Chapter 2.

Olivia. 

The moment I got to my car, the last bit of control I had snapped. 

A sob escaped my lips, then another, and before I knew it tears were flowing freely down my face. 

I gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if it were the only thing keeping me together. 

The signs were there all along but I was too blinded by love to notice. 

A broken laugh escaped my lips. 

Maybe I’d seen the signs but just 

didn’t want to believe it. 

I stayed in the parking lot, crying until there were no tears left. 

After a while, I started the car and drove off. 

There was only one person I wanted to see now. 

Maya. 

If the world were against me, my best friend was the one person I trusted to stand by me. 

By the time I pulled into her driveway, my eyes were already swollen from crying. 

I took a deep breath, wiped my tears, and got out of the car. 

I got to her front door and was about to knock when the door flew open. 

Maya stepped out with a bag of trash in her hand. 

The moment she saw me the bag slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor. 

“Oh my gosh, Liv.”. Her eyes widened. “What happened?”. 

The concern in her voice was all it took. The tears I’d been trying to hold back came rushing back. 

Maya immediately pulled me into a tight hug. 

“Hey, hey”. She whispered rubbing my back. “What’s wrong?, Talk to me”. 

I opened my mouth to speak but a sob came out instead. 

“Nate”. I managed to say. 

Maya's expression changed instantly. 

“What did he do?”. 

“He-he”. My voice broke completely.

My voice broke completely as the images flashed through my mind. 

My chest tightened. 

Maya wrapped her arms around me as she took me inside. 

She sat me down on the couch and sat right next to me. 

“Liv, look at me”. 

I tried, I really did but I couldn’t. I buried my face in my hands. 

“Liv, talk to me. Please”. 

After crying for a while, Maya disappeared into the kitchen to get me a glass of water. I took it with shaky hands and took a sip. 

I forced myself to take a deep breath. 

“I walked in on Nate having sex with Lisa”. 

“What!!”. Maya shot to her feet. 

For a moment she looked completely speechless, then her expression softened. 

“Oh, He never deserved you. She hesitated before speaking. “I knew something was going on between those two but I just couldn’t prove it”. 

Fresh tears filled my eyes. 

“The worst part was I was the one who brought them together. I took pity on Lisa and asked Nate to employ her as his secretary, I practically handed him to her”. 

I felt so stupid. Getting betrayed by the two people I loved most in the world was something I never saw coming. 

Maya wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. 

“You deserve a better life, I’m glad you finally saw them for who they were”. 

“It hurts”. My voice cracked. “It really does”. 

“I know”. Maya whispered as she rubbed my back gently. 

“I feel so stupid”. I admitted. “ I should have known from the moment Nate started coming home late that he was cheating. And those late-night meetings he always went to”. 

I pulled away from Maya's tight hug and leaned into the couch. 

“I want revenge so badly right now”. I murmured. 

“Me too”. Maya said. 

“I wasted five years of my life with that bastard just to get cheated on”. I murmured. 

Maya's expression softened. 

“No”.

I looked at her. 

“Don’t say that”. 

A bitter laugh escaped my lips

“Why not it’s true”. 

“Liv, he cheated on you with your stepsister, and that's on him, not you”. 

Tears filled my eyes. 

“ I really loved him”. I murmured. “I thought he was going to be my husband”. My voice cracked. 

“ I thought I was finally building something that was mine”. 

Maya's expression softened. 

My mother died when I was 10 and everything changed after her death. 

My father remarried and little by little I stopped feeling like I belonged in my own house. 

I never really understood how much my stepmother hated me until I turned eighteen and she convinced my dad to throw me out of the house. 

A bitter laugh escaped my mouth.

“Till this day, I still can't believe he chose her over me”. 

Maya reached for my hand. 

“Liv”.

“I lost my mom”. I said as I stared down at my lap. 

“Then my dad”. My tears returned.

“And now have lost Nate”. 

“And somehow, the person who helped him hurt me was Lisa”. 

The words hurt the most. 

because unlike my stepmom, I'd loved Lisa. 

I really had. 

No matter how badly her mother treated me, I never blamed her for it. I took her as my own sister and even used my last penny to get her gifts on her birthdays. 

I took her shopping when I had the chance and even gave her advice when she needed it. 

Even though I was just five months older than her, I saw her as my little sister. 

And when she needed a job, I convinced Nate to hire her.

And this was how she repaid me. 

For a moment the room fell silent. 

So much had happened today and I didn't have the strength to think about it anymore. 

“I should get some sleep”. I said to Maya. “I'm really tired”. 

Maya looked at me with concern. 

“Yeah”. She squeezed my hand. 

“Come on I'll set up the quest room for you”. 

I nodded and slowly got on my feet. 

Every part of me felt heavy as I followed her into the guest room. 

And for the first time since catching Nate and Lisa together, I allowed myself to believe maybe tomorrow would hurt a little less.