Inside My 5 Years with Him, There Was Another 4 with My Other Half

I rushed in, pushed the door, and I saw it.

My boyfriend of five years…

And my best friend Mia of eight years.

The sight hit me like a car crash I didn’t see coming. My hand dropped, and for a moment, even my heart stopped breathing. I didn’t scream. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It felt like my whole world shattered right in front of me—glass breaking slowly, painfully, inside my chest.

I didn’t cry. I couldn’t even dare to.

I didn’t even blink.

I just stood there, barefoot and frozen, watching the two people I loved most in this world betray me without hesitation. My heart wasn’t beating anymore—it was breaking in slow motion.

Mia’s hands were still pressed against the wall, her head hung low, as if the shame hadn’t fully reached her yet. Ethan’s breath was loud, raw, almost animalistic. His back muscles flexed, still moving in rhythm… until he noticed me—and stopped.

Then came the silence.

The kind of silence that wraps around your throat like a noose.

He pulled out of her instantly. I saw it. I saw everything—every movement, every sound, every piece of my soul falling apart.

His lips parted, like he wanted to say something.

But I didn’t want to hear a single word.

I don’t know what next to do. I just turned around and walked out.

Not fast.

Sooo slow—like I had forgotten how to walk.

Out of that apartment.

Out of that moment.

Out of the reality I thought was mine.

⸻

I don’t remember how I got home.

I don’t remember locking the door or collapsing onto the couch.

My hands were shaking. My knees felt like stone. My eyes were dry… but my soul was soaked.

I wanted to throw up.

I wanted to scream into a pillow, tear the walls down, or smash the mirror that kept showing me a version of myself that had no idea what was coming.

But I just sat there. Staring at nothing. Feeling… nothing.

Until my phone lit up.

Mia: “Wifeyyyy, hope you’ve eaten? I’ll be back soon, wait for me at home, we need to talk.”

My body went still again. My brain? It stopped working.

Her? Wifey?

Did she just call me wifey this moment?

Did she forget what happened earlier now?

Am I hallucinating?

Is that what she’s supposed to say in this moment? All I expected to hear from her was a plea. Something like, “Girl, wait, I can explain. It is the work of the devil.”

Her.

The same person who made me breakfast that morning.

Who left a sweet note on the fridge, acting like everything was perfect.

The same voice I just heard moaning his name like it was her national anthem, holding the wall while my own boyfriend fired her from the back.

She was texting me… like nothing happened.

Like she wasn’t just bent over for my boyfriend of five years.

The audacity.

I stared at the message for a long time. Long enough for my fingers to curl tightly around my phone.

I couldn’t even reply.

I just sat, sunk into the chair, as my phone kept ringing with Ethan’s name flashing across the screen.

Minutes later, the door opened.

And there she was.

Mia.

My best friend.

She walked in, her face frowning, showing not a single sign of remorse. She came and sat beside me on the couch, held my hand and said:

“Emery… now that you know, you know already. I’ve always been hiding it from you and finding ways to make it up to you.

“Emery, I love him. And he loves me. Leave him for me, please. I can’t bear to let him go—and neither can he. Within your five-year relationship with him, there was another four years with him and I.”

My face lit up—not with joy, not with hope. I can’t even explain it. Maybe it was anger. Maybe disbelief. Or maybe I was just too stunned to react.

I looked at her and said, “Mia, what do you mean? You’ve had a four-year relationship with my boyfriend? It has been going on for four years under my nose? Also, Mia, I just caught you having sex with him, and instead of apologizing, maybe blaming the devil or even him, you’re telling me you love him? That this has been going on for four years? And you never told me?”

Mia leaned in closer, gripping my hand tighter, her voice calm but firm.

“Emery, try and understand what I’m saying. Ethan is mine. He loves me—not you. There’s no point telling you I’m sorry when I’m not. All I want is him. I’ll make it up to you.

“Think about our eight years of friendship. I’ve always left things for you. This time, you should return the favor. Leave Ethan for me. Do you remember when you couldn’t get a job, I paid the rent and bills for a whole year? You told me you were grateful and would do anything for me. This is all I ask—leave Ethan for me. Our friendship doesn’t have to end. We will continue being friends just like before. I’ll always be yours… just let Ethan be mine.”

I burst into laughter. Not the happy kind—the broken kind. Hysterical. The kind that comes out when your soul gives up holding in the pain.

Tears poured down my face as I looked at her.

“Mia… come to your senses.”

I tapped her arm.

“Are you seriously saying I should give up my five-year relationship because you paid my bills for a year?

“You know what’s crazy? I have also done so many things for you but asked nothing in return. I wanted to go to the best university in the state. I got accepted into Crescent Valley University—you know that! It was my dream. But I gave that up because your cut-off mark couldn’t get you in, and you didn’t want to be alone. So I followed you to Greenlake Institute instead.”

I paused, trying to hold myself together.

“And when I said I wanted to study Mass Communication because I’ve always loved storytelling and media? You cried about how the course was boring and that we’d be in different departments. So I changed it. I changed my whole path for you. I studied Business Administration instead—because you wanted it.

“And now, you want my boyfriend in return for a year’s bill? Wake up, Mia. This guy may not like you either. The same way he betrayed me today, it may be your turn tomorrow.”

Mia stood up suddenly, her face darkening. This time she was angry.

“Emery, I always knew you didn’t have my best interest at heart. But I didn’t know it was this bad. You always think about yourself and not me.

“If you hadn’t caught us today, would you have ever known? You might have just received an invitation to our wedding instead. Think about it, Emery. I will give you time to think. Just know that I’m not leaving Ethan for you.”

She grabbed her handbag and stormed out.

I sat there on the sofa, watching her leave.

I couldn’t call her back.

As I watched her leave, she seemed like a stranger to me.

“Isn’t she my best friend of eight years? The one I call wifey? The one that always stands by me when I don’t have money? My closest family? The one we always went on vacation with together, matching clothes, shoes, and handbags? No… she seems totally different today. No… this girl has been swapped,” I thought to myself as she left.

I burst into tears.

My best friend of eight years.

My boyfriend of five.

Neither of them showed an ounce of remorse.

They were confident in their betrayal—proud even.

I sat there in pure disbelief.

I loved Ethan. I loved Mia.

I didn’t want to lose either of them.

I waited all day, hoping she’d come back.

She didn’t.

I kept calling her.

She blocked me.

Even Ethan stopped calling.

I sat there crying, alone.

Around 11 p.m., I stood up slowly. I wiped my tears, threw on a jacket, and stepped outside.

I needed air.

I needed space.

I needed a drink—something to bury this pain, if only for a few hours.

Something to drown the sound of her voice… moaning his name.