Chapter 1: Caught In The Act

**Nadia**

Tonight was supposed to be perfect.

I checked the room number again on my phone even though I already knew it. The suite I had booked myself. My money. My plan. My idea. Garrett had laughed when I told him.

"You booked it?"

"Yes."

"Damn, Nadia. Look at you being bold."

Bold. I held onto that word as I walked down the hallway like it was proof I was not the girl he always teased me for being. Not boring. Not careful. Not stuck in my head. Tonight, I was different. I had decided that, and for once I wanted to believe it.

I stopped in front of the door and took a slow breath. My hand shook a little when I reached for the handle. It is fine, I told myself. It is just Garrett. My fiancé. My soon to be husband. The man I had been saving myself for.

I pushed the door open quietly, already smiling.

I opened my mouth. The words never came.

At first, it did not make sense. It came in pieces. A sound, soft and wet and rhythmic. A laugh that was not mine. A woman's voice, light and careless. My brain refused to catch up with what my eyes were already seeing.

The bed was a mess. The sheets twisted. Garrett lay back like he owned the world. And Priya, my best friend, was straddling him, moving like she belonged there.

My stomach dropped so fast it felt like I was falling through the floor.

They did not notice me at first. They were too busy, too wrapped up in each other. Her head tipped back as she laughed, her hair falling over her shoulders. His hands gripped her hips like he had done it a thousand times before. Like this was normal. Like this was routine. Like this was not a mistake.

My fingers tightened around the door.

I should leave. The thought came clear and sharp. Just turn around. Walk away. Close the door. Pretend I never saw this. Pretend my life was not breaking apart in front of me.

But I could not move. I stood there, frozen, watching it happen like I was not even in my own body.

Then Garrett looked up.

His eyes met mine, and for a second something flickered across his face. Surprise. It disappeared almost immediately. What replaced it was worse. There was no guilt. No panic. Just annoyance.

"Damn," he muttered.

Priya froze and followed his gaze. When she saw me, her body stilled completely. "Nadia..."

My name sounded wrong coming from her. Like she had no right to say it anymore.

I forced my voice out. "What....what are you doing?" It came out dry and empty. It was a stupid question. I knew what they were doing. I could see it. Hear it. Feel it. But my brain needed something to hold onto.

Garrett did not even try to move. He did not push her off. He did not cover himself. He just looked at me like I had walked in at the wrong time.

"You were not supposed to be here yet," he said.

That hit harder than anything else. Not an apology. Not even a lie. Just inconvenience.

"I...this is our room," I said, my throat tight.

"Yeah," he replied, like that explained everything.

Priya slid off him slowly and grabbed the sheet, wrapping it around herself. "Nadia, listen..."

"No." My head shook before she could finish. "No, do not say anything." If she spoke, it would become even more real than it already was.

Garrett sat up and ran a hand through his hair like this was just another problem to deal with. "You are overreacting."

I blinked at him. "I am overreacting?"

"Yeah. It is not that deep."

Not that deep. The room tilted.

Priya shot him a look. "Garrett..."

"What?" he said, turning to her. "She was going to find out eventually."

My heart stuttered. "Find out what?"

No one answered right away. That silence said everything.

I looked between them, from her guilty eyes to his careless ones, and something inside me started to crack. "How long?" I asked.

Priya closed her eyes briefly. Garrett did not. "A while."

I let out a laugh that sounded wrong even to my own ears. "A while? You mean days? Weeks? Months?"

He shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Yes. It mattered more than anything had ever mattered, but the way he said it made something cold settle in my chest.

Priya stepped forward, clutching the sheet tighter. "Nadia, I did not mean for it to..."

"Stop." My voice came out sharper this time, and she flinched.

Good.

"I trusted you," I said, staring at her. "You were my best friend."

"I know..."

"You knew everything," I cut in. "Everything about tonight. About what this was supposed to be." My throat closed on the last words.

Garrett let out a short laugh. "That is the problem right there."

I turned to him slowly. "What?"

"You made it too big," he said, gesturing between us. "Saving yourself, turning it into some huge moment. It is just sex, Nadia."

Just sex.

Priya shifted beside him, clearly uncomfortable now. "Garrett, maybe do not..."

"No, I am serious," he continued, looking at me like he was finally being honest. "You are always so careful. So stiff. I knew tonight was going to be awkward."

My chest tightened. "I am not..."

"You are," he cut in. "You are boring."

The word landed like a slap. I felt it physically.

Priya winced. "That is not fair..."

"I am helping her," he said. "She needs to hear it."

My hands curled into fists. "I booked this for us," I said quietly.

"Yeah, and that is sweet," he replied, his tone almost patronizing. "But it does not change who you are."

"And who am I?" My voice shook despite everything.

He did not hesitate. "Predictable. Safe. Vanilla."

Each word pressed down harder than the last.

"And her?" I asked, glancing at Priya.

He smirked. "She is not afraid to actually do things."

Priya let out a soft laugh, like she could not help herself. "Someone had to save him from a frigid wedding eve night."

Something inside me snapped. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just gone. Like a switch flipped and took everything warm with it.

I looked at both of them. Really looked. At the man I was supposed to marry. At the girl who was supposed to stand beside me on my wedding day. I felt nothing.

No tears. No screaming. Just emptiness.

"Congratulations," I said calmly.

Garrett frowned. "Do not be dramatic."

I did not answer. There was nothing left to say.

I turned and walked out. No one stopped me. No one followed.

The hallway was too bright. I walked without deciding to walk, my legs moving underneath me like they had made their own arrangement with the floor. I did not remember pressing the elevator button.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside and watched them close in front of me and the person reflected back in the silver surface did not look like anyone I recognized.

The lobby arrived. Then the bar.

I was sitting on a leather stool with an empty glass in front of me before I understood I had crossed the casino floor at all.

"When did I..." I muttered.

"Another?" the bartender asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

The drink burned going down, and I welcomed it. It was the first thing I had felt since I walked into that room. I pushed the empty glass forward. "Again."

He poured without question. I drank that one too, fast, too fast, but I did not care. If I stopped, if I slowed down, I might start thinking, and I could not afford that. Not yet. Not here. Not with the image of them still replaying in my head.

I dropped my forehead into my hand and let out a slow breath. Do not think. Do not feel. Just drink.

The glass touched the counter again. "Another."

A low voice came from behind me.

"You look like a woman who wants to burn the world down."