CHAPTER FOUR

LILY'S POV

The rain came before the tears.

It fell hard and heavy against the window of my apartment, drowning out the silence that had filled the room since the day my world cracked open.

I’d stopped counting the hours.

My phone died three days ago or maybe four….I didn’t care enough to check.

The lilies on the table… the same kind I’d chosen for the wedding had wilted into brown stems.

Their scent, once soft and sweet, now smelled like something decaying.

That was how I felt inside.

The messages had come, of course.

“Lily, please answer me…I made a mistake, please don’t hate me….It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Adira’s voice also echoed through the voicemails.

The sister who once braided my hair and shared my secrets now sounded like a stranger pleading through static.

And Aiden? He hadn’t called once.

That silence said more than any excuse ever could.

I curled tighter on the couch, pulling the blanket around me as thunder rolled.

That was when the knock came.

Three short, sharp raps.

I frowned.

Nobody visited me anymore…this apartment was my serene place…I specifically rented it whenever I wanted space from home.

I stood up slowly, the blanket falling to the floor.

Another knock followed, louder this time.

“Who is it?” My voice came out hoarse.

A pause….Then a man’s voice..Calm. Controlled.

“Ethan Sinclair.”

For a moment, the name didn’t register.

Then my pulse quickened….Adira’s fiancé.

The man she told me about a few months back…he proposed marriage to her but she didn't want to consider it because to her, he didn't have enough.

My fingers tightened on the doorknob before I finally opened it.

He stood there, tall, broad-shouldered, in a dark coat that glistened with water…His jaw was set, his eyes unreadable but there was something raw in the way he looked at me like we shared a secret no one else could touch.

“Can I come in?” he asked simply.

I hesitated, then stepped aside.

He walked in quietly, shaking rain from his hair.

The air between us felt charged… like two storms colliding.

“I know this is… unexpected,” he said, his voice low.

“But I needed to see you.”

I crossed my arms.

“Why??? What do you want??”

“To talk.”

I gave a bitter laugh.

“About what? The weather? Or the fact that my sister and my…” I suddenly kept quiet.

His gaze didn’t flinch.

“Your sister and your fiancee had sex right??” He said as I looked at him with shock.

"You know??"

“Yes I do."

I stared at him for a long moment.

There was no pity in his eyes, no false comfort .. just steady, cold fire.

He reached into his coat pocket and dropped something onto the table.

A small velvet ring box.

The sight of it made my stomach twist.

“She left it at my place,” he said.

“Said she didn’t need it anymore.”

I looked down at the box… identical to the one Liam had used when he proposed to me.

I swallowed hard.

“Why are you here, Ethan?”

“Because you and I are the same now.”

I frowned.

“The same?”

“Broken,” he said simply.

“Humiliated and betrayed by people we trusted the most.”

I sank into the chair, rubbing my temples.

“And what do you expect me to do about that?”

He leaned against the table, his tone even.

“Nothing….Not yet. I just need you to understand that they don’t get to walk away from this untouched.”

My head lifted.

“You’re talking about revenge.”

“I’m talking about justice,” he corrected softly.

“You want to tell me you haven’t thought about it? Not even once?”

I said nothing but the truth was, I had.

Every sleepless night since that day.

“I’m not you, Ethan,” I muttered.

“I don’t ruin people.”

He gave a small, humorless smile.

“That’s where you’re wrong…You just don’t know how to do it yet.”

Something about the way he said it sent a chill down my spine.

“Why do you care?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Why come to me?”

He paused, then sighed.

“Because Adira didn’t just cheat on me with Aiden…. She used me…lied about everything…her past, her intentions, and insulted me calling me a peasant…I want her exposed.”

My chest tightened.

“You’re saying she…”

He nodded.

“She treated me like trash after everything I did for her... I won’t give her the satisfaction.”

I stared at him, the pieces slowly fitting together.

“And you think I can help you?”

“I know you can,” he said, his voice lowering.

“Because no one knows her better than you do.”

For the first time in days, something flickered inside me.

Not anger, not grief…something sharper.

“You want to team up,” I said slowly.

Ethan met my gaze.

“I want to make sure they regret ever touching what was ours.”

The words hung heavy between us.

The rain outside grew louder, matching the pounding in my chest.

“I don’t want to become like them,” I whispered.

He stepped closer, close enough for me to see the rain still clinging to his lashes.

“You won’t…You’ll become smarter.”

I looked away, trying to steady my breath.

“And what happens when it’s done?”

His reply was quiet but firm.

“Then we both walk away free.”

I should’ve said no.

I should’ve told him that revenge wouldn’t fix anything but instead, I found myself nodding a small, hesitant motion that felt like signing an invisible deal with the devil.

“Fine,” I said softly.

“But we do this my way.”

His lips curved slightly.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

He turned to leave, but at the door, he paused.

“You’ll hear from me soon,” he said, his voice calm again.

“Get some rest, Lily.”

When the door closed, I stood there motionless, the echo of his words lingering in the air.

Get some rest, Lily.

As if rest were something I could ever afford again.

At midnight, I opened my laptop.

I stared at Adira’s social media page.. pictures of her smiling, glowing, moving on as if nothing had happened.

The comments were full of praise, sympathy, admiration.

She had crafted her narrative well: the woman who stole love and called it fate.

Something inside me hardened.

For the first time since everything fell apart, I didn’t cry. I simply whispered into the dark,

“You’ll regret it, Adira.”

The next morning, a message arrived

No name, no signature…Just a location and time:

“Café Lumière. 10 a.m. Don’t be late.”

I knew it was Ethan.

I almost didn’t go…almost convinced myself it was madness but curiosity won.

I needed to know what he had planned.

The café was quiet when I arrived.

He was already there, sitting by the window in a crisp white shirt, stirring his coffee like he had all the time in the world.

He looked up as I approached, his expression unreadable.

“You came,” he said simply.

“I shouldn’t have,” I replied.

“But you did.”

I sat down across from him.

“So what’s the plan?”

He leaned forward, sliding a folder across the table.

“Step one,” he said.

“We make them trust us again.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He met my eyes.

“We play nice…we let them believe we’ve moved on…that we’ve forgiven them and when they least expect it, we pull the ground out from under them.”

I stared at him, torn between fear and fascination.

“You’re serious,” I whispered.

He smiled faintly.

“Deadly.”

Ethan wasn't friendly and maybe that was just what I needed…someone not friendly but deeply ambitious.

Ethan lifted his coffee cup and held my gaze.

“To new beginnings,” he said.

I hesitated, then clinked my cup against his.

“To endings that deserve it,” I replied softly.

Our eyes met, and for the first time, I saw something dangerous… something alive flicker between us.

The alliance was formed.

The game had begun.