Chapter 2

Karina:

 The video played on a loop in front of my eyes, over and over again. I tried to take my eyes off of it, to just…go ahead and press the pause button, or anything that would make this nightmare stop. But it felt like I was stuck in a loop, unable to get out or do anything to stop this horrible feeling from spreading…

Was this a mistake? A cruel joke?

But there was no mistake. The man in the videos was undoubtedly Ethan...my fiance, and the woman he was kissing...I had no idea who she was, but from the way Ethan gazed at her so lovingly; the way his hands settled on her waist, there was no doubt that she wasn't a stranger.

For a moment, I couldn't believe this was happening. That the man I had loved for the last five years would go so far to betray me, and that too when he had already proposed to me...when I already wore his ring...

And yet, even as the pain consumed me, a dark, searing anger began to rise. This wasn’t just betrayal. It was cruel. It was a slap in the face of everything we had built together.

Then, before I could fully process the betrayal, another message popped up. 

"Come to Club Ecstasy if you want the truth."

The message was simple, yet it felt like a dagger twisting in my chest. My hands trembled as I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. I didn’t even think about what I would do when I got there—I just knew I had to go. The drive was a blur, my thoughts a chaotic mess. Ethan and I were supposed to get married in a few days. Everything was planned, the invitations sent out, the dress hanging in my closet. And now this?

When I arrived at the club, the thumping bass of the music vibrated through my chest as I pushed past the crowd. I followed the directions from the message to a private room in the back, but I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. Instead, I sat down on one of the benches outside, my heart racing as I peeked through the slightly ajar door.

There he was, dancing wildly in the center of the room, a drink in his hand and the woman from the video draped over him. She whispered something into his ear, and he laughed—a carefree, joyous laugh I hadn’t heard in months. His friends surrounded him, cheering him on, though one of them looked uneasy. 

“Ethan, seriously, man,” the uneasy one said, trying to get his attention. “What about Karina? You’re supposed to get married in a few days.” 

Ethan rolled his eyes, swaying unsteadily as he took another sip of his drink. “Karina…” he said, his voice dripping with mockery. “She’s just… a placeholder. You think I was serious about her?” He laughed again, this time louder, as if the very idea was ridiculous. 

I felt like the floor had been ripped out from under me. A placeholder? Was that all I had been to him? My stomach churned, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away.

“Katharine,” the friend who had spoken turned to the woman in his arms. “You know he’s about to get married right?”

The woman—her name was Katharine, as I just learned—pulled him closer. “Come on, Ethan. Don’t talk about her like that,” she said, though her tone lacked sincerity. “She’s going to be your wife.”

“No, no,” Ethan slurred, turning to her with a grin. “You’re my first love, Kitty. You’ve always been the one. I never stopped loving you.” 

Kitty. The nickname hit me like a freight train, and my eyes dropped to the engagement ring on my finger. The three carat diamond ring glistened in the dim light of the hallway. I had always thought it was simple, elegant, and perfect—just like Ethan had claimed our love to be. But now, with my world crumbling around me, I realized that his nickname for me didn’t belong to me at all.

Because the engagement ring had the engraving on the inner band: ‘kitty’.

The realization struck me like a punch to the gut. The ring wasn’t meant for me. It had never been for me. It was for her. For Katharine. 

And the uncanny resemblance we shared, not just in similar names, but also in similar features; brunette hair and blue eyes…it didn’t take long for me to piece the puzzle together.

Tears blurred my vision as the weight of the betrayal settled on my shoulders. How could he do this to me? How could he let me believe that we were building a future together when his heart had always belonged to someone else? 

I stood up, my legs trembling as I clutched my purse. This ends now.