The Secret Cracks

Chapter 2 - The Secret Cracks

Mia slipped out of Ethan’s penthouse just after midnight. The cool night air hit her flushed skin as she stepped onto the street, the city alive around her but feeling like a distant hum. She adjusted her jacket, pulling it tighter around her body as if it could shield her from the guilt that crept in every time she left Ethan. She told herself it would get easier—the lying, the hiding—but it never did.

Her phone buzzed again in her hand. Liam. Guilt twisted her stomach as she glanced down at the message: Miss you. Let’s talk tomorrow?

She should be excited to see Liam. He was the perfect boyfriend, the kind of guy any girl would be lucky to have. But all she felt was the dull ache of obligation. She could still feel Ethan’s hands on her skin, his lips against hers. Every time she was with him, it was like the rest of the world faded away, and she hated how much she craved that feeling.

Pushing thoughts of Liam aside, she walked quickly toward her apartment, her mind racing. How much longer could she keep this up? She couldn’t deny that being with Ethan made her feel alive in ways that Liam never did. But how long before it all blew up in her face?

She turned the key in the lock of her apartment door, stepping inside the small space that suddenly felt suffocating. The silence was too much. She needed a distraction. Anything to drown out the thoughts that swirled in her head.

Her phone buzzed again, and this time it wasn’t Liam. It was Sophie.

“Are you up? Need to talk.”

Mia’s heart skipped a beat. Sophie was her best friend—had been since they were kids—but lately, their friendship felt strained. Mia had been pulling away, and she knew Sophie had noticed. How could she tell her best friend that the reason she was distant was because she was sleeping with her father’s best friend? The thought alone made her stomach turn.

She typed a quick response: “Yeah, I’m up. What’s going on?”

Moments later, Sophie’s reply came in: “Can I come over?”

Mia hesitated, her heart pounding. She wasn’t ready to face Sophie, especially not after what just happened with Ethan. But she couldn’t keep avoiding her.

“Sure. Come over.”

As soon as the message sent, Mia’s pulse quickened. What if Sophie knew something? What if she had seen Mia and Ethan together? Mia shook the thought away. There was no way. They had been careful. No one knew.

Except for Liam, who was still in the dark about her late-night meetings with Ethan. And Sophie, who Mia had been dodging for weeks. It was all falling apart, and Mia didn’t know how to fix it.

Minutes later, Sophie arrived. Mia opened the door to find her friend standing there, arms crossed, looking more serious than usual. Sophie was always the life of the party, always the one to brighten up a room with her infectious energy. But tonight, something was off.

“Hey,” Sophie said, stepping inside without her usual smile.

Mia’s stomach knotted. “Hey. What’s up?”

Sophie dropped onto the couch, running her hands through her hair. “I… I need to talk to you about something. But I don’t know how to say it.”

Mia’s heart pounded harder in her chest. She forced herself to sit next to Sophie, her mind spinning with worst-case scenarios. “You can tell me anything,” Mia said, her voice steady despite the panic rising inside her.

Sophie bit her lip, glancing at Mia with an expression that made her insides twist. “It’s about… well, it’s about Ethan.”

Mia’s breath caught in her throat. Did Sophie know? Could she somehow have figured it out?

“What about him?” Mia asked, her voice shaky despite her best efforts to sound calm.

Sophie exhaled slowly, her eyes dropping to her hands. “Mia, something happened. I don’t know how to say this, but… I slept with him.”

Mia felt the blood drain from her face, her entire body freezing in place. The words hit her like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of her lungs. Sophie… and Ethan?

Her mind reeled, struggling to process what she had just heard. “You… what?”

Sophie looked at her with wide, guilt-ridden eyes. “It happened a while ago, before you and Liam got together. I didn’t want to tell you because I was ashamed. But now… now it’s eating me up inside.”

Mia couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. All she could do was stare at Sophie, the truth unraveling in front of her like a nightmare she couldn’t escape. Ethan had been with Sophie?

The man she had been sneaking around with for months—the man who made her feel like she was the only one—had already been with her best friend.

“I’m sorry, Mia,” Sophie whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was a mistake.”

Mia felt like she was going to be sick. Her hands trembled in her lap as the room seemed to close in on her. Everything was unraveling, faster than she could keep up.

Sophie reached for her hand, but Mia pulled away, standing abruptly. “I… I need a minute,” Mia stammered, backing away from the couch. She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears, her chest tightening with panic. How could Ethan have done this? How could Sophie?

“Mia, please,” Sophie begged. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Mia’s mind was spinning, a chaotic mess of emotions she couldn’t untangle. She needed to get out of there. She needed to think.

“I just… I need some air,” she said, grabbing her jacket and rushing toward the door, barely able to hold herself together long enough to make it outside.

The cold night air hit her face like a slap, but it did little to calm the storm raging inside her. She stumbled down the steps of her apartment building, her thoughts racing in a million different directions. Sophie had slept with Ethan. Her best friend, the one person she had trusted with everything. And Ethan…

What else had he lied about?

Mia felt the walls closing in around her as she walked aimlessly through the quiet streets, her mind replaying Sophie’s confession over and over again. She had been so sure of Ethan, so convinced that what they had was different. But now? Now she didn’t know what to believe.

Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she glanced down to see Ethan’s name flash across the screen.

“Miss me already?” the message read.

Mia’s hand shook as she stared at the text, her stomach churning with a mix of anger and hurt. She wanted to throw the phone, to scream, to forget that any of this had ever happened. But she couldn’t. Not now. Not when everything she thought she knew was falling apart around her.