1 | It Was All A Lie
Savannah
Theysayhumiliationbuildscharacter.If that’s true, then watching the viral engagement video of my ex-boyfriend proposing to my cousin made me have one of the strongest characters ever.
The video played on loop, each frame a fresh slash against my heart.His laugh.Her giggle.The ring that used to be onmyfinger—the one he swore belonged to his late grandmother.
My pulse stayed steady and my expression was impassive.Under my cousin’s gleeful grin was the caption:
@lorib.xo In every lifetime, YES!??
We are ENGAGED!!We've known each other for so long and I couldn't stop myself from falling for you.From friends to lovers to partners, nothing will ever come between us.This is a forever thing.And this diamond!!!Omg!Mr and Mrs coming soon.
Couldn't stop herself?This is forever?
I almost smiled.Sure, she couldn't stop herself from spreading her legs for the man I was with for five years.My cousin, predictably going after another thing that I had.Lori always wanted what she couldn’t have—my clothes, my grades, my Ivy League scholarship; and now, my boyfriend.
Correction:ex-boyfriend.
Chase had called me “frigid,” “boring,” “uptight.”Words meant to bruise.I told myself they didn’t—that I was too focused on my law degree, on the next exam, the next firm, the next win, to care.But tonight, those words circled back, whispering like cross-examination in my head.
“It's just kissing,” he’d said.“Don't be so uptight about it.”
“You know how I feel about PDA.”
“I should be able to kiss and touch my woman in public, Savannah.God, sometimes I forget how much of an ice queen you can be.”
Cold.Boring.Unaffectionate.
Apparently, those qualities were enough to drive him into my cousin’s arms—and onto his living room floor, where I caught them together after driving three hours to surprise him on his birthday.
They were both lucky to still be breathing.
Cheating on a woman who studied law was dangerous work.I watched enough seasons ofHow To Get Away With Murderto know a dozen ways to make a body disappear and have a rock-solid alibi before sunrise.
But I didn’t.I walked away—dignified,composed—because that’s what people like me did.We didn’t beg.We didn’t scream.Wewon.
I dumped him, blocked their numbers, and moved on.Or I thought I did.
Now, watching them grin for the camera, something inside me cracked—a clean, silent fracture that even I couldn’t ignore.
Walking in on them, I chalked it up to one night of recklessness and idiocy.One night I could burn from my mind.Knowing now that they'd been doing this long enough to warrant a proposal changedeverything.
How could they do this to me?
The background chatter of the lounge faded to static.My champagne glass had gone flat, tiny bubbles clinging stubbornly to the crystal like they hadn’t realized the party was over.My index traced the cooled stem of the glass as my world became trapped within the four corners of my screen.Him getting on one knee.Her jumping up and down.The ring I threw in his face just before I walked out.
Did he immediately pick it up and hand it to her like our five years meant nothing?
We shared so much time together, but it was all a lie—I just didn't realize how much of it until now.The hushed phone calls.The late-night trips to his “dad's office” after we talked for hours.The constant arguments about how I was a cold, boring, unaffectionate bitch; how I preferred my studies to him.
A storm brewed inside me the longer I stared at the phone, their happiness poisoning the air I breathed.I was made to look like a fool for God knows how long, and now they were engaged?
A silent scoff left my lips.
Betrayal sunk its claws in me as I zoned in on the plastic smile on my cousin's face.She eyed the ring with a hint of greed in her eyes—I knew because it was the same look she tried to hide when I told her the ring was a family heirloom.
“Is… is everything okay, miss?”
