5. I am surrounded by traitors

Ella’s POV

The place was beautiful. An open field by a creek, surrounded by trees, with colorful tents scattered here and there. Marcus and I had arrived early with our usual group of friends. The crew was already buzzing, lighting the campfire, setting up tents, and swatting at mosquitoes.

“Someone hand me the bug spray before these things carry me off!” Margaret shouted, flailing her arms while trying to set up a tent with Dean.

“It’s in the blue backpack, top pocket,” I called back, laughing as I helped Chloe gather dry twigs for the fire.

“Thanks, queen! If I survive ‘til tomorrow, I owe you a beer.”

“You can pay up now, I’m taking it,” I teased, picking up a thicker branch from the ground.

Marcus was crouched by the fire with Henry, trying to keep the flames alive. He looked relaxed, laughing, cracking jokes, as if everything was perfect.

“Love, grab the bigger lighter from my backpack for me?” he asked without looking.

I went to his backpack and pulled out the lighter. For a split second, I wanted to burn it all down—tent, backpack, his face.

But of course, I smiled and handed it over like the perfect wife.

“Here.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said, giving me a quick peck. I had to stop myself from wiping my mouth on my sleeve.

The kids were running around. Max was tossing stones into the creek, and Chloe was now trying to catch fireflies with a little jar.

“I love it here,” Daniel said, cracking open a beer. “The city drives me nuts. Out here, it’s like my brain can breathe.”

“Yeah,” Margaret agreed, spraying repellent on her neck with a grimace. “Just not a fan of the bug part. I’m about to go vegan from all the mosquitoes I’ve swallowed today.”

“They’re protein,” Marcus quipped, laughing. The others joined in.

“Seriously, are you two always like this?” Henry asked with a curious smile, glancing between me and Marcus. “Always in this honeymoon vibe?”

“Uh… yeah, we are,” I replied, forcing a smile that hurt my face.

Marcus slung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close with that perfect-husband pose he loved to flaunt in public.

“No wonder we’re hitting four years together, right?” he said with a light laugh, like he was announcing some grand achievement.

I almost said, *“Half of them a first-class charade.”* But I just swallowed hard.

“You guys are couple goals, for real,” Margaret said, too sincere for my liking. “Some people are together way longer and don’t have that synergy.”

“You don’t even seem to fight,” Chloe added, now perched on her mom’s lap. “It’s like a movie.”

“Every couple fights, right?” I said, keeping my voice as light as I could. “But we try to sort it out quick.”

*Try to fake it quick, more like.*

“That’s what matters,” Dean chimed in. “Knowing how to compromise, talk it out. Me and Margaret… well, we try too, right, love?” He looked at his wife, who gave a half-hearted smile.

Marcus handed me a glass of wine Margaret had brought. I took it without hesitation because, deep down, all I wanted was to dull the bitter taste that rose every time he touched me in public like it was love.

“To us?” he suggested.

I raised my glass slowly. “To us,” I echoed, smiling wryly.

“You’re quiet today. Actually, lately,” he whispered, glancing at me sideways. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired from the week,” I replied, not bothering to sound enthusiastic.

He nodded but kept looking at me for a moment.

I stayed silent. What was going on in my head was none of his business. Not anymore.

“You… planning something?” he ventured, his tone light.

“Nope. Just wanna rest.”

If he only knew. The trip was already waiting for me, just a few days away. I was counting down to leaving and never having to see his face again. I needed to remember who I was before I got lost in this sham of a marriage.

“It’ll be good for you to rest,” he said, thinking I was just talking about my routine.

“Yeah, it will,” I replied, taking another sip of wine.

“You’re so beautiful, I love you so much, Ella.”

I rolled my eyes inwardly. *Love? Now? After everything?*

*“Spare me, Marcus. I can’t wait to step foot in Italy, breathe far away from your cheap little act. You’ll pay for everything you’ve done.”* That’s what I screamed inside.

Outwardly, I just gave a dry “Mhm” with a forced smile. The kind you throw out to keep up appearances because arguing in the middle of the woods with all our friends around would be too much of a scene.

Henry showed up with his guitar.

“Wanna sing one?”

“Don’t you dare play Whitney Houston!” Daniel yelled from across the fire.

“Oh, now I’m definitely playing!” Henry shot back, strumming the opening chords of *I Will Always Love You*.

I sat on the blanket by the fire with my nearly empty glass, watching the flames, listening to the laughter around me. Chloe was trying to roast marshmallows, Ben was running back and forth with a stick. Julia was complaining about the cold, wrapped in a blanket. It was all so… normal.

And yet, inside me, it was just silence.

I glanced at Marcus. He was laughing, playing horsey with Ben, looking like the perfect husband. And everyone bought it.

*Just a few more days,* I thought.

“Gonna pee real quick,” I said, keeping my tone casual.

Everyone was distracted. No one paid much attention. Laughter, jokes, the guitar playing some 2000s tune. I slipped into the tent without rushing.

Marcus’s phone was lying on the blanket, locked, but I knew the password. Our wedding date. How romantic, right?

I picked it up. My hands were steady at first, but my heart was already racing.

I opened the gallery. Scrolled. Our selfies. Some camping pics. Him at Vaughn Enterprises with business partners. I kept scrolling. Then I stopped.

A crowded table. Wine glasses, frozen laughter captured in time. And her. Vanessa. Sitting next to him. Polished and comfortable. Marcus smiling. His arm behind her. Amanda beside them, laughing with a glass in her hand. Dean in the background. Henry making a face.

“No… it can’t be,” I whispered, my mouth going dry instantly.

I kept swiping. Another photo. Another angle. All of them together. All… complicit.

“I can’t believe this. My friends knew? Amanda? *Amanda*?!”

The phone slipped from my hand and hit the tent floor with a dull thud. I crouched down in a hurry, but my fingers were shaking so badly it felt like the world was crumbling around me.

I sat on the ground, leaning against the cold tent fabric, trying to breathe. A buzzing filled my ears, drowning everything out. Just the sound of my heart pounding in my chest.

“Amanda was there… She hugged me yesterday. Looked me in the eyes. Called me sister.” My voice came out hoarse, almost unrecognizable.

Every face started parading before me like ghosts of a lie that had gone on too long. The jokes. The supportive texts. The sweet words when I said Marcus was acting weird. Them… pretending. Deceiving me.

“That party… it was with her. With his mistress. And here I was, like an idiot, believing everyone.”

I screamed.

I screamed with everything in my chest until my throat scraped raw.

I clenched my fist and punched the corner of the tent where the wooden frame held it up. Pain shot up my arm like a jolt. The skin split slightly, just enough to sting. Blood welled slowly, tracing a thin line to my wrist.

“Damn them all…” I whispered through gritted teeth, my voice choked, my eyes burning.

“They lied to me! ALL OF THEM! EVERY ONE OF YOU!”