Chapter Two

Three years. It had been three years since she said "I do" to Cole on July 17th, 2021.

They say marriage changes people, but with Cole, it was never that way. He loved her dearly, so much that if she hadn’t read the letter today, she would have believed nothing was wrong—just a hectic week, a forgotten flower. An innocent mistake.

But now, everything felt tainted.

Her mind flicked through all the little things she’d ignored. The unexplained absences. Missed calls. The times Cole came home smelling faintly of a perfume she couldn't recall. The ‘business’ trips. Frequent exercising. The sudden distance between them that she had chalked up to stress from work.

“Scarlett… Scarlett?” she whispered, her voice thin with disbelief.

Her stomach churned. Scarlett—her best friend. Her sister in everything but blood. The one person who had been there through it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly. The person she had trusted with everything.

Loyal. Present. Always there.

Until she wasn’t.

Flashes came rushing in: the glances between Scarlett and Cole at dinner parties, how Scarlett once adjusted Cole’s tie like she’d done it a hundred times. The private jokes. The little touches.

How had she not seen it?

A deep, sharp pain twisted in her chest. Her breaths came out shaky and uneven.

"How could you, Scarlett?" she muttered again, her voice barely audible.

At some point, she’d ended up in the living room. How she got there, she wasn’t sure. Her feet had moved on their own. The birthday mug Cole had given her—now filled with cold coffee—sat beside her phone on the table. The letter lay on the floor.

She remembered bringing it with her, studying the handwriting, hoping to find some sort of hidden message—maybe a Morse code, maybe a clue. But eventually, it just slipped from her fingers, like the hope she’d been holding onto.

Now, she just stared into space. Her mind fought to make her not believe what she'd read, playing out scenes where Cole had been the most magnificent husband. But something else… something else told a different story in the quiet corner of her brain.

“Well, now that you know the truth, what are you going to do, Selene?” She heard a voice say.

Selene quickly snapped her head to the side only to see her mother there. The woman who she was the exact same replica of—same deep brown skin, same dark hair, same brown eyes. But her mother had always carried a strength Selene never quite felt in herself. Even now, she stood there dressed with the same grace and poise she always had.

“You’re not real,” Selene said, her voice barely holding together.

“I’m your mother, Selene,” the woman replied calmly.

“Yeah, and you died… years ago. You're not real. This isn’t… happening,” Selene muttered, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

“And you think if you say that I'm just going to go away? Disappear like poof! Magic?” her mother asked, arching a brow. “I never raised you to be this pathetic... this weak, Selene.”

“You didn’t raise me! You died!” Selene shouted back, tears threatening to spill.

The woman stared at her for a split second before replying, “And yet, your husband is a liar.”

“Stop.”

“A liar who fucked your best friend.” the woman said with smirk on her face.

Selene flinched, her breath catching in her throat.

“Say it with me,” the woman goaded, her voice rising. “Your husband. Fucked. Your. Best friend!”

“Stop it!”

“You played the good wife, and he still cheated on you—how does that feel?”

Selene covered her ears. “You’re not real. You’re not real.”

“Your best friend!” the woman retorted, laughing maniacally.

“Stop saying that. It isn’t true,” Selene snapped, her voice harder now.

“Your husband is a cheater! He cheated on you with your best friend!!!” the woman screamed, laughing maniacally as she pointed at Selene.

“Stop saying that!” Selene glared, voice trembling with anger.

“He fucked your best friend. He fucked your best friend. He fucked your best friend!” The woman’s voice grew louder with each repetition, her finger stabbing the air, her head shaking sideways. “Your husband is a cheater. What will you do now, Selene? Your husband is a cheater. Your husband is a cheater. Your husband is a cheater!”

“Stop saying that! Stop saying that! Stop saying that!” Selene screamed, slamming her hands against her head—once, twice, three times—trying to force her mind to shut the voice out.

But the woman kept yelling. Louder. Crueler. Unrelenting.

“That’s not the truth! Stop it!” Selene panted, dragging her hands down her face and through her hair, her breath ragged.

“Stop saying that. Stop saying that…” she turned toward the woman, her eyes wild. “I said stop saying that!” she roared, grabbing the coffee mug and hurling it at the figure.

Silence.

Everything stopped. The air felt still, and it felt as if a veil had been lifted from Selene's eyes, and she now saw the truth.

There was no one in the room.

She had thrown the mug at no one.

Selene stared at the shards scattered across the floor, coffee pooling on the tiled floor. Her breaths came in shaky waves as a tear slipped quietly down her cheek.

She forced herself to breathe. Deep, steady breaths. This wasn’t new.

The woman who looked like her mother always appeared at her lowest points, taunting her, breaking her. But it wasn’t her mother. Selene knew that much. It was someone—or something—else. She just didn’t know who.

“You know the truth,” came a voice, this time from her other side.

Selene gasped and quickly turned her head. And there she was again. The woman. Her mother.

Selene could only stare, words caught in her throat.

“Why do you keep lying to yourself, Selene?” the woman asked, her tone sharp. “You’re a sore excuse for a daughter.”

She took a long look at Selene, then gave a small nod.

“Hmm. I’ll go. But I’ll be back when you come to your senses and realize that no one loves you as much as I do.”

“What do you mean by—” Selene began, but her phone suddenly rang.

She turned her head at the sound, and when she looked back… the woman was gone.

Gone... but not without leaving her mark.

That final sentence echoed through Selene, chilling her to the bone. It was always the same parting line, every time. No one loves you as much as I do. Selene had never had the courage to ask what it meant.

Now that she finally wanted to, the moment had been stolen, interrupted by the sound of her phone, still ringing.

With a shaky breath, she reached for it. Her eyes lingered on the empty space where the woman had stood, her thoughts still tangled in her last words. Absentmindedly, she slid to answer the call without even checking the screen.

“Hey, hey, hey, anniversary lady!” came Scarlett’s bright, cheerful voice from the other end.

Selene didn't respond, lost in a world of her own making.

“Selene? Are you there? Hello?” Scarlett’s voice rang out, edged with panic.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m here,” Selene finally said, her voice low.

“You okay? You had me worried,” Scarlett said, concern thick in her tone.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just tired… overwhelmed,” Selene replied slowly.

“Overwhelmed? Is it serious? Do we need to get you to a hospital?”

“No, no. I’m fine. I just need to rest,” Selene reassured quickly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

A short silence followed before Scarlett spoke again. “I was thinking I could swing by and bring your meds now that Cole’s not around.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get them myself,” Selene said, then hesitated. “Hey… we’re still on for tonight, right?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Oh, I’m so happy for you. Three amazing years with the most handsome, charming husband. Oh, to be loved by Cole Harrington,” Scarlett swooned with a playful laugh.

“Thank you,” Selene murmured. After a brief pause, she asked, “Scar… Irises… they’re still your favorite flowers, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“No reason. Just wondering if they’ve changed.”

“They’re still Irises. Always have been, always will be. That’s what makes us a funny pair, remember? How I love Irises, and you’re allergic to them,” Scarlett chuckled.

Selene forced a small laugh. “Yeah. I never forgot.”

“Well, I’ve gotta run—so much art and music to make. See you tonight!”

“See you soon, Scarlett.”

The call ended.

Selene stared at the phone for a long time, the silence swallowing her again.