Chapter One: The Birthday

Authors Pov

“Happy birthday to me,” Yennifer whispered to the mirror, tugging the blue dress smooth over her hips.

Daniel had chosen it and told her, "No questions, just wear it,” even though the shade of blue was contrasting with her hair, but she didn’t mind, because she loves him. He had also promised she’d never forget this birthday.”

“What if he proposes tonight?” Yennifer whispered to herself, her voice heavy with excitement, a smile spreading so wide it seemed to light up her whole face. 

She tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear, her hazel eyes finding her reflection as her trembling hands tried to steady the fluttering in her chest

Then she reached for the small wrapped box on her dresser, the one she had bought with two months of her salary. A watch for Daniel 

Her phone glowed.

7:20 p.m.

No messages.

Her smile thinned. “He’s still setting up,” she said to the empty room, and slipped the gift into her handbag before leaving for the restaurant Daniel picked 

By eight-thirty, she was seated at the restaurant. By 10 p.m., she was already drawing stares from other diners, and the waiter had already come by twice. Each time, she told him she was waiting for someone, yet Daniel still hadn’t shown.

Yennifer checked her phone for what had to be the fiftieth time; two hours and no Daniel.

Every call went unanswered, every text remained unread. No calls from him or texts, nothing.

The knot in her chest pulled tighter; Daniel usually answers on the first ring, at least he used to

Then the thought came to her in a rush, sharp enough to make her breath catch: “What if something had happened to him?” 

Fear moved through her before reason could stop it. She shoved back her chair so hard it scraped the floor, snatched her coat, and hurried outside, waving down the first taxi that passed. She gave the driver the address she knew by heart.

On getting to Daniel’s apartment and holding up the spare key he had once given to her, smiling like he knew exactly how much it meant. She had never had to use it. “Only for emergencies”, he’d said, and she had held onto that like it was a promise. Like it meant she mattered enough to be trusted with the door to his life.

Her fingers trembled as she unlocked the apartment door, but silence greeted her, and her worry grew

Then she noticed them: rose petals scattered around, candles spewing soft golden lights on the walls. Her breath hitched, then she smiled and let out a little laugh. “Oh, you charming idiot…was this... for me?”

Maybe he'd been planning to surprise her all along. Maybe she had overreacted, as if the missing hours had been leading to this one perfect moment. The rose petals climbed the stairs in a soft spill of red, absurdly romantic—But just then she heard it.

A muffled sound from the bedroom, a broken gasp more like a moan. Her steps faltered as she heard it again, breathless and trembling. Maybe it was the television. Yes, or maybe someone had come to visit him, but Daniel barely had any friends. Yennifer tried to steady herself, forcing the thought into something ordinary, something harmless. 

“Daniel?” she called, and hated how small her voice sounded, but no answer.

She climbed the stairs one slow step at a time, every instinct begging her to turn around, but she kept going. Then she heard the muffled voices again, but this time clearer from the half-opened door, voices she knew too damn well.

“Daniel... yes, right there, baby,” came Lily’s breathless cry from behind the door, followed by a shattered gasp that made Yennifer freeze halfway up the stairs. Then Daniel’s voice, low and wrecked with need, came next, calling her sister’s name like a prayer, “I’m almost there, baby.”

Yennifer’s stomach churned.

Another strained sound came from Lily, her voice breaking into frantic little pleas and soft, helpless cries, “Dany, please, please I ca…n't take anymore”, and then Daniel grunted one more before saying “cum for me baby,” and they both collapsed from their ecstasy. 

Daniel pressed his forehead to hers, still catching his breath, still not quite steady. Then her sister’s voice drifted through the door. “I love you, Dany.” Daniel smiled before answering, “I love you too, baby. I think I’m late, but she can wait a little longer.”

Yennifer stood frozen on the landing, one hand over her mouth, the petals blurring under her tears as the world tilted out from underneath her. The candles downstairs suddenly seemed obscene. The roses felt like a cruel joke. Every tender little detail he had arranged for her had been laid on a bed of betrayal.

She tried to speak, but it came out as a wet, broken breath. Her hand flew to her mouth. Tears stung her eyes so fast she could barely see.

She must have made a sound, because the room went abruptly still.

