CHAPTER 3: Shattered

Kyros and I started our friendship in middle school. He courted me when I turned sixteen, and since our families were also friends, it wasn’t difficult for us to accept each other. 

I accepted him before I started university. When I was seventeen, my bodyguard helped my kidnappers. Young and innocent, I was almost abused by them. But Kyros arrived before they could destroy me. 

Of course, there had always been rumors—whispers that those scumbags had abused me. But Kyros, my savior, had pursued me relentlessly, and I truly believed our relationship would strengthen both our families.

Everyone in our circle—family and friends alike—knew that Kyros and I were each other’s first love. We had never been with anyone else; it had always been just the two of us. When I left the Sinclair family after a bitter dispute with my father, Kyros took that as his cue to turn our relationship into marriage.

He loved me deeply—or so I thought. The years we spent together and everything we had been through convinced me of it.

The villa we shared was just meters from the hospital in Bryston City, and as my car rolled into the exclusive village, my wandering thoughts came to an abrupt halt. I parked a short distance from our villa, my gaze landing on Kyros’s car in its usual spot—a clear sign that he was home. 

After entering our security code, I pushed open the door to find discarded clothing strewn across our carefully chosen furniture—clothes scattered with careless abandon across the couch and carpet. 

My heart plummeted.

From upstairs, raw and unfiltered moans rang out, echoing through the villa.

A slow, burning rage spread through my chest. I had never once imagined Kyros betraying our seven-year relationship.

With measured steps, I ascended the grand staircase, unnoticed by the two people tangled in their own world.

The bedroom door was wide open. Their moans, the sound of bodies colliding, filled the air—shattering whatever illusion I had left.

Before I could fully grasp what I was seeing, a familiar voice pierced the air, each word carefully chosen to wound. 

“What would Gazelle feel now that you let me wear her jewelry while you were fucking me?” 

I froze. My breath caught, and my hand flew to my mouth as recognition hit me like a slap. It was Stella, the same woman who had reassured me that I was just having wedding jitters, who had embraced me with false friendship. 

Kyros’ response made my stomach churn. “I find it sexy. At least now, fucking you feels like fucking her.”

At this moment, I no longer recognized the man I was about to marry.

Stella giggled, her voice dripping with amusement. “What a twisted fantasy.”

Then came the unmistakable sound of messy, fevered kisses, followed by an exchange of filthy words. My fists clenched at my sides, my entire body trembling. I was just a meter away from the bedroom door, torn between barging in and exposing them or staying hidden, forced to witness every sickening moment. 

“Promise me that I will be the only one you touch and no one else, Kyros,” Stella demanded. 

He scoffed, amusement lacing his tone. “What? Are you jealous?” 

“Of course! You’re the only man for me, Kyros. I’m enjoying this! I believe you when you say that the reason you can’t touch Gazelle is because you still think about what those kidnappers might have done to her. It made you sick, thinking that somebody might have already taken her.”

Her voice softened with calculated sympathy. 

“That’s why I don’t feel jealous of her.” 

“You should be jealous of her, Stella!” Kyros snapped. “No matter what those kidnappers did to her back then, it wouldn’t stop me from loving her!” 

“But what about me?” Stella’s voice wavered, laced with quiet disappointment. 

“You?” His reply dripped with cruel dismissal. “You have no right to compare yourself to Gazelle. You’re just my slut, who wanted a taste in Gazelle and I’s villa. You’re the one I took to the reservation dinner for Valentine’s. You don’t need to ask for more when you’re already enjoying things I don’t share with her.”

Stella giggled. “How about we try having sex inside the hospital ward? At the hospital where Gazelle works. Don’t you find it exciting?”

My stomach twisted in knots, and a wave of nausea hit me. Without waiting to hear more, I retreated silently from the villa, leaving behind no trace of my presence save the shattered remains of my trust. 

I barely reached my car before I leaned over and threw up by the side of the road, overwhelmed with heartbreak. 

Inside the car, the reality broke down completely. Tears streamed down my face as the painful truth sank in—my boyfriend and friend engaged in a sexual relationship. Kyros’s blatant disrespect, bringing another woman into our shared space as if to mock me, cut even deeper. 

And then came the cruelest revelation of all—our lack of intimacy wasn’t out of respect. It was because the mere thought repulsed him that someone else might have touched me. 

If he truly loved me, he should have trusted me. As my rescuer that day, he knew better than anyone that the kidnappers had never succeeded in their attempted violation. 

Yet he let those doubts grow, turning me into a joke, a fuel for cruel gossip. 

“We have to stay in control, babe. Even though our parents know we’re getting married and that our relationship is going well, I have to stand firm on no pre-marital sex. Your dad cherished you, and I promised Mr. Sinclair we would live in separate rooms until marriage.”

That’s what Kyros told me. At that time, his apparent respect had filled me with gratitude. 

The truth is, what happened still haunts me. The trauma from the kidnapping attempt made intimacy impossible for me. That’s why Kyros and I had no physical relationship. But no one knew that…

Kyros had been my only constant since I walked away from my family’s mansion. Maybe he thought I would stay because I depended on him, even in the face of his betrayal. 

Did he forget that I left without hesitation when my father cheated with my friend? Why would this be any different? 

I could leave him just the same.

Why do they always betray me with my friends?

After allowing myself a moment to restore my composure, I steered my car back toward the hospital. 

I returned to my duties as though nothing had happened. 

But one thing was certain—I would never forgive Kyros for what he had done to me.