Chapter 6

I didn’t realize how much I had been holding onto until that moment.

Until it broke.

Footsteps came from the stairs and Mirabel’s expression changed instantly. Her face softened. Her shoulders relaxed. By the time Dominic walked in, she looked completely different.

“Let’s go,” he said.

His eyes flicked to me.

Cold. As if I had done something wrong. He walked past me again.

Mirabel followed, then paused. She turned slightly and waved. A small, innocent gesture. But the smirk was still there.

Then she left and the door closed.

The house went quiet again.

My vision blurred.

I didn’t know when my legs started moving. I just knew I couldn’t stand there anymore. I walked to the couch slowly and sat down before my body gave out completely. My hands rested on my lap. They felt… empty.

So he didn’t choose me. Not really.

He just settled for me when he couldn’t have her.

The realization settled slowly, heavily, like something sinking to the bottom with no way back up.

Mirabel and I met in high school.

I got into the school through a scholarship. It was a place meant for people like her, not me. Everyone there had money, status, and a name that mattered. I didn’t have any of that.

I didn’t belong there.

Not until I met Mirabel.

She was the one who approached me first.

I still remember that day clearly. A group of girls had cornered me, laughing, saying things I tried not to hear. I didn’t even know how to respond. I just stood there, wishing it would end.

Then Mirabel walked in.

She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t ask questions.

She just looked at them and said I was her friend.

And just like that… everything changed.

The same girls who had been mocking me went quiet. Their attitude shifted instantly, like a switch had been flipped. No one said anything after that.

From that moment, people stopped bothering me.

At that time, I thought she was… amazing. I thought she saved me. I thought I finally had someone. I didn’t know I was just stepping into something I didn’t understand.

I had a crush on the popular rich boy in our class, Dominic Kings.

He didn’t talk much, but he didn’t need to. People noticed him anyway. The kind of person who walked into a room and didn’t have to try.

Back then, I only watched from a distance. It wasn’t anything serious. Just a quiet feeling I kept to myself.

Until I told Mirabel.

I thought… She was my friend.

I trusted her. But instead of keeping it to herself, she got close to him. Closer than I ever could.

And before I even understood what was happening, Dominic started looking at her.

Talking to her.

Choosing her.

They started dating not long after.

At first, I didn’t understand it.

Then I did.

She just wanted to prove something.

That I didn’t belong in their world. That I didn’t deserve someone like him. That I couldn't be with him, I could only admire.

My head started to spin.

I leaned back slightly into the couch, my body feeling weaker by the second. I hadn’t eaten. But I couldn’t even think about food.

My hand moved to my stomach slowly.

A life was inside me.

Dominic’s child.

I had thought maybe this would change something. Maybe this would make him look at me differently. I came back home with that thought still somewhere inside me.

Only to find this.

A sharp breath caught in my throat.

I didn’t realize when the tears started. They slipped down quietly at first. I wiped them off quickly.

I’m not weak.

But more came.

I wiped them again.

It’s okay. I’ll be fine.

But they didn’t stop.

They kept falling no matter how many times I wiped them away.

“I’ll figure it out…” I whispered under my breath.

My voice sounded small.

Uncertain.

The tears blurred my vision. I wiped them again. And again. But it didn’t work.

My chest tightened, and before I could stop it, I covered my face with my hands as a sob broke out.

I bent forward slightly, my shoulders shaking.

How long had I been enduring this?

Three years. Three years of waiting. Hoping. Making excuses for him.

I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t stay in this marriage anymore.

The thought came clearly this time. Not something I could ignore.

But then, where would I go?

My adoptive family wouldn’t take me back.

I had no money. Nothing saved. Nothing to fall back on.

A bitter thought crossed my mind.

Why was I so stupid? Why did I believe he would change? Why did I keep hoping?

I didn’t even prepare for this.

And now…

I didn’t even know how to start again.

A fresh wave of fear settled in my chest.

He could leave me anytime.

It wasn’t even a question.

And when he did—

Where would I go?

My fingers tightened slightly against my sleeves.

My thoughts shifted back to the way he had looked at me.

That look.

Cold and distant. Like I was something he had to tolerate.

My chest ached.

All my life I had never really been loved.

People always said things like—

Don’t beg for love.

Don’t be desperate.

Go where you’re loved.

I let out a weak breath.

Where was that?

Because it wasn’t here.

And it wasn’t back home there either.

My hands slowly dropped from my face.

My eyes burned.

At this point, it felt like maybe I just wasn’t someone people could love.

Maybe this was how it was always going to be.

Maybe this is just who I am to people.

Someone they choose only when they have no one else.