The walls of my bedroom seemed to close in around me, the silence punctuated only by the persistent buzzing of my phone. I stared at it, the name Alexander flashing on the screen, but I couldn't bring myself to answer. My chest tightened with each ring, the sound a cruel reminder of everything I thought we had, everything that was now unravelling before my eyes.
How could I have been so blind? The thought stabbed through my mind like a dagger. I clenched the edge of the bed, trying to steady the flood of emotions threatening to drown me. Memories of our moments together, the tenderness in his voice, the warmth of his touch—they all felt tainted now, a twisted lie wrapped in the guise of love.
I pushed myself up from the bed, pacing the room as if movement could somehow dispel the torment swirling inside me. My gaze fell on a framed photograph of Daniel and Daniella on the nightstand, their innocent faces smiling up at me. A wave of guilt washed over me, almost knocking the breath out of me. I have to stay strong for them. I can't let this destroy us.
My phone buzzed again, but this time it wasn't Alexander. The screen lit up with a name I hadn't expected—Tom. My pulse quickened a new kind of anger igniting in my veins. How dare he? I thought, gripping the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white. After everything, he has the nerve to show up?
I stalked toward the door, yanking it open with more force than necessary. Tom was already there, standing on my porch, his expression a mixture of guilt and desperation. The sight of him sent a fresh surge of anger through me, and I didn't bother hiding it.
"What do you want, Tom?" My voice was ice, my eyes narrowing as I faced him.
He hesitated, his eyes pleading as he stepped closer. "Amelia, please... I just need a moment to explain—"
"Explain?" I cut him off, incredulous. "Explain what, exactly? How you sold me out to Ariana for a few pieces of silver? How you betrayed my trust and used me in the most disgusting way possible?"
His shoulders slumped, but I refused to soften. I couldn't—not after what he'd done.
"I never meant for it to go this far," Tom began, his voice trembling. "I was in a bad place, and Ariana... She took advantage of that. I didn't think—"
"You didn't think?" I scoffed, my hands shaking as I struggled to keep my composure. "You didn't think that betraying a friend, betraying me, might be a bit more than a bad decision? That it might ruin lives? Or was that part of the plan?"
"No, Amelia, please..." He reached out as if to touch me, but I recoiled, the very thought of him near me making my skin crawl.
"Don't you dare touch me!" My voice broke, tears of anger and hurt welling up, but I blinked them back, refusing to let him see how deeply he'd wounded me. "You disgust me, Tom. You and Ariana, you're both... You're both—"
"I'm sorry!" he blurted out, desperation lacing his words. "I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you like this. I thought... I thought I could make things right, that maybe if I explained—"
"Make things right?" I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. "There's no making this right, Tom. You broke something that can't be fixed. You... You were supposed to be my friend."
My voice dropped to a whisper, the weight of the betrayal pressing down on me, suffocating me. I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the emptiness in his eyes, the reflection of a man who knew he had destroyed something precious, something irreplaceable.
"I was wrong to trust you," I said, each word like a shard of glass slicing through the fragile remnants of what once was. "You need to leave, Tom. Now."
He opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head, stepping back into the house, my hand on the door. "Don't come back. Don't ever come back."
I slammed the door in his face, the sound echoing through the hollow silence that followed. My body trembled as I slid down against the door, burying my face in my hands. Why does it all hurt so much?
Minutes passed—or was it hours?—before the knock came again. I didn't have to look to know who it was. The knock was too hesitant, too familiar. I could almost feel his presence through the wood, the connection we shared tugging at my heart despite everything.
I forced myself to stand, wiping my face quickly before opening the door. There he was—Alexander, his face etched with concern, his eyes searching mine for something, anything, that might give him hope.
"Amelia, please..." His voice was soft, almost pleading. "I know you're hurt. I know I've hurt you. But we need to talk. I need to explain."
I stared at him, the words I wanted to say caught in my throat. How can you explain a lie this big?
"There's nothing to explain, Alexander," I finally managed, my voice raw. "You lied to me. You made me believe... made me believe we had something real."
"We do have something real!" he insisted, stepping closer, his hand reaching for mine. But I pulled away, the pain still too fresh, too deep.
"You don't get to come here and fix this with words," I snapped, stepping back. "You don't get to pretend that everything's okay because it's not! You lied to me, Alexander. You let me fall for you, knowing... knowing you had a wife."
He flinched at the word, his expression crumbling. "Amelia, I never loved her. My marriage to Ariana—it's complicated. It was never about love, not for me."
"And that's supposed to make it better?" I was incredulous, shaking my head. "You kept this from me, Alexander. You let me... You let me believe we had a future. Do you know what that's like? To find out that everything you thought was real is just... just another lie?"
"Amelia, please." His voice cracked, and for the first time, I saw the cracks in his armour, the vulnerability he rarely showed. "I didn't want to hurt you. I... I love you. I've never felt this way about anyone before."
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. My heart ached to believe him, to cling to the love I felt, but my mind—my mind screamed at me to run, to protect myself from more pain.
"You love me?" The question slipped out before I could stop it, my voice trembling. "If you loved me, Alexander, you wouldn't have lied. You wouldn't have let me fall into this mess, not knowing the truth."
"I was scared," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "Scared of losing you. I knew that if you found out, you'd leave, and I... I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."
I closed my eyes, the battle raging inside me. He's saying all the right things, but how can I trust him again? How can I ever trust him after this?
"I don't know if I can do this," I confessed, the words coming out as a broken whisper. "I don't know if I can ever trust you again, Alexander."
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at me, really looked at me, and I could see the regret in his eyes, the pain he felt at the prospect of losing me.
"Let me prove it to you," he finally said, his voice full of quiet determination. "Let me show you that what I feel for you is real, that this—us—it's real."
I shook my head, tears spilling down my cheeks. "You don't understand, Alexander. You don't understand how much this hurts. I thought we had something special. I thought I finally found someone I could trust, someone who... who could be there for me and my kids."
He reached out, gently brushing a tear from my cheek, his touch soft and careful, as if I might shatter under his fingers. "I want to be that person for you, Amelia. I want to be there for you and the twins. I... I want to be the man you deserve."
But how could I believe him? The doubt gnawed at me, tearing apart the fragile threads of hope I had left. I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself as if that could protect me from the storm of emotions raging inside.
"You need to leave," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I can't... I can't do this right now."
"Amelia, please..." His voice was desperate, but I shook my head, refusing to let him back in—not yet, not when everything was still so raw, so painful.
"Please, just go, Alexander. I need time. I need to think."
He looked at me for a long moment, as if searching for something in my eyes, something that might convince him to stay. But all he found was my pain, my heartbreak. Slowly, he nodded, his expression crumbling as he turned to leave.
As the door closed behind him, the weight of everything crashed down on me, and I sank to the floor, my sobs filling the empty room. What am I going to do?