m down with one sentence, and after I walked past him without flinching, Daniel didn’t storm out like I’d expected.
He stayed.
He hovered in places he didn’t belong, pretending he had urgent business by the conference rooms, leaning against the hallway walls like he was waiting for some cosmic reset to undo what had just unfolded.
Every time I crossed the lobby, every time I passed a reflective surface, I caught glimpses of him, standing too close, staring too long, clinging to a version of reality that had already shattered.
At first, I tried to pretend it didn’t matter. Focused on my screen. Typed too fast. Read the same paragraph three times.
But my skin buzzed with every step I took. Every glance. Every inch of space he stole just by standing there.
By lunchtime, it was getting harder to ignore. And then it got worse.
Carly walked through the front doors like the whole office was a runway designed just for her.
Blush-colored dress, heels clicking too loudly against the marble, hand resting protectively over a perfect little rounded bump. She was glowing the way women in magazine ads glowed.
She floated to Daniel’s side, slid her arm into his. Kissed his cheek in full view of the room. Whispered something sugary sweet into his ear that made him chuckle like they were the only people who mattered.
I ducked my head. I told myself to move. To breathe. To be better than this.
But the nausea hit harder than reason.
Ten minutes later, I was in the women’s restroom, gripping the edge of the sink so hard my knuckles whitened. The walls felt too close, the fluorescent lights too bright, every scent in the room — soap, cheap perfume, bleach — scraping down my throat like a blade.
My stomach heaved. I doubled over the sink, gasping, trying to force the feeling down.
The door creaked open behind me.
“Elena?” Carly’s voice floated in, syrupy and sweet, but stretched thin around the edges.
I straightened slowly, blinking into the mirror. There she was, framed in the doorway, smoothing down her dress with careful, practiced hands.
“You okay?” she asked, tilting her head in an imitation of concern.
“Fine,” I said, the word clipped, hard.
She stepped closer, one hand fluttering over her stomach again like she couldn’t bear for anyone to miss the visual.
And that’s when I saw it.
When she shifted, the fabric of her dress lifted. And there, beneath the silk, for the briefest second: foam. A strap.
My breath caught mid-chest.
Carly’s face paled instantly, her hand darting back down to clutch the hem of the dress, smoothing, smoothing, as if she could undo what I’d seen.
“You’re not…” I started, but the words tangled with the rush of blood pounding in my ears.
Her eyes widened, panic slicing through the composure she wore like a second skin.
“I was,” she said quickly, voice cracking. “I was pregnant. Or so I thought before my period came back again. Daniel was going to leave me. I couldn’t lose him.”
I stared at her, every nerve burning with something past anger, past pity, something hollow and raw.
“You watched him destroy me,” I said, voice low and shaking. “In front of everyone. Over a lie.”
Her eyes welled up. She stepped closer, voice dropping to a desperate whisper. “I didn’t think it would go that far. I thought… you’d fight harder. I thought he’d stay with you.”
“You let him throw me away like I was nothing,” I said, each word cutting deeper, sharper.
She grabbed my wrist, squeezing so hard it hurt. “Please don’t tell him. If you tell him—he’ll ruin me. He’ll destroy everything. I’m nothing without him.”
I yanked free, the pressure of her touch burning on my skin.
“You think I owe you anything?” I asked.
Her voice broke. “I’m begging you, Elena. Please.”
I stared at her. And for the first time, I saw her clearly, not as the girl who stole my life, not even as the woman Daniel paraded around like a trophy, but as a mirror.
Broken.
Desperate.
Pathetic.
“You should be afraid,” I said, steady and quiet. “Because I’ve got nothing left to lose.”
And then I walked out, leaving her standing there, clutching her lie like it could save her.
