`Chapter Three

ELENA POV

"Marcus," I whispered. "And Sophia."

Tessa went still.

"Say that again." She asked in disbelief

"Marcus has been sleeping with Sophia, Tess, for months. I walked in on them tonight…. Tessa…. We were going to get married soon" My voice cracked on the last word. "And when I tried to—" I couldn't finish.

"He hit you?" She said horrified.

"He slapped me then he shoved me into the wall for her…he hit me" I said, and broke down sobbing.

Tessa stood up and turned toward the house.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Tessa. No."

"Ellie, he put his hands on you—"

"I know." I grabbed her wrist. "I know but if you go in there right now, they'll call the police. Or worse. My father has security. Marcus has his own people. You can't just—"

"Then what are you going to do? Just let him get away with it?"

"Tess, please…..I really don't want to go back in there just take me away from here" I begged something in my voice must have made her understand.

My whole body was shaking from the cold or maybe from the shock. I couldn't tell anymore.

Tessa looked at the house, her jaw tight and her fists clenched at her sides.

Then turned back to me.

"You're freezing," she said. "And you're bleeding."

"Okay." She exhaled slowly trying to force herself to calm down. "Okay since you're not going back in there tonight. You're coming with me."

"Tessa—"

"Not negotiable, my apartment. Now. I can't possibly leave you by yourself."

She didn't wait for me to argue. She wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet.

My legs felt like jelly but she held me steady.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Good because I'm not carrying you. You're heavier than you look."

I chuckled despite myself.

She walked me to her car, a beat-up Honda with a cracked bumper and an air freshener shaped like a pineapple.

She opened the passenger door and helped me inside.

"Seatbelt," she said but I kept fumbling with it so she reached across me and buckled it herself.

The drive was silent except for the radio playing.

Tessa didn't ask questions she just drove, one hand on the wheel and the other holding mine across the console. Her thumb traced small circles on my knuckles.

I stared out the window as the streetlights blurred past and people laughing outside bars, couples holding hands, someone walking their dog. A normal night for everyone else.

.

"Hey." Tessa squeezed my hand. "Stop spiraling. I can hear you thinking from here."

"I'm not spiraling."

"You're literally spiraling. I can see it on your face. You're doing the thing where you scrunch your nose and stare at nothing."

I didn't realize I had a tell.

We pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building.

It was a brick walk-up from the 70s with a flickering light over the door. Nothing fancy but it was hers.

And right now, it looked better than the Deluca estate

Her apartment was small. Messy and perfect.

There were takeout containers on the coffee table and dirty laundry draped over a chair.

Her cat…Mochi was curled up on the couch like he owned the place.

Tessa kicked the door shut behind us and locked it.

"Okay," she said. "Bathroom is that way you know already….Go clean your face. I'll get blankets."

I stood in the middle of her living room.

"Ellie. Go."

I went.

The bathroom light was harsh. It showed everything.

The bruise spreading across my cheek and the split in my lip that had reopened.

The dark circles under my eyes that made me look like a ghost.

I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face.

When I came out, Tessa had transformed the couch into a makeshift bed with a blanket and pillows.

A glass of red wine on the side table.

"Oh, Tess you didn't…." She caught me off "I know…I know I'm the best…Come sit" she said pulling me to the couch.

I sat down and she sat beside me, pulled the blanket over both of us, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Now you can cry," she said. "I've got you."

So I cried ...."He said I was exhausting," I choked out. "He said I suffocated him. He said our whole relationship was a favor, eight years, Tessa. I loved him and when I heard about the engagement. I thought…. Finally…. finally maybe we would be together and then….."

Tessa didn't say "it's okay" or "you'll get through this." She just held me tighter.

"He slept with my sister….My sister. And she's pregnant. She sent me an ultrasound…."

Tessa's hand rubbed slow circles on my back. "Breathe, babe. In and out."

"I can't…."

"You can. You're doing it right now. Look at me breathe in breath out… Match my rhythm."

She breathed and I tried to follow.

After a few minutes, the shaking stopped.

"Drink," Tessa said, handing me the wine.

I drank it all in one gulp.

"Better?"

"No."

"Good…." She refilled my glass.

When I finished, Tessa was quiet for a long moment. Her face was unreadable.

"I'm going to say something," she said finally, "and I need you to hear me."

"Okay."

"Marcus is garbage. Sophia is garbage. Your family…." She stopped. "Your family is complicated. But you? You're not the problem here. You never were."

"It doesn't feel that way."

"I know." She took my empty glass. "That's what gaslighting does. It makes you feel crazy for reacting to something crazy."

I pulled my knees to my chest. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Tessa leaned back into the couch."Right now? You're going to stop thinking about them."

"How?"

She stood up and walked to her closet.

She kept pulling out clothes and tossing them until she pulled out a short black sequined dress and a pair of heels.

"We're going out."

I stared at her. "Tessa, it's almost two in the morning."

"Perfect. The clubs are just getting good."

"I can't. Look at my face."

"So put on makeup to cover it up. Or don't. Let people stare." She tossed the dress at me. "The point is, you're not sitting here on my couch, drinking my wine, and crying over a man who hit you. Not tonight."

"I don't have the energy to pretend."

"Then don't pretend. Be angry. Be sad. Be whatever you want. Just be it somewhere with a dance floor and overpriced drinks."

I held up the dress and the sequins caught the light.

"What if I fall apart in the middle of the club?"

Tessa smiled.

"Then I'll pick you up. That's what best friends are for."

She handed me her makeup bag. "Now go. Get ready. We leave in twenty minutes."

"Tess…." I tried to argue, but she walked up to me and held my hands.

"I've done the crying on the couch thing and I've gone to the club… My love I highly recommend going to the club. Trust me." she said

I rolled my eyes and then took the dress from her knowing Tess no is not an option.