ELENA
"Clifford, what the actual fuck?"
My voice sliced through the bedroom doorway before my brain even caught up to what my eyes were seeing.
Sheets tangled, clothes on the floor, two bodies intertwined.
And Lenora's head snapped up first, her strawberry-blonde hair messy, lips swollen, Clifford's shirt dangling off her shoulders like a badge of victory.
For a second, I couldn't breathe.
Then Clifford jolted upright, eyes wide. "Elena, wait, I can explain."
"Explain?" I choked out a laugh, one hand pressed to the doorframe because my knees had gone numb. "Explain why your secretary is naked in our bed?" My voice cracked on "our," and it felt like swallowing glass.
Lenora smirked.
Smirked.
Like this was a show. Like I was the entertainment.
"Well," she drawled, sliding closer to Clifford like she owned him, "it's not exactly a secret anymore, is it?"
My fingers curled into fists. "Lenora, get out."
"No." Clifford's voice hardened, sharper than I'd ever heard it directed at me. "Elena, calm down. Don't make a scene."
The audacity.
A laugh clawed out of my throat, broken, hysterical. "Make a scene? I walk in on you screwing your secretary and you think I'm making a scene?"
Lenora ran a finger down Clifford's chest. "You should've known he still loves me. You were just… filling space."
The words hit harder than any slap ever could.
A replacement. A convenient stand–in while they rekindled behind my back.
Air vanished from my lungs.
"You told me you were over her," I whispered, stepping inside. "You told me I was your future."
Clifford wouldn't even look at me. "I thought you were. Things changed."
"Things?" My voice rose painfully. "Or you did when she spread her legs again?"
His jaw clenched. "Elena, stop."
Lenora tsked. "Don't be crude, sweetie. It doesn't suit you."
Something in me detonated.
I launched myself forward, not to fight—though God, I wanted to—but to grab Clifford's discarded shirt and fling it at her face. "Get dressed before I drag you out myself."
Lenora shrieked, clutching the sheet.
Clifford finally stood, grabbing my wrist. "Enough, Elena!"
"Don't touch me!" I yanked away, my breath coming in sharp bursts. "Just tell me the truth, was I ever enough for you? Or was I just the convenient designer who skyrocketed your company while you pined for her?"
He hesitated.
That one second of silence killed every remaining part of me.
I stepped back.
"Wow. Okay."
My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. I walked out before I collapsed in front of them because I absolutely refused to break in front of the woman who had just stolen everything from me.
~~~~
The club lights from last night still pulsed behind my eyelids as I stumbled out of my Uber the next morning, head pounding, throat raw. I'd drunk for the first time ever, enough to drown a city. Enough to forget Clifford's betrayal.
Enough to end up kissing a stranger in a dark corner.
Or maybe more than kissing.
But nothing prepared me for the sound of a notification that turned into fifty, then a hundred, then a thousand.
My phone vibrated nonstop.
Then I saw it.
My face, my naked back, a man behind me.
Flash photos I didn't even remember being taken.
Trending. Everywhere.
With hashtags like; #CheapFiancée #ScandalBride #PowellDodgedABullet
And in the middle of it all, was Clifford's interview.
He sat before cameras, hair slicked back, wearing the suit I tailored for him last month.
"She's… not the woman I thought she was," he said solemnly. "I broke off our engagement because… because she wasn't faithful."
Then Lenora leaned into the frame like a supportive angel. "I caught her sneaking around with men several times," she lied effortlessly.
My ears rang.
The breath left my lungs. He set me up. They both did.
My vision blurred with rage, betrayal, humiliation so sharp it vibrated under my skin.
Minutes later, I was storming into Clifford's mansion like a woman possessed.
The front door slammed behind me, echoing like thunder.
His stepmother's shrill voice was the first to greet me. "Look who crawled back."
I ignored her, marching straight toward the dining area where laughter echoed, his laughter.
Clifford sat comfortably at the table, enjoying breakfast with Lenora, his stepsister, and his stepmother. Their expressions shifted from smug to disgusted to annoyed as I approached.
My voice cut through the room.
"You ruined my life."
Clifford's shoulders tensed. "Elena, this isn't the time-"
"You used me," I spat. "I sacrificed everything for you, for this family, for your company. And in return you sleep with her," I jabbed a finger at Lenora. "And then frame me to save face?"
His stepmother slammed her fork down. "You will not accuse my son in this house!"
"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "You hated me from the start."
Lenora rose to her feet like a triumphant fox, crossing her arms. "You should leave before this gets more embarrassing."
I stepped closer to Clifford, trembling with rage. "Tell them the truth. Tell them YOU cheated. Tell them YOU set up that camera in the club. Tell them YOU ruined me."
He looked away.
Coward.
His stepsister scoffed. "If you keep slandering Clifford, we'll have you jailed for harassment."
Clifford didn't defend me, he didn't deny it, he didn't apologize, and he didn't even flinch.
He just sighed, reached into his pocket, pulled out a Cheque, and slid it across the table.
"Take it, Elena. Start over. Move on."
My heart cracked.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Then I tore the check in half, and then again and again.
Bits of paper fluttered like snow across the table.
Then I slapped him.
Hard.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
"You betrayed me."
Another slap.
"You ruined me."
Another.
"You think you can buy me off like I'm trash?"
He staggered back, clutching his cheek, stunned.
"And hear this clearly, Clifford," I whispered, trembling all over, "the same family you're choosing over me will destroy you one day. Mark my words."
I turned on my heel and walked out as they yelled behind me, voices mixing, chaos spilling.
But none of them mattered.
My life was burning down to fucking ashes and I wasn't sure how to rise from it.