CHAPTER FIVE - Heard, Seen, Erased.

Elsa’s pov

Christian cleared his throat and looked down at his plate.

“So, uh… how long have you two been together?”

Louise didn’t answer immediately. She turned to me.

“You want to tell him, babe?”

I looked at her. Really looked at her.

Her eyes weren’t hard, but they weren’t soft either. They were searching, not for him, but for me. I realized she didn’t bring him here to test me. She already knew the answer.

She just wanted to see if I did.

“18months,” I said quietly, my voice steadier than I felt. “We live together.”

Christian nodded. “Wow. That’s beautiful. You make a gorgeous couple.”

Louise smiled, but there was nothing behind it.

“We do, don’t we?”

I reached for her hand under the table. She let me take it, cool, still, covered in silver. I squeezed. She didn’t squeeze back.

That’s when I felt it fully, the weight of what she wasn’t saying.

She was pulling away.

And I was still holding on.

Louise leaned back in her chair, letting the silence stretch a little too long before she spoke again.

“He’s good-looking,” she said, staring at me now. “Your type?”

“Babe…” I started, but the guilt in my throat dried my voice.

“She looked at you like she wanted to taste you,” Louise said to him plainly. “You noticed?”

Christian blinked, suddenly less sure of himself. “I, uh…”

“I did,” I cut in, ashamed. “But it wasn’t what you think. It was just a glance.”

Louise turned to me, something flickering behind her eyes, not anger. Something softer. Sadder.

“You don’t owe me lies, Elsa. Not now.”

“I think we’re done here,” she said suddenly, rising to her feet.

I looked up at her. “Wait, what….”

She leaned down and kissed my cheek. It was soft. Intimate. But final.

“I love you,” she whispered. “But something’s broken. And I can’t pretend anymore.”

She turned to Christian. “Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Louise’s POV

I left the car key beside her water glass.

“I’ll walk,” I said quietly, almost to myself.

Elsa looked up at me, lips parted like she wanted to stop me.

But she didn’t.

Her hand stayed on the table. Her eyes flicked toward him, Christian, and just like that, I knew everything I didn’t want to know.

I turned and walked out of the restaurant into a sun that no longer felt warm.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just walked. For blocks. Past cafés we used to sneak into, past that corner bookstore where she once made me read poetry out loud like a fool.

The city felt foreign.

I found a bar with no name and a barman who didn’t ask questions. Sat in the corner like a ghost and drank bourbon slowly. One glass. Then another. My hands weren’t shaking, but everything inside me was coming undone.

I should’ve told her about the marriage

Should’ve told her the truth.

The truth is, I had waited because I was selfish.

And now… I had nothing to tell her that wouldn’t feel like revenge.

I got back to the apartment just past midnight. The streets were quiet. My chest wasn’t.

The light in the hallway was on. I could hear something faint music maybe. Or,

No. Not music.

I heard her before I saw her.

A sound deep, from the gut the kind she only made when she’d fully let go. Not the kind you fake. Not the kind you give to someone unless you’re completely there.

I shouldn’t have looked.

But I did.

The door was open just a crack, and through that sliver, I saw her. Naked beneath him, back arched, legs shaking around his hips. Her hands were in his hair, pulling, her nails clawing at his shoulders like she couldn’t get enough of him. Her body moved with his in perfect rhythm, like they’d done this before. Like her skin already knew his.

She moaned again, louder this time, her voice breaking in a way I hadn’t heard in months. And then she said his name.

Not in confusion.

Not in guilt.

In pleasure.

Raw, breathless pleasure.

He groaned her name back, pushed deeper, harder, and she welcomed it. Tilted her head to kiss him with open hunger. Her legs wrapped tighter around him, her heels digging into his back to keep him there.

My chest twisted.

I watched her open her mouth, biting back a cry as she clenched around him. She was close, I could see it. Her hands gripped the sheets, and her body trembled under his, her thighs shaking as she whispered, “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

And he didn’t.

He gave her everything.

And she took it like it belonged to her.

I couldn’t look away, not even when tears blurred my vision.

Not even when my entire body felt like it was caving in.

This wasn’t a mistake.

This wasn’t just sex.

This was surrender.

She gave him every part of her, the sounds, the begging, the wild, breathless need I thought belonged to us.

And as her body arched again, fingers digging into his back, lips parting in a final cry, I felt something inside me collapse.

She came with his name on her lips.

Not mine

She opened her eyes.

Saw me standing there.

Her body froze.

“Lou,”

I shook my head gently. “No.”

He pulled away, confused, then stunned when he saw me. Shirtless. Guilty.

I didn’t scream.

Didn’t cry.

Didn’t give them that.

I just turned away. The hallway looked longer than it had hours ago. I walked to the closet like I wasn’t crumbling. Picked up the bag I’d started packing earlier, maybe part of me always knew.

She came into the hallway wrapped in a blanket; eyes swollen with panic. “Please… please don’t leave like this.”

“How else should I leave, Elsa?” My voice cracked, finally.

Tears slipped down her face. “It didn’t mean,”

“Don’t.” My throat closed. “Don’t lie to me with his touch still on your skin.”

She reached for my hand. I stepped back. That single motion broke her.

“I love you,” she whispered.

I nodded. “Then why did you choose him in the moment that counted?”

Her lips trembled. She didn’t have an answer.

“I would’ve given you anything,” I said quietly. “I was just waiting for the right time to tell you what I had to lose to stay with you.”

Didn’t say another word.

And walked out of the apartment we called home.

Alone.