Chapter Two: After the heartbreak

Nina's POV

The smell of coffee and butter pulled me out of sleep before the morning light did.

I cracked one eye open.

Zoe stood at the edge of the bed with a tray balanced on one hand, dressed like she was about to close a deal.

Her blazer was perfectly fitted, her dark hair pulled back neatly, and her heels dangled from her fingers.

Even her apartment reflected her personality: quiet, elegant, expensive.

Nothing creaked here. Everything was polished into silence.

“Don’t make me dump this on your face,” she said as she set the tray over my lap.

Scrambled eggs with chives.

Sourdough toast.

Sliced avocado.

A small bowl of berries.

And coffee in my favorite mug: the white ceramic one with the chipped handle I had mentioned once, six months ago.

“You’re going to work,” I murmured. My voice sounded rough from crying.

“I’m leaving for work in ten minutes,” she said. “You’re going to eat first.”

She sat beside me carefully, making sure not to wrinkle her blazer.

Outside, her driver was probably already waiting downstairs.

Inside, she was still.

I picked at the eggs. My appetite had disappeared somewhere between the hotel and Room 26.

Zoe watched me for thirty seconds before reaching into her bag on the chair.

She pulled out a black card with no name.

“Take it, in case you need anything,” she said, dropping it onto the tray beside my plate.

I stared at it. “That’s your card.”

“Corporate card for client dinners. This one’s personal.” She tapped it with a fingernail polished with clear gloss.

“The PIN is your birthday. Use it. Get yourself anything, anything that will make you forget him. I don’t care what it is. Just use it.”

“I can’t take your money, Zoe.”

“You’re not taking it.” Her voice remained calm. “You’re borrowing my ability to stop worrying for five minutes so you can remember who you were before that idiot.”

I lowered my gaze.

Sometimes, I forgot how much Zoe noticed.

She glanced at the expensive watch around her wrist.

“I have a meeting with the board in less than an hour,” she said. “But I’m not leaving until you eat at least half of that.”

To stop her from staring at me, I forced myself to take a bite.

It tasted painfully normal. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“Don’t thank me.”

She stood and smoothed invisible wrinkles from her blazer before slipping on her heels.

“Go out today. And send me a picture of something stupid you bought.”

A small smile tugged at her lips.

“If you don’t, I’ll come home during lunch and drag you shopping dressed exactly like this.”

She gestured at herself.

Despite everything, I let out the faintest laugh.

The door clicked shut behind her moments later, and silence swallowed the apartment again.

But the black card remained on the tray, still warm from her hand.

And for the first time since I had caught Nolan with Liana, getting out of bed didn’t feel impossible.

I carefully placed the tray on the bedside table and picked up the card again, staring at it for a long moment.

Zoe was only two years older than me, but she had achieved more than most people twice her age.

Despite coming from an incredibly wealthy family, she had never once looked down on me.

The moment she graduated from high school, she had started working at her father’s company.

That should have been me, too. If I hadn’t thrown away my future for Nolan.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Aside from the dividends I received from the shares I had inherited from my mother, Zoe had practically carried me through the last few years.

And she had never once complained about it.

I didn’t think I could ever repay her.

Thinking about my family always brought Liana to mind.

For most of my childhood, I had never questioned what she meant to me.

She was my sister or at least, that was how I had always seen her.

Liana had been only three when my father married her mother, six months after my mother died. I was six at the time.

I had been too young to understand what it meant to lose my mother, let alone what it meant to gain a stepmother and a stepsister.

As far as I was concerned, Liana was simply my little sister.

I loved her.

But Zoe had been right about Liana.

She had always seen me as competition. Anything I had, she wanted twice as much.

If I received praise, she wanted admiration. If I got something expensive, she demanded something better.

I once overheard a conversation between her and her mother that changed everything.

It happened on my eighteenth birthday.

Liana’s fifteenth birthday had been celebrated just four months earlier, yet she still hadn’t been satisfied.

That evening, I overheard her crying to her mother about my birthday celebration.

“Why is her birthday celebration always grander than mine?” Liana cried bitterly. “Why does she always get the best of everything?”

“Because she’s her father’s only biological daughter,” her mother replied softly as she stroked her hair.

I froze outside the door.

“What do you mean?” Liana asked sharply. “You mean Nina is the only one who’s actually Dad’s daughter?”

Her mother slowly nodded.

“Her mother died in a car accident. I was only married to take care of...”

I never waited to hear the rest. Footsteps echoed nearby, and I ran before anyone could catch me listening.

I pushed the memory away.

At the time, I had convinced myself that Liana was simply insecure. I never imagined she could one day become the person who would destroy my relationship.

Carefully, I slid the card beneath the pillow before heading toward the bathroom.

The bathroom door clicked shut, and the sound felt like a door sealing me off from the rest of the world.

Steam curled around me as I turned the tap hotter. I let the warmth run over my trembling hands, desperate for anything that could drown out the ache in my chest.

But it wasn’t enough.

Nothing was.

I splashed water on my face.

Once, twice, and three times. As if I could wash his name off my skin.

As if I could scrub the image of him and Liana tangled together on the bed out of my eyes.

The mirror caught my reflection.

Mascara stains streaked beneath my eyes. My lips were pressed so tightly together that they had gone white.

“Stop crying,” I told myself. My voice sounded small.

“Just… stop.”

But the tears wouldn’t stop.

I gripped the edge of the sink until my knuckles went numb.

Forgetting wasn’t working.

The betrayal clung to me like poison beneath my skin.

Eventually, I turned off the water and slid down against the bathroom wall until I was sitting on the cold floor tiles.

What was I supposed to do now?

The thought came raw, ugly, and fast.

Block them both. Book the first flight out of the city. Drink until I don't remember my own name. Pretend it never happened. Run like I had always run from everything that hurts.

“Yes,” I whispered bitterly to myself.

“That’s exactly what I should do.”

The water dripping from my hand had already gone cold.

After a while, I forced myself back onto my feet.

I knew Zoe wanted me to get out of the apartment, even if only for a few hours.

Maybe she was right.

I walked to her wardrobe and pulled out two dresses before laying them on the bed.

But suddenly, going out felt exhausting.

So I collapsed back onto the mattress instead.

Time passed slowly.and at some point, my phone buzzed beside me.

It was a message from Zoe.

Zoe: "My love, I’ll be sleeping over at Nicole’s place tonight. He’s sick. Please take care of yourself. And call me if you need anything."

I typed back a simple reply.

Me: Okay.

Then I opened my notifications.

Missed calls from Nolan flooded my screen. Text messages too.

I didn’t bother reading a single one. I blocked him immediately.

A second later, another message popped up.

From Liana.

Liana: "Sis, I’m sorry you had to find out that way, but Nolan doesn’t love you. We’ve been together for four months now. I hope you won’t mind if I keep him."

I stared at the message for a long time.

Four months.

While helping me plan my wedding…

While pretending to love me…

Slowly, I pressed the block button.

Then I checked the time.

7:45 p.m.

The apartment had already gone dark outside the windows.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe inside those walls anymore.

Without thinking too much about it, I grabbed the black card from beneath the pillow, slipped into one of Zoe’s dresses, and headed out.

I had no destination or plans, I just needed somewhere that didn’t remind me of betrayal.

The cool night air hit my skin the moment I stepped outside the building.

I took a deep breath.

For the first time in years, I had no idea where I was going.

But I knew one thing.

I couldn’t go back to the life I had before tonight.