Chapter 2

Charlotte's POV

By 8:54 p.m., I was standing alone in the quiet hallway of Olive Hotel, staring at the brass plate that carried the number 2206.

My heartbeat was steady, not because I felt brave, but because I felt empty. I didn’t know why Nathan wanted me here, and honestly, a part of me didn’t even care anymore. Yet something pushed me to turn the knob.

I hesitated for one last second, then pulled the door open.

The smell hit me first—strong perfume mixed with something heavier. My eyes dropped to the floor, and my breath caught.

Men’s clothes. Women’s clothes. Shirts, trouser, underwear scattered everywhere like someone had tossed them carelessly in the middle of desperation.

My chest tightened.

And then I heard it.

Wet, greedy sounds. Mouth meeting mouth, breath swallowed into breath.

I looked up.

On the bed, half-covered by crumpled sheets, were Nathan and my sister, Celine, entwined so deeply that they didn’t even notice I had walked in. His hand cupped the back of her neck, dragging her mouth harder against his.

It baffled me how they’d gotten so close in just four months. And here I was, after three years I spent with him, abandoned like trash.

Her legs wrapped loosely around him. Their bodies moved in a rhythm I once thought belonged to me.

My feet refused to move. My throat burned.

Suddenly, Celine’s eyes flicked in my direction. She froze. Her lips hung open under Nathan’s.

“Charlotte?” she gasped. “Why are you here?”

Nathan didn’t even jerk or step away. He simply turned his head slightly, looked at me with cold disinterest, then returned his attention to her as if I was an inconvenience that had walked into his shadow.

“Relax,” he said, his voice flat. “I invited her.”

His words slapped me harder than his hand ever did.

I gasped but kept my mouth shut. Speaking felt like swallowing fire.

Celine let out a soft, trembling sigh, the kind she used whenever she wanted sympathy. “Nathan, why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, leaning into him with that practiced innocence that always fooled everyone but me. “Now she has seen us like this. How awkward.”

Nathan chuckled, still holding her neck possessively. Instead of comforting her with words, he kissed the side of her throat as if reminding her she was his priority.

“Cel,” he murmured against her skin, “I wanted her to know you’re the one I love.”

Then he turned his gaze back to me, sharp and dismissive. “So she would stop having those thoughts she shouldn’t.”

Celine laughed quietly and tapped his chest playfully. “You’re terrible.”

Terrible.

That was their joke, their bond, their world.

Together, they stepped down from the bed. Their bodies still brushed lightly as if gravity itself insisted on keeping them close. Nathan took her hand without a second thought and guided her forward until they were standing right in front of me, facing me like a pair of victors showing off their trophy.

“Charlotte,” Nathan said, looking straight into my eyes, “did you see it clearly? The only one I love is Celine. The only woman who was there for me in my critical moments.”

His tone was final. Personal. Almost cruelly satisfied.

He squeezed her hand. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Don’t you ever think of me that way again.”

I swallowed hard. My throat felt tight, but I kept my chin lifted even though my chest was shaking inside and my heart pounding so hard like it was going to escape from my ribcage.

“Rest assured,” I said quietly, “I’ll never bother you again.”

For the first time that night, Nathan hesitated. His eyes lingered on me a second too long, as though he was trying to place something different about me. Something he couldn’t name.

Then he scoffed, turned away, and picked up a silver-edged card from the bedside table.

“Good.” He returned and extended the invitation towards me. “In half a month, Celine and I will have our wedding. You are invited.”

My fingers trembled slightly as I collected the card. When I opened it, I saw their names in bold elegant calligraphy— Nathan Mills & Celine Dean. The gold lettering blurred for a moment.

This was supposed to be mine.

My place.

My life.

My future.

But here it was in my hands, belonging to someone else again. Well, to the woman I called my sister. Someone who already had everything. Who took everything from me.

The tears I had forced back since I entered the room slipped free. They dropped silently, warm, sliding down my cheeks. I didn’t bother to wipe them.

“I will be there,” I said, my voice unsteady but clear. “To give you my blessings.”

Celine shifted slightly, hiding a smirk that she probably thought I couldn’t see.

Nathan stared at me longer this time, his expression unreadable, almost troubled.

“She’s acting strange today,” he murmured under his breath, more to himself than anyone else. “Too calm.”

Before I could respond, thunder cracked outside, loud enough that the chandelier above us trembled.

I didn’t even look up until I heard metal snapping.

The chandelier broke free.

“Nathan!” Celine screamed.

Nathan reacted instantly, grabbing her and pulling her away with all the strength I once believed he would use to protect me.

“Watch out!” he shouted, only at her.

I tried to step back, but the falling chandelier was faster. A sharp edge hit my shoulder and my head as it crashed against the floor, sending me flying sideways and my head landed on the scattered glasses. Pain burst through my arm and ribs, as I collapsed.

The room spun around me. My hands and knees scraped against the floor, bleeding.

Through the ringing in my ears, I saw them, Nathan hunched over Celine, checking her for injuries, embracing her tightly. His voice was frantic.

“Are you okay? Cel! Are you hurt?”

She melted into his arms dramatically, clutching him as though she might faint. Over her shoulder, her eyes met mine, and the satisfaction in her expression was unmistakable.

From my place on the cold floor, I stared at the man who once promised me a future.

Suddenly, a memory snapped open inside me with painful clarity.

Three years ago, before everything broke, when we were still together but before promises meant anything permanent…

We were walking down the street, hand in hand. A bike swerved suddenly towards us. Before I even processed what was happening, Nathan pulled me sharply into his arms, shielding me.

“Don’t worry,” he told me then, breath warm against my forehead. “I’ll always protect you.”

Back then, his eyes were soft. His voice held certainty. I believed him with the whole of my heart.

I doubt he still remembered that. Or if he even wanted to. And now…

Here we were.

A reversed version of the past.

“Nathan…” I whispered weakly, my voice trembling, “you broke your promise.”

He didn’t hear me. He didn’t even look in my direction.

My vision blurred. The room dimmed further.

Celine looked at me again, this time without pretending.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” she said coldly, lips curling. “I can finally move forward without you.”

My head fell sideways. My body grew heavier. The pain numbed into something distant.

My eyes closed and darkness swallowed everything.