Through the half-opened door, she saw Daniel turn first, still flushed, still breathing hard, and the color drained from his face the second he saw her. Lily followed, clutching the sheet to her chest, her expression collapsing from pleasure into panic.

Yennifer stood there with tears sliding down her face, trying to hold herself together and failing spectacularly.

For a moment, none of them spoke, then Daniel whispered her name like a prayer he didn’t deserve to make.

And Yennifer, shaking apart on the landing, understood that the worst part was not what she had seen. It was how two people she trusted most could betray her like this 

Daniel, her boyfriend and her sister Lily, tangled together in a way that made her sick. For one terrible heartbeat, no one moved. No one breathed. Then Daniel jerked back, pale as paper.

“Yen…”

“What,” she whispered at last, and the word broke in half. “What is this?”

For a second, guilt flashed across his face like he was sorry, then it disappeared. His jaw hardened as he spoke 

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't kept pushing me away."

Yennifer stared at him. "What?"

“You kept acting like your virginity was some untouchable treasure,” he said, his voice rising. “Four years, Yen. Four. Damn. Years…We’re adults. We were going to get married anyway. What was so wrong with taking the next step? I’m a man with raging hormones.”

Her tears spilled freely now. "So this..." she whispered. "This is my fault?"

Lily’s voice cracked. “Yen… I’m sorry.”

Yennifer looked at her sister like she’d never seen her before.

“I’m sorry,” Lily said again. “You once told me love can't be forced”

Silence.

Yennifer remembered saying those exact words years ago after Lily's first teenage heartbreak.

A bitter laugh broke from Yennifer. Turning to Daniel, she said, “So you bought me a dress, left me waiting at the restaurant, let me think something had happened to you, and all this time you were here screwing my own sister?”

Her knees nearly gave out.

“Yennie,” Lily whispered. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“No,” Yennifer said. “You didn’t want me to find out at all.” No one answered. They didn’t have to.

Yennifer looked from Lily to Daniel as if she no longer knew them. She stood, smoothed her dress with trembling fingers, and swallowed hard.

“I really thought…” She stopped, eyes burning, but she refused to cry in front of them.

“I understand,” she said instead, then turned and left before the tears could fall.

Downstairs, she took his apartment key from her handbag and saw the gift she had bought him.

Her throat tightened. She almost left it there, but instead she set the wrapped watch beside his key, as if she were setting down the last piece of anything that reminded her of him.

Then she turned and left, a broken laugh catching in her throat. “Two months of my salary. Four years of being a fool.”

___

By the time Yennifer reached home, her tears had dried up and had left behind numbness.

Her mother opened the door and started, mid-sentence, when she saw her face. “There you are. We’ve been—”

“What happened?” Her voice went thin.

“I caught Lily with Daniel,” Yennifer sobbed, her voice breaking hard as she wiped at her face. “On the same bed, Mum.”

“Oh…my, Yen”, then her mother crossed the space between them and pulled her into a hug. Some seconds later, her mother drew back, hands still on Yennifer’s hair, patting it down, and said softly,

“I know this hurts. But you can’t destroy a family over a relationship.”

Yennifer blinked at her. “A relationship?” she repeated.

“Yes, Yennie. Lily is young, and people make mistakes.” The air left Yennifer’s lungs. “A mistake?”

Her mother’s mouth tightened, not unkind, just settled. Certain. “Can’t you forgive her?... You’re the mature one,” her mother added. The words hit harder than a shout

Yennifer had heard them all her life. Be the mature one. Let Lily have it. You understand better. You’ll cope.

Lily got the better school because Yennifer had to forfeit her scholarship for Lily, give up her clothes, books and now her man- well, ex

She turned to her father. “Dad?”

Instead, he looked at her like she was the problem.

Yennifer didn’t argue. She turned on her heel and went upstairs, hands shaking as she fumbled for her phone, calling her best friend Chloe. 

The second Chloe picked up, everything broke loose. She cried through the whole story, words tumbling out between sobs, until she finally dragged in one ragged breath and said, “I’m

done, I'm so done Chlo…I can't, I can't anymore.”

Chloe didn’t hesitate. “Pack every damn thing you own in that house and come here.”