002
Ella watched as he walked into the room, casually leading Sophia, her adoptive sister through the door, her arm linked with his. They both looked like they'd just come from some idyllic day together, sharing laughter, some inside joke. And there she was, the fool, left behind to pick up the pieces of what they'd torn apart.
Ethan glanced at her, his expression cool, as though everything was normal. "Ella," he said, his voice tinged with an odd sense of calm, "I see you're home already. I figured you might be waiting for me to come pick you up."
Sophia stood by his side, her face a careful mask of indifference, though Ella could see the slightest hint of smugness in her eyes. Sophia was his prize, his reward and she had won, and Ella had lost.
Shw didn't say anything at first. She couldn't. Her words felt too small, too insignificant, in the face of this reality. She held up the earring. "Whose is this?"
His brows furrowed. "What?"
"The earring, Ethan and this." She tossed the condom box onto the table. "I suppose this just miraculously appeared in your pocket?"
He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face. "Ella, don't do this. Not tonight, I'm exhausted already"
Her voice was deadly calm. "Oh? You're the one who should be exhausted, right? Busy day? Too busy to answer my calls but not too busy to be with her?" She pointed her fingers towards Sophia.
Ethan's lips pressed together with indifference. "You're overreacting."
Ella let out a hollow laugh. "Overreacting? Do you know where I was today, Ethan? I was in a hospital bed. Alone. Because my fiancé was too busy screwing someone else."
"So?" He shot back, stunning her.
"So?" Ella repeated with a snap. "Explain it to me. Explain the earring. Explain the condoms. Explain why the entire world thinks you and Sophia belong together!"
He took a step toward her but she stepped back. "You're making a terrible mistake asking me that Ella," he said.
She gave a humorless chuckle. "Right. That's what people say when they don't have the guts to admit they're cheating."
Ethan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Sophia and I are close."
Her stomach twisted. "So you are admitting it."
"Don't tell me this is affecting you Ella," Ethan added, his gaze flicking to Sophia and then back to her.
A laugh escaped her lips, bitter and raw. "Affecting me?" Ella said, her voice hushing with the weight of the heartbreak she felt. "What about everything you've done, Ethan? What about the years of lies? The betrayal? The deceit?"
He rolled his eyes, clearly irritated. "Oh, please, not this again. You're the one who's making this harder than it needs to be Ella. You think I didn't try to make it work? You think I didn't give you everything I could? But it was never enough for you, was it?" His eyes flickered with something like annoyance, and then he shrugged. "It's not my fault you're so emotional."
She wanted to scream at him, to unleash all the fury she had bottled up inside, but instead, she stood up slowly, deliberately. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to do something, anything—but she held herself together.
"I never asked for your 'everything,' Ethan," Ella said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I just asked for you to love me. I asked for you to be honest. But instead, I find you here, with her." She pointed at Sophia again, her heart shattering all over again. "I find you with my sister, the one who has always been by your side like you claim while I was the one left in the dark."
Ethan's face twisted into something close to disgust. "Don't make it sound so dramatic, Ella. You know how I feel about her." He turned to Sophia, giving her a soft peck on the lips, the kind he'd never give Ella. "You're everything I've ever wanted, Sophia. If only you had come into my life sooner, maybe things would've been different. But of course, my parents—" he paused and shot Ella a sidelong glance, "they liked you, didn't they? They forced me to marry you because they thought you'd be good for the family image. Not because I ever loved you."
Ella felt the world drop out beneath her, as if everything she had ever believed in, everything she thought was real, had suddenly crumbled away. He had never loved her. He had never chosen her.
He had only been playing his part.
"I did everything for you, Ethan," she whispered, her voice raw, the tears she had been holding back threatening to break free. "I gave you everything. My trust. My heart. My loyalty. And you—" She choked on the words, unable to hold back the pain. "You couldn't even pretend to care."
Sophia stepped forward, her lips curling into a mockery of a smile. "You should've known, Ella. I've always been the better choice for him. I've always been the one he's wanted. He was just... settling for you."
Ethan didn't even look at her as he wrapped his arm around Sophia, pulling her close to him. "That's right. You're just not what I need. You never were." He turned back to her, his gaze icy. "You'll regret this, Ella if you think you'll break up with me. Mark my words. I'm not the one who's making a mistake here. You are. And when you come crawling back to me, don't expect me to take you in again."
The final blow. The words that would stay with her long after he was gone. Regret?. It wasn't her who would regret this. It was him. But he wouldn't see it. He never had.
"I hope you two are happy together," She said, her tone quivering with the force of everything that had been left unsaid. "I hope she's everything you need. I hope you can live with yourself, knowing what you've done."
"Ella, don't be so dramatic," he said with a chuckle, his indifference cutting deeper than any insult. "You'll get over it. You always do. You're just... too sentimental."
She stood there, numb, every word stabbing at her heart. Her mind was a whirlwind, but she couldn't let him see how much it hurt. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She reached down and pulled off the engagement ring on her finger, the ring that had meant the world to her not long ago. It was cold now, heavy with regret.
She threw it at him, watching as it landed on his chest and fell to the floor with a soft clink.
"You don't deserve this," She said quietly. "You never did."
For a moment, there was silence. Ethan looked at the ring, then back at her, his expression cold, almost... relieved.
"You're making a huge mistake, Ella," he said, his voice colder than ice. "But it's not like you'll ever find someone who can give you what I did. Not that it matters. I'll be fine. I have everything I need now." He looked at Sophia with a soft smile. "I have her."
At the very last words, Ella turned and walked away, her heart breaking with every step. But she wasn't looking back anymore. Not for him. Not for them. She was done.