Chapter 4

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I groaned, dragging the pillow over my head. I waited for the phone to stop ringing but it didn’t. I blindly reached for it and then I saw the name. 

Maya. 

“What the hell?” I muttered, sitting up immediately. 

Maya was calling me?

My chest tightened, something must be wrong, like very wrong. I picked it anyway. 

“Hello?”

“Where are you?”

I winced, pulling the phone from my ear. “Wow. Good morning to you too.”

“Don’t play with me, Lyra,” Maya snapped. “What happened between you and Ronan?”

I froze. She hated talking about Ronan. Did everyone know about the fact that I left his house? 

And even if she heard about it, Maya wouldn’t just call me because of that. 

“I don’t under…”

“What did he do?” she asked again. 

“Okay I don’t understand. You hated the both of us together and now, you are calling… Why are you even asking me that?”

There was a pause. 

“You seriously don’t know?”

“Know what?” I said, my voice rising. “Maya, it’s too early for riddles. Say what you want to say or hang up.”

She sighed. “Fine. Where are you?”

I didn’t want to tell her initially because of course, I wasn’t ready for another argument but then I needed someone familiar in my life. 

I didn’t have anyone else in my life apart from her so I told her that I would send the address before I ended the call. I typed the address and sent it to her. 

****

“What the fuck is this place?” Maya screamed as she entered the house like she had just walked into a fever dream. “Lyra, why does this look like something out of a rich people movie?”

I crossed my arms. 

“Whose house is this?”

“Victor’s”

“Victor who?”

I swallowed because even I couldn’t believe that I would be saying that I was living in my… wait was Ronan my ex? So my best friend’s friend? I didn’t even know the tag to put on our relationship. 

“Ronan’s friend,” I said as I moved to take a seat. I didn’t even wait for her reply or her judgement because she always had one. 

“You left Ronan,” she said slowly, “and moved into his friend’s house?”

I scoffed. “When you say it like that, it sounds worse than it is.”

“It is worse than it is!” she snapped. “Lyra, what the hell are you doing?”

“Calm down, I’m paying rent.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

I leaned back on the chair. There was no point in arguing with her. It wasn't like I wanted to be stuck in this position. If it was left to me, of course, I didn’t want to be here. 

I had no other options. 

“It’s just temporary.”

Maya looked like she had so many things to say but kept it to herself, which was a fucking good idea because with the way I was feeling. I couldn’t handle her now. 

“Why are you here?”

She hesitated for a moment, then she shifted closer to me. She always did this whenever she had news she wanted to break. 

“I mean, if you are here…” she whispered, glancing at me. “You already have an idea. Have you been online?”

I shook my head. 

She pressed her lips together. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked slowly. 

“Because,” she said carefully, “I don’t know how to show you this without you wanting to throw something.”

My stomach dropped. “Maya.”

She didn’t move. 

“Maya.”

She sighed and pulled out her phone. She told me I wasn’t going to like it but now, I sure as hell didn’t care about what I liked or not. 

I collected the phone from her hand. My fingers tightened around the edges. The bold headline was the first thing I noticed. 

‘Ronan Cole proposes to socialite Elara Laurent in Grand Romantic Gesture.’

The phone almost slipped from my hands but I forced myself to scroll down then a video started playing. Maya leaned closer, her hands wrapped around my shoulder. 

I couldn’t breathe. 

The video showed Ronan and Elara on a private beach, with flowers and light decorating everywhere. There were a few people surrounding them… I could recognize some of them. They were Ronan’s friends. 

Ronan was dressed in a suit, looking like he stepped out of a drama magazine, he bent down on one knee toward the girl that should be Elara. The girl he met a month ago. 

No way. 

My heart started pounding but that wasn’t what even hurt me the most. I couldn’t even stop the tears at this point. 

Maya didn’t complain and just pulled me into a hug. 

“He came to meet me. He.. he…” I said, voice breaking. “He asked me how I wanted my proposal to be.”

Maya caressed my hair. 

“The beach…” I whispered. “The decorations… everything” I laughed shakily. “The whole stupid fairy tale.”

“Lyra.”

“That was mine,” I said. I couldn’t even make my voice steady. “That was exactly how I said I wanted it.”

“He stole your idea?”

“Every single detail,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. Maya. You warned me and I didn’t listen. I am sorry for choosing him over you.”

She removed her hands and glared at me. “Enough self-pity.”

I blinked. 

“We don’t have time for that,” She said. “We need a plan.”

“A plan?” I echoed. 

“Yes. A plan,” She repeated. “Because there’s no way in hell you’re just going to sit here and take this.”

“Then what do I do?" I asked.