Chapter 2 Humiliation in high definition

The world outside moved on as if nothing had happened, but for Sarah, time had shattered just like the wine glass she had dropped the night before.

She sat in her small apartment, numb, as the city buzzed beyond her window. The betrayal still clawed at her chest, a relentless ache she couldn't shake. She had spent the night tossing and turning, replaying James' cruel words over and over.

"You never matched my status."

"Chloe does."

Sarah's fingers tightened around the coffee mug in her hands. She had given that man everything, her loyalty, her trust, her damn heart, only to be tossed aside like she was nothing.

Her phone vibrated on the coffee table.

Olivia Lee.

Sarah let it ring. She wasn't ready to face work, to pretend everything was fine. But Olivia wasn't the type to let things slide. The phone buzzed again. A message this time.

Olivia: "Are you seriously ignoring me? Where the hell are you?"

Sarah exhaled sharply and typed back.

Sarah: "Not in the mood today."

The reply was almost instant.

Olivia: "Get your ass to work."

A bitter laugh escaped Sarah's lips.

Dragging herself off the couch, she grabbed a wrinkled blazer from the armrest and threw it on. Fine. If work was the only thing keeping her from spiraling further, she'd go.

By the time she reached the office parking lot, her hands were trembling.

She took a deep breath, forcing the emotions down. No one could see her like this.

Stepping into the building, she adjusted her blazer and lifted her chin. If James expected her to crumble, he was in for a surprise.

But the moment she entered, all eyes were on her.

The whispers. The stolen glances. The undeniable shift in atmosphere.

Sarah's stomach twisted. What the hell was going on?

She strode forward, her heels clicking against the marble floor, determined to ignore them. But as she passed, the murmurs only grew louder.

"She doesn't know yet?"

"God, that's brutal."

"I'd be mortified if I were her."

Sarah's jaw tightened.

Whatever it was, she wasn't going to stand there like a fool.

As soon as she reached her desk, Olivia was already waiting, arms crossed, an unreadable expression on her face.

"You look like hell," Olivia said flatly.

"Good morning to you too," Sarah muttered, dropping into her chair.

"So? You gonna tell me why half the office is staring at me like I grew two heads overnight?" Sarah asked

Olivia blinked at her, then exhaled sharply. "You haven't seen the news, have you?"

Sarah frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Sarah's fingers hovered over her keyboard. A strange feeling settled in her gut.

"What news?" she asked warily.

Instead of answering, Olivia reached over and tapped the screen. "See for yourself."

Sarah's heart pounded as she opened her browser.

And then she froze.

There, plastered across the screen, was a headline that made her stomach lurch.

BREAKING NEWS: JAMES TURNER AND CHLOE HARRISON – A SECRET ROMANCE EXPOSED

Beneath it were photos. Pictures of James and Chloe, her best friend, wrapped in each other's arms. Laughing. Kissing. Whispering in each other's ears like they were the only two people in the world.

Sarah's blood turned to ice.

Her breath came out in short, uneven gasps as she clicked through the images. Some were taken at a rooftop restaurant, James holding Chloe close, their lips inches apart. Another showed them walking hand in hand at a luxury resortone she and James had planned to visit together.

And then there was the worst one.

A video.

Her hands shook as she clicked play.

"Chloe, baby, you know you're the only woman I've ever wanted," James' voice was smooth, sickeningly sweet.

Sarah's pulse roared in her ears.

"And Sarah?" the reporter asked.

James smirked. "We were never meant to be. It was bound to end."

Sarah's hands curled into fists.

Every single part of her body screamed.

Chloe giggled in the video, tilting her head toward James. "Some people just don't belong in our world."

Sarah slammed the laptop shut.

The office was dead silent, every eye still on her. Waiting for her reaction.

Waiting for her to break.

Olivia's face darkened. "Sarah, listen to me-"

She had known James and Chloe betrayed her, but seeing it on the news? Seeing them flaunt their affair like she never mattered? That was a new level of humiliation.

She needed air.

She needed to escape before she suffocated in this nightmare.

Without a word, she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the office.

---

Sarah didn't remember how she got home.

One moment she was pushing through the whispers, the next she was in her apartment, her back against the door, gasping for air.

Her vision blurred.

Her entire world had just imploded.

She had braced herself for the pain when she caught them in the act. She had told herself she was done crying over them.

But this?

This was different.

This wasn't just betrayal behind closed doors.

This was public humiliation.

The entire city now knew that James Turner, the man she was supposed to marry, had been screwing her best friend behind her back.

And he didn't even have the decency to deny it.

Sarah let out a bitter laugh, but it quickly turned into something more raw, something broken.

She grabbed the nearest thing, a framed photo of her and Chloe from years ago and hurled it across the room. The glass shattered against the wall.

Just like her heart.

A strangled sob escaped her lips, and she sank to the floor, clutching her chest as if that would somehow keep the pain from tearing her apart.

Betrayal burned through her, white-hot and unforgiving.

How could they do this to her?

How could she do this to her?

The weight of everything crashed over her, pressing her into the floor. She wanted to scream, to claw at her own skin just to rid herself of the ache.

But all she could do was sit there.

Broken.

Alone.

And with nowhere to hide from the world that now knew her pain.