The Mistress Circle

The trial had shaken Olivia. Her mother’s voice still echoed in her ears..”End the vow… yours, or his.”

She wanted answers, but what she found instead was another summons. A note slipped under her door, written in bold, sharp handwriting,

“Come to the old theater at midnight. Learn the truth about him.”

No name. No seal. Just those words.

Olivia’s heart pounded. Part of her told her to burn the paper and stay inside. But the other part, the part that couldn’t rest until she knew everything, pushed her forward.

By midnight, she was standing before the abandoned theater on the edge of the city. Its windows were shattered, its doors chained, but one back entrance stood open, a single candle burning inside like a lure.

She stepped in.

The air inside smelled of dust and smoke. Candles lined the stage, casting long shadows. And there they were women. A dozen of them, maybe more, standing in a circle, their faces half lit, half hidden.

At the center stood Jessica.

She wore a black gown that glimmered in the candlelight, her hair pinned high, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

“Welcome,” Jessica said softly. “You found us.”

Olivia froze. “Us?”

Jessica spread her arms. “The Mistress Circle. Women who were promised forever and given betrayal instead. Women who were lied to, cheated, broken. I gave them purpose. I gave them a voice.”

The women raised their heads. Some nodded. Some clenched their fists. Their eyes burned with anger.

“Do you know what unites us, Olivia?” Jessica asked.

Olivia shook her head.

“We were all his.”

The words landed like a blow.

One by one, the women stepped forward.

A tall woman with scarred hands. “He told me I was the only one. That he loved me. Then I found out I was nothing but a cover, a shadow.”

Another, with a baby in her arms. “He promised to raise our child. Then he vanished.”

A third, younger, trembling. “He married me in secret. A ring on my finger, vows in my ear. Then he left me for someone else.”

Olivia’s stomach twisted. She shook her head. “You can’t mean Ethan. You’re lying.”

Jessica smiled, sharp as glass. “You’ve seen pieces, but not the whole. Ethan is not who you think he is. He never was.”

Olivia’s chest tightened. “Stop.”

Jessica stepped closer. Her perfume filled the air, sweet and suffocating. “He is part of a ring. A network. Wives and mistresses are covers, masks he uses to hide his business. We were all pawns. And you, Olivia, you are just the latest.”

Jessica clapped her hands. A woman stepped forward carrying a box. She placed it at Olivia’s feet and opened it.

Inside were passports, all bearing Ethan’s face but different names. Business cards. Bank notes. Guns.

And wedding bands. Too many wedding bands.

Olivia stared at them, her vision swimming. Her hands shook as she lifted one of the passports. Ethan’s eyes stared back at her, but the name was not his.

“This isn’t real,” she whispered.

“Oh, it’s real,” Jessica said, crouching close. “You’ve been sleeping beside a criminal. A man who uses women as shields. A man who builds vows, breaks them, and moves on. We were all his. And now we rise together.”

The women around her began to chant softly, their voices low and rhythmic. “Rise. Rise. Rise.”

Olivia’s heart thundered. She wanted to run. But her legs wouldn’t move.

Jessica’s voice cut through the chant. “Join us, Olivia. Stand with the women he betrayed. Together we can burn his empire down. Together we can end the vow forever.”

Olivia’s throat closed. “And if I don’t?”

Jessica’s smile widened. “Then you fall with him.”

The chanting grew louder, echoing off the theater walls. The baby cried. The candles flickered wildly. Olivia felt the circle closing in.

Her mind raced. Ethan had sworn to her he loved her. He had bled for her. He had touched her like no one else could.

But the passports. The rings. The voices of all these women.

Could it all be true?

Suddenly the theater doors slammed open.

Ethan stood there, his face pale, his clothes torn, his eyes blazing.

“Olivia,” he called, his voice rough. “Don’t listen to them. It’s not what it looks like.”

The women hissed, stepping back into the shadows. Jessica only smiled, as if she had been waiting for this.

“Ah,” she said. “The man himself. Come to confess?”

Ethan’s gaze swept the circle, then landed on Olivia. “They’re twisting the truth. Yes, I was involved. Yes, I had covers. But it wasn’t for greed. It wasn’t for power. It was to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Olivia choked out. “From what?”

His jaw tightened. “From them. From this circle. From vows that were never meant to exist. Everything I did was to shield you. Even if it meant lying.”

Olivia’s knees buckled. Her world spun. Both sides pulled at her, the circle of betrayed women with their evidence, and Ethan with his desperate eyes.

Who was telling the truth?

Jessica stepped forward, lifting something high into the air. A dagger, silver and sharp, its blade glowing in the candlelight.

“This is the knife that ends the vow,” she said. “But it must taste his blood first.”

Before Olivia could move, Jessica hurled the dagger.

It spun through the air, heading straight toward Ethan’s chest.

Olivia screamed,

And the world went black.