Chapter 3

3.

The irony was unbearable. Victor always claimed to hate liars, yet he was lying through his teeth for her.

I couldn't fathom what kind of spell Seraphina had over him to make him abandon every principle he owned.

But I didn't want to understand anymore. I was just exhausted.

I tried to leave, but Victor grabbed my arm and dragged me into the hallway behind the stage.

"Sylvia, can you stop making such a scene?" he hissed, his face full of loathing.

I just stared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

He took my silence for submission, just like always.

"Why can't you be more like Seraphina? Why can't you be sensible for once?"

"I have a million things on my plate, and you're just making my life difficult."

I knew what he was talking about. Victor was up for a major promotion.

His mentor was retiring, and Victor was the top candidate to take over the firm.

I looked at him and realized I didn't recognize the man standing in front of me.

"Go back out there and apologize to her," he ordered. "Don't try to compete with her. You'll never be on her level."

I ripped my arm out of his grasp.

The pain in my chest finally boiled over into a scream.

"Victor, we've known each other for twenty years! How can you not trust me?"

He stayed silent for a long time before looking at me with equal disappointment.

"You missed your calling, Sylvia. You should have been an actress."

I let out a desperate, broken laugh. This was the man I had loved for a decade.

How had he become so incredibly hateful?

Maybe it started the moment he met her. Back then, when they first started dating, he pushed me away.

It hurt, but I tried to be the bigger person because she was his girlfriend.

Then they broke up, and he came crawling back to me in tears.

I knew he still had feelings for her, but I was so pathetic that I said yes anyway.

I thought if I just loved him enough, I could earn a place in his heart.

So I endured years of his coldness, watched him throw my gifts in the trash, and felt him drift toward her the second she reappeared.

I had swallowed every bit of disrespect just to keep him near me.

But today, I was done.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath.

"If you don't love me, why did you even bother being with me?"

Victor looked genuinely surprised by the question.

Before he could answer, Seraphina appeared in the hallway, walking slowly toward him.

Victor's expression softened instantly.

The sight was the final nail in the coffin. He had never loved me. Not for a single second.

I laughed at my own stupidity.

Seraphina stepped up to his side and touched his arm.

"The board members are here, Victor. Let's deal with this later."

She paused, looking at me with fake sympathy.

"I don't want you two fighting because of me. I'd rather take the blame than see you stressed, Victor."

Victor's eyes actually turned red with emotion.

I watched them play out their little drama and felt nothing but disgust.

As I turned to leave, Victor yelled after me.

"If it weren't for you, I never would have broken up with her! You used my parents to force me into this relationship!"