone south, or worse. Ava's life always glittered with glamour, but danger lurked just beneath the surface.
When I pressed my fingerprint to her door lock, an eerie silence greeted me.
Her apartment was immaculate as always, the city's glittering skyline framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, the air infused with her signature white tea and ginger flower scent.
Ava stood with her back to me at her massive kitchen island, her silk-robed figure looking unusually fragile in the soft amber light.
She heard me enter and turned slowly. Her face showed none of the panic I'd expected—instead, she was terrifyingly calm.
"You're here," she said, her voice as steady as a news anchor's. "Drink? I've opened a '98 Burgundy Pinot Noir. It's perfectly breathed now."
My mind went blank, all my worries shattered by her eerie composure. I could only nod.
Ava poured with practiced elegance, the dark red liquid swirling in crystal glasses like coagulated blood. Her fingertips were ice cold when she handed me mine.
"What's going on, Ava? Your text scared the hell out of me." I searched her eyes for any crack in her composure.
"Patience," she took a small sip, a ghost of a smile playing at her lips. "I found this incredibly niche indie film. Very artistic. The ending will absolutely blow your mind."
As she spoke, she led me toward her state-of-the-art home theater. The massive screen descended from the ceiling, leaving the room lit only by the projector's dim glow.
"This kind of 'surprise' simply must be shared with my best friend," Ava said, pressing play before settling beside me on the plush sofa with unnerving casualness.
I clutched my wine glass, feeling like an actor who'd wandered onto the wrong set, directed by this familiar stranger beside me.
The movie began.
The visual quality was premium, with that distinctive cold palette of Nordic cinema, but the content made me instantly uncomfortable. It was a well-produced erotic film—boldly explicit, featuring two sculpted men intertwined in various artfully designed settings.
I shifted awkwardly, not knowing where to look, pretending to focus on my wine—which could have been vinegar for all I could taste. I glanced at Ava, who watched with unnerving focus, as if studying a Renaissance masterpiece, her face utterly expressionless.
The bizarre atmosphere had me on edge, each second stretching into eternity. The film had virtually no plot—just a series of increasingly imaginative sex scenes wrapped in pretentious artistry. The flexibility of the two male leads was so impressive I wondered if they'd spent decades in Olympic gymnastics training.
Just as I was about to suffocate in the awkward silence, the film finally ended after a scandalously bizarre "underwater tango," and the screen went dark.
I nearly sighed with relief, ready to break the suffocating silence with some casual comment, when Ava spoke.
"Don't move, Chloe," her voice was soft yet commanding. "There's an easter egg."
The screen lit up again. Gone was the artistic filter, replaced by rough footage that looked like it was shot on a smartphone, the camera shaking wildly.
Two sweaty faces squeezed into frame, laughing with smug satisfaction, their heavy breathing unmistakable.
My breath caught in my throat.
The handsome, roguish face on the left belonged to Ava's boyfriend of three years, Liam.
And the equally familiar face on the right was his best friend Jake, a fixture in our social circle.
In the video, Liam faced the camera with a sickeningly sweet tone I'd never heard before: "Baby, did you see? This is the 'surprise' I prepared for you. Do you like this gift?"
The footage lasted less than thirty seconds, but each frame felt like a poisoned dagger stabbing through reality.
My stomach churned, my brain buzzing with overload. I whipped around to look at Ava, but she maintained the same posture, watching quietly as if viewing a nature documentary rather than her boyfriend's betrayal playing out in high definition.
Through the suffocating silence came the sound of keys turning in the front door.
"Hey, babe! What are you watching? Got those burritos you love from that Mexican joint!"
Liam's cheerful voice floated in from the entrance, carrying the carefree lightness of someone utterly clueless—the sound hammered against my already frayed nerves.
Ava didn't answer. Didn't even turn.
She simply raised the remote and pressed pause. On the giant screen, Liam's face—contorted with passion—froze into a grotesquely comical portrait.
Then, Ava turned her head, her lips curling into a smile that could freeze hell itself.
