Chapter 2
612words
Behind me, Terry's angry shouts mingled with the guests' whispers.
I couldn't care less.
At the hotel entrance, the cold night air hit my face, and I realized I was crying.
Tears I hadn't even felt.
My phone buzzed relentlessly with Terry's calls.
I rejected them all and blocked his number.
My best friend Cecilla called immediately after.
"Eula, I saw the video in the group chat. Are you okay? Where are you? I'm coming now!"
I texted her the address of our usual quiet bar.
By the time Cecilla arrived, I'd downed two bottles of wine.
Without a word, she grabbed my glass. "Enough! That bastard isn't worth it!"
I laid my head on the table, tears flowing freely.
"Am I really that stupid, Cece? I actually thought he'd change for me."
Terry was a notorious playboy from old money, burning through women faster than designer suits.
Everyone warned me I couldn't tame him. I didn't listen.
I thought three years together would make him settle down.
I thought that ring meant he was finally ready to commit.
It was all just wishful thinking.
"It's not that he can't change—he just doesn't want to change for you," Cecilla cut straight to the bone. "Asha's exactly the type of damsel-in-distress that triggers men's hero complex. Terry's a sucker for that act."
I gave a bitter laugh.
She was right.
Asha is my father's illegitimate daughter, three years my junior.
Since Dad brought her home, my life has been hell.
She'd wear my clothes, use my perfume, then look at me with big doe eyes: "Sorry, sis! I just love your things so much!"
She'd run crying to Dad, claiming I bullied her, and he'd tear into me every time.
And now she'd stolen my fiancé too.
We stayed until closing. Cecilla, worried sick, insisted on taking me home.
At my door, she gripped my shoulders. "This time, make a clean break. No second chances."
I nodded.
Back in the empty apartment, I stared at Terry's things scattered everywhere, feeling nothing but bitter irony.
His shirt from yesterday tossed on the sofa. His slippers by the door. His jersey hanging on the balcony.
This place I'd once thought was our home.
I dragged myself to the guest bedroom and locked the door.
Just as I collapsed onto the bed, I heard a key in the lock, followed by Terry's angry footsteps.
"Eula! Open this goddamn door!"
He pounded on the door hard enough to rattle the frame.
"What the hell do you mean 'we're done'?"
I pulled the blanket over my head, wishing he'd disappear.
"I know you're pissed! There's nothing between me and Asha! We just had drinks—she came onto me, I swear!"
"Okay, I was wrong to be late. I shouldn't have let her hang on me. But it was all just an act to keep her happy!"
"Eula, stop being dramatic! My parents adore you, and the merger's about to close. How am I supposed to explain a broken engagement now?"
His desperate excuses through the door were both laughable and pathetic.
Even now, all he cared about was the business deal and saving face.
Not me. Not my feelings.
"Terry Grant."
Through the door, my voice was deadly calm.
"Don't worry about explanations. I'll talk to your parents myself and take full responsibility."
Silence from the other side.
After a long moment, his voice came back, ice-cold.
"Don't you dare regret this, Eula."
BANG!
He slammed the master bedroom door so hard the walls shook.
I curled into a ball under the covers, sleepless until dawn.
