“Listen Jainey, you’re making this way bigger than it is.”
I let out a bitter laugh, my voice breaking into a shout. “No, Levy—you made it big. You’re the one who left me here questioning everything. You’re the one who chose everyone else—over me. And now you want me to just swallow it down like it doesn’t cut open another wound you left?”
He sighs, heavier this time, frustration dragging in his tone. “Look, Jainey… yeah, I was with one of the girls earlier, okay? But it doesn’t mean anything. We were just—just hanging out by the pool. You’re the one I come home to, so can we just stop arguing.”
I freeze mid-step, my whole body going rigid. “Youwhat?” The words tear from my throat, broken and loud. I grip the dresser for balance, my nails digging into the wood. “After everything you have the fucking nerve to tell me you were with one of them?”
“It’s not like that, I swear—it’s not what you think—” he fumbles, panic creeping in.
“Not what I think?” I cut him off, fury rattling through me, every step pounding the floor. “Levy, you just admitted it.”
“You lied to me. Repeatedly. And now you’re cheating on me—messing with other women behind my back—and you expect me to chalk it up to nothing? You’re a liar, Levy. A cheater. And I refuse to let you gaslight me into doubting what’s right in front of me.”
My chest heaves as I drag in a shaky breath, tears streaming freely now. With a choked sound that’s half laugh, half sob, I whisper, “I can’t even…”
Before he can say another word—I hang up. The phone slips from my hand onto the floor. I stare at the blank space around me, the room spinning, air catching in my throat. Lost for words. Lost for air.
Completely shattered.
My thoughts turn savage, ripping into me. How could I actually believe he’d stay faithful when he’s had a baby on the way with another woman from the start? The signs were always there—right in front of me—and I ignored them like a fool because I wanted so badly for us to be genuine—to be the fairytale I yearned for.
I sit on the bed, wrapping my arms around myself, rocking. The fury and heartbreak colliding until I can barely hold it in. “God, I’m so fucking stupid,” I whisper to the empty room, my voice breaking apart.
I feel so pathetic for giving him my heart. For trusting him when all he did is carve pieces out of it and throw them away. Every memory of him—every laugh, every kiss, every fake-assI love you—feels like poison now, replaying in my head just to terrorize me.
Merciless, burning-hot tears spill down my face until my cheeks sting. I curse under my breath, dragging my blanket around me, my makeup smeared and ruined.
But I don’t care.
I don’t care if my phone dies.
I don’t care if tomorrow comes.
Fuck all of it.
My chest jerks with ragged sobs, my body trembling like it’s trying to shake him out of me. Between the cries, words spill out—“liar,” “cheater,” “piece of shit”—as if naming it can dull the sting.
But it doesn’t. And unfortunately, I don’t know what will.
The sunlight spills through the blinds like the world is moving on without me, and that’s the cruelest part.
I cuddle up deeper into the blanket, exhaustion wrapping around me like chains. I just need a nap—to escape the wreckage of him, even if it’s only for a little while.
Chapter Thirty Two
Breaking Point
F
or once, the weather matches exactly how I feel inside—cold, and dark. I glance at the clock on my nightstand, to see it’s only ten.
The realization twists in my stomach. I fell asleep yesterday afternoon, sometime after everything crashed down, and I never got back up. I slept through the daylight, through the night, through the silence of a house that feels lonelier then ever.
And even after all those hours, I don’t feel rested. I feel hollow.
Like sleep only dragged me deeper into the weight of it all.
The room feels darker, shadows clinging to the corners as the gray light seeps through the blinds. My body feels bruised from the inside out. Every muscle sore from carrying the heaviness of yesterday—and the months before it.
