Chapter 3: Fragile Thread

Thalia's POV

I remained seated in the shadows far longer than I intended. The night had grown cooler, and though I felt the breeze brush across my arms and neck, it did little to quiet the feverish ache pulsing in my chest.

Part of me had hoped that speaking the truth aloud might have lightened the burden somehow. That maybe, in telling him, I would feel free. But freedom had not come.

And as I was out disheartened and alone, without warning, the silence broke.

It began faintly, in a soft stir of voices. Then came laughter, sudden and loud. Cheers, whistles, applause and then a rising wave of energy crashing through the rooftop bar.

My brows furrowed. I turned my head toward the noise, uncertain. My heart already beginning to race out of dread. A strange hush fell just before the clapping swelled again, louder now, and more insistent. And then someone shouted:

“Say yes!”

I instantly froze.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

I rose from the bench slowly, drawn forward against my will, and my heels tapping softly on the stone floor as I stepped back toward the terrace.

At first, I could see nothing through the bodies crowding near the bar. But as I edged closer, I caught a glimpse of the small space that had opened in the center.

And there, beneath the golden canopy of lights, surrounded by flowers and strangers with their phones lifted in delight, stood Mikael Vireaux on bended knee.

A velvet box sat in his outstretched hand with its lid tilted open, revealing a ring so dazzling it sparkled like stardust under the strings of amber light.

And before him was Alina.

Her hands were clasped over her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief and joy. She looked down at him as though she had never been more in love.

“Yes,” she gasped. “Yes!”

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause. Glasses were raised. Smiles bloomed on every face.

I stood just beyond the doorway, caught in the space between and completely unseen.

And in that moment, something inside me collapsed.

The truth settled in my chest like a stone dropped into a deep well.

He hadn’t only rejected me tonight.

He had proposed to her.

He had planned it all along.

That was why he had hesitated. That was why he had looked so… guilty.

Not because he hadn’t seen it coming. But because he had already intended to offer her forever to someone else.

My best friend.

My heart felt like it had been cracked open without warning. The desperation I had tried to bury now spilled over into humiliation.

Crushing, suffocating, and inescapable.

I turned away before anyone could notice me, before anyone could see the look on my face...the betrayal I had no right to feel, the heartbreak I had no strength to hide.

God... I felt so humiliated, I couldn’t even breathe.

I couldn’t face anyone right now.

Where did I even find the courage to confess to a man who never had the chance to be mine to begin with?

A man who already loved someone else.

A man who was, at that very moment, kneeling before my best friend and offering her forever.

The weight of it pressed into my chest and it was sharp and unforgiving.

I swallowed hard, blinking fast as I turned back toward the hallway, keeping to the shadows as best I could. I reentered the bar quietly, unnoticed amidst the celebration. Everyone's attention was drawn to the newly engaged couple while the other were cheering, filming, laughing as if nothing else in the world mattered.

And for them, nothing else did.

I slipped past the crowd, back to the small corner table where my purse still lay. My fingers trembled as I reached for it, gripping the strap tightly like it was the only solid thing left in my life.

No one turned. No one called after me.

I didn’t say goodbye. I didn’t congratulate them. I didn’t even look back.

I just left and felt that each step was heavier than the last. My breath caught in my throat as I pushed through the doors and out into the night. The city was still alive, pulsing with noise and light, but around me felt like everything was blurring.

And inside, I was unraveling.

Streetlights stretched into long streaks. Sounds came in and out, muffled and distant. Like I was underwater. Like I was watching life from behind a pane of glass I couldn't break through.

I was walking, but I didn’t know where.

I only knew I needed to keep moving.

If I stood still too long, I was afraid the ache in my chest would consume me whole.

I had confessed something I buried deep and in return, I had been met with a smile of apology… and the sight of him offering forever to someone else.

I felt like I had died quietly in the corner of that room, and no one noticed.

No one saw the way my hands trembled.

No one heard the sound of my heart breaking.

He didn’t even look for me.

And maybe that hurt the most...that I could disappear, and he wouldn’t even notice I was gone.

I wanted to cry, but even the tears felt stuck. Like my body had locked every door to keep the pain inside where no one could see it. I was unraveling from the inside out, thread by fragile thread.