The heels of my shoes clattered against the pavement as if I'd been chased by a thousand demons. Each step made a piece of my heart fall off.
I had been suddenly hit by a mad headache, and my eyes were spinning in their sockets, and I couldn't just focus.
My eyes were dry; tears had refused to spill out, and I looked like I had escaped from a psychiatric home.
I had spent the last hours of my life, shamefully cast aside like I was an extinct animal. I had begged, cried, and disgraced myself, and everyone had known that I wasn't the chosen one.
The pain was just so much that I wanted to end it all. Never in a million years would I ever believe this.
When I thought it was all over, Jesse stabbed me again in the heart.
My vision blurred as I left the company premises. My mind played the moment when he asked the security to show me out without a second glance.
How could he?
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket, jolting me from my thoughts. I fumbled to pull it out, wiping a tear as I saw Nina's name flash across the screen.
"Nina," I said, my voice strained.
"Serena, where are you? You need to get home now!" Nina's words came out rushed, breathless.
"Why? What happened?" I asked, but all I got in return was a static, then a click.
My stomach twisted. I felt the cold seep into my bones as I jumped into my car.
The city passed in a blur of buildings and light, my mind too cloudy to focus. I thought Jesse's rejection at the office was the worst thing that could happen today. Now, my gut told me otherwise.
My car stopped, and I jumped out with the same energy I had used previously and bolted toward my apartment building.
And that's when I saw it.
All my things. Boxes, bags, and my clothes were thrown out like they were trash. Like I was trash.
I froze, staring at the pile of my life dumped on the sidewalk.
The world spun around me, and my knees buckled.
"Serena!" Nina rushed towards me, grabbing my arm to steady me.
"I'm so sorry, I tried—"
"Who did this? My voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
Nina's face crumbled with guilt.
"Jesse. He gave the order."
My breath hitched.
Jesse? The man I thought loved me?
My fingers went numb as Nina's words hit me like a wrecking ball.
"He wouldn't...."My voice faltered, but I knew the truth. I can accept that he left me for another woman. But this?
This was just too much for me to bear.
My knees gave out, and Nina barely caught me in time.
"Serena, breathe. We will figure this out."
She guided me to the steps leading to the front door, but I refused to sit.
"No!" I screamed, stumbling forward toward my scattered belongings. My trembling hands reached for a photo frame. The glass cracked, but the picture inside was still intact.
Jesse and I—smiling, happy, in love. The weight of it made my chest tighten.
"I don't understand." I whispered, cradling the frame."How could he do this to me?"
"Because some men are trash," Nina said, her voice sharp as she glanced over at the building, her jaw clenched.
"Honestly, if I see him, I swear— she paused, rolling her eyes.
"I will smash this picture over his thick skull."
Despite everything, I let out a little bitter laugh, holding onto the memory of me and Jesse.
Dumping me at the altar wasn't enough; now I'm homeless and without a job.
Nina shrugged, though her face softened as she knelt beside me, picking up one of my scarves from the ground.
"Look, Serena, we are going to deal with this one way or the other, but you have to keep it together, okay?"
I nodded, though the tears I fought back now stung worse than before. My hands shook as I pulled out my phone.
Jesse's number stared back at me like a curse. With trembling fingers, I hit the dial.
Once. Twice. Three times. Each time voicemail.
"What are you doing?" Nina said, trying to snatch the phone from me.
"Pick up, Jesse," I screamed, ignoring her, and staring at the empty street.
I hurled my phone across the pavement.
Nina winced as it skittered to a stop near the curb.
"Serena, you need to take a deep breath. We will figure out where you are staying tonight and—"
"Where am I staying?" I laughed, the sound bitter and hollow.
My heart tightened, making it impossible for me to breathe.
Never in my entire life would I believe that Jesse would do such a thing to me.
He stood me up at the church, sacked me, and now he took my home.
"Nina, my entire life is on this sidewalk. Jesse won't even answer his phone, and now I have got nowhere to go. This house is my life!"
Nina crouched beside me, her voice low."You can come and stay with me and Tasha."
I let out a shaky breath, pressing my palms to my face as the sobs broke through. "Do you also know?" I asked, turning to Nina."He sacked me."
Nina's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Tell me he didn't do that?" She asked, stepping back.
And you know what? He married Vanessa. Vanessa is the lady he got married to."
"Vanessa?" Nina said. Her tone was laced with surprise and bitterness. "What Vanessa are you talking about?" She got up and ran her hands through her hair.
"Vanessa Pollard? Vanessa, your childhood best friend?"
Before Nina could utter another word, her phone buzzed, and I quickly snatched it from her.
My hope sparked briefly, hoping it was Jesse; maybe he had called Nina because he couldn't get to me.
But when I saw the caller ID, my heart sank. It wasn't Jesse.
It was our lawyer.
"Serena," his voice
came through the line grim and foreboding.
"We need to talk; it is about Jesse. I just got some troubling news."