Aleena
I couldn’t believe my ears at Liam’s words.
“Let me go,” I spat out.
“Not until you say you won’t tell Sophia anything.” His hand was still braced against the door beside my head, he was just too close.
I could smell his cologne, the same one he used to wear and I liked.
Now it just made me want to scream.
I glared at him, “Fine.
I don’t even know why I am surprised at this.
It’s hard for a person to change so easily.”
Liam’s jaw tightened, “Aleena
“Let me go, Liam.” I repeated coldly and this time he did but not without giving me a look that I was definitely not interested in interpreting.
I left the apartment, my body shaking with anger.
The audacity of that bastard.
Outside, the afternoon air was cooler than I expected.
I pulled out my phone immediately.
I needed to stop Sophia before she walked upstairs into whatever was still waiting behind that door.
But was this the right thing to do?
Hiding the fact that y best friend’s boyfriend was cheating on her and that he was my ex.
I bit my lip, my thumb hovering over her name.
“Aleena?!”
I raised my head up to see Sophia walking toward the building with her bag over one shoulder, completely unaware.
Relief and panic hit me at the same time.
I moved quickly, closing the distance before she could reach the entrance.
“Sophia.”
She looked up and smiled.
“Hey.
Why aren’t you inside?
Or is it because of Liam?”
“About that.
Change of plans,” I said.
“Let’s not go up.
I’m starving and I need to talk.
Can we just go somewhere and eat instead?”
She frowned slightly, glancing past me toward the building.
“I was going to drop my things first.
It’ll only take a minute.”
“Please.” I softened my voice but didn’t let go.
“I’ve had a long day.
I really just need to sit somewhere that isn’t here then we can come back later if you want.”
She studied my face for a moment and then she nodded. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Okay.
You win.
There’s a place a few blocks away that’s decent.”
We ordered a car and on the ride I kept the conversation deliberately light, asking about her errands, nodding at the right moments, anything to keep her from circling back to the building or asking why I had been so insistent.
By the time we reached the restaurant, some of the tight edges in my chest had loosened, but not enough.
The leftover adrenaline from the confrontation still sat under my skin.
We took a corner table away from the main cluster of diners.
The lighting was soft, and once the food arrived, I started talking before she could steer the discussion anywhere I wasn’t ready for.
“I’m so tired of everything with the engagement,” I said.
“The planning, the constant pressure, the way every small detail has to be perfect.
It’s exhausting.
I feel like I haven’t had a proper moment to breathe in days.”
Sophia listened, chin resting on her hand.
“I can imagine.
Your mom doesn’t do anything halfway.”
“Exactly.
And it’s not just the party itself.
It’s the leftover energy afterward.
Everything still feels heightened and loud even when the guests are gone.” I carefully avoided any mention of walking in on Meredith and Ethan on the sofa earlier.
That particular image still sat too raw under my ribs, mixed with a jealousy I didn’t want to examine in front of anyone.
“I just needed to get out of the house today.
Work was a disaster.
I couldn’t focus.
My boss basically took one look at me and sent me home.”
Sophia reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
“You’ve been carrying a lot.
It’s okay to be drained.
You don’t have to hold it together every single second.”
Her kindness only made the guilt sit heavier because why is she comforting me while I sat across from her knowing exactly what her boyfriend had been doing less than an hour earlier.
I managed a small smile and thanked her, then let the conversation drift for a few minutes while we ate.
I asked about her day, about the errands, about anything that kept the focus off me and off Liam.
After a while, Sophia set her fork down and reached into her bag with a small, pleased expression.
She pulled out a slender box and opened it toward me.
Inside was a delicate bracelet, simple but clearly expensive, the kind of gift that looked thoughtful at first glance.
“Liam gave me this,” she said, smiling as she lifted it out.
“He surprised me with it a couple of days ago.
Said he just saw it and thought of me.” She fastened it around her wrist and held her arm out so the light caught the metal.
“I know it’s early, but sometimes I catch myself thinking about where this could go, like… maybe it actually leads somewhere real. This story is hosted at g.com.
Marriage even, Is that crazy?”
The words landed harder than they should have.
Anger flared first which was sharp and immediate then it was followed quickly by frustration and a quieter, heavier sadness.
I knew what I had just seen upstairs.
I knew how little he actually cared.
And here she was, wearing his gift and talking about a future he had no intention of giving her.
I forced my expression to stay even and my voice steady.
“It’s not crazy,” I said carefully.
“You’re allowed to hope.”
She smiled, clearly pleased, and launched into more details about how attentive he had been lately, how he checked in, how different he seemed from other people she had dated.
I nodded where I needed to and kept my answers short, every word of praise felt like another small weight added to the ones I was already carrying.
The bracelet caught the light every time she moved her hand, a quiet, shiny reminder of the lie sitting between us.
Eventually the conversation shifted to safer ground, as she asked about the apartment project, about the progress on the designs, about whether Liam was happy with the direction so far.
I answered honestly about the work itself, the layout choices, the material selections, the way the space was starting to take shape, all this I replied while carefully avoiding anything personal about him.
Sophia said both of them liked what they had seen so far.
I smiled and agreed that the project was going well.
We stayed longer than necessary.
I kept finding small reasons not to end the evening, taking another drink of water, a slow finish to the meal, a few more questions about her week until I finally excused myself to the restroom.
Inside the stall I pulled out my phone and texted Liam.
Me: I hope you’ve taken care of your mess you?
His reply came quickly.
Liam: Yes.
Only then did I return to the table and suggest we call it a night.
Outside, I walked Sophia to her car and waited until she was fully inside and the door had closed.
She waved through the window, still smiling, still wearing the bracelet and I waved back and stood there on the sidewalk until the car pulled away and the taillights disappeared into traffic.
My own ride arrived only a few minutes later and on my way home I stared out the window and finally let the thoughts I had been holding back surface; Liam was going to break her heart.
It wasn’t a question of if instead It was only a question of when.
And the worst part was that I already knew, and I still hadn’t found a way to protect her without risking everything else I was trying to keep buried.
The knowledge sat heavy and uncomfortable in my chest the entire ride, mixed with the leftover anger and the quieter guilt of having smiled through her excitement.
When I got home the penthouse was dark as I stepped inside.
I closed the door quietly behind me and reached for the light switch out of habit, ready to go straight upstairs and finally let the day end.
The lights came on before I touched it and I jumped, startled at the suddeness of it.
I turned to see my mother seated near the light switch, watching me with an unreadable expression.
“Jesus!
Mom!” I exclaimed.
She didn’t bathe an eye as she continued looking at me, “Where have you been, Aleena?”