CHAPTER ONE ; Skyla’s POV

It felt like my whole world was crumbling beneath me, drowning me in a sea of betrayal, lies, and deceit with absolutely no one to hold on to, not even my sanity.

“Please tell me this is not true Tanya” I pleaded, my brown orbs wild with unshed tears, fear palpable in my raging heart.

It couldn’t be right? I was imagining things, and it wasn’t true.

“I am sorry, Sky, we didn’t mean to.” Tanya’s voice trembled, her words tearing me into pieces, and for a moment, I wished I had remained oblivious to the truth. My child hood best friend sat before me, the guilt coating her warm hazel orbs was enough to drown me in my misery.

“I.. I...I don’t understand” I stammered, pulling at my hair in frustration. The rubber band that I had used to hold it in place came undone.

I stared at her, my mouth wide open, praying this was one cruel joke. “ I don’t understand Tanya. Please tell me this is a joke, please..” I pleaded, my voice hoarse with unshed tears and disbelief. My heart clinging desperately in denial.

But the myriad of emotion that seemed to swirl through her hazel orbs left me dumbfounded. Guilt, shame, and fear were evident in the warm tones of her orbs.

I traced her gaze to him. The man I had loved for six years sat unmoving before me. His composure that I had seemed to love now made me want to despise him. I had trusted him with my all. I had let my guard down with Steve.

A bitter laugh escaped me, and now everything made perfect sense, the deleted call logs, the secret phone calls, and the subtle glances they gave each other while they thought I wasn’t looking, the sudden defensiveness whenever I reached for their phones

All made perfect sense now, God, I was so stupid, so stupid.

“How long has this been going on” I whispered slowly, my fingers gripping the roots of my hair aggressively as I tried my best to keep my emotions in check.

“I promise you Sky we didn’t mean to....”

“How long” I yelled, angry lone tears escaping through the corners of my eyes as I looked from my best friend to my boyfriend.

My ex-boyfriend.

Steve exhaled sharply. “You do not need to yell, Sky. Tanya has done nothing wrong.” His word reeked with indifference, as if the emotions I was feeling was an inconvenience. “Besides you should have seen this coming Sky, with you it has always been about work, you didn’t even care for me, you were always writing one novel after another, going on book tours you, never had time for me, for us”

His words hit me like a punch in the gut, the hate in the voice knocking the air out of me.

“So now it my fault?

My lips trembled slightly as I tried to force the right response, the wheels in my head trying to make sense of the absurdity of his excuse. “ You can’t be serious right now, Steve? So it is my fault that I tried to work hard for the both of us, immersing myself into my novels because I wanted a better future for us Steve, is that what this is about, time? It’s my fault that you sat idly doing nothing while I worked my ass out? Those trips? Those fancy dates? All of that was possible because of my books! And now you are blaming me?

I slammed my fist down the fancy table, rattling the silverware and our untouched anniversary cake.

Steve scoffed. “You see, Sky, this is exactly what I mean. You always make everything about you. You’re always angry. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, you’ve never cared about me Sky, with you, it has always been like walking on eggshells, I felt trapped” He hissed

His words stung me like a venomous snake, his sea blue eyes dark with emotions. I didn’t understand it looked like a raging storm. Disgust, hate, pity, and maybe disapproval.

And then it hit me, the thought sickening

He never even loved me, at least not the way I loved him.

“God, did you ever love me, Steve?”

“ I mean, if you’ve always felt this way, why didn’t you ever tell me?” my voice wavered, my insecurities clawing their way out

Was it because I was black, or because I was rather short, or because he didn’t see me as someone he could love?

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned towards Tanya, taking her fragile hands in his. That single display of affection made me want to retch.

“Okay so that’s it. You cheat on me, and then you expect me to understand?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but the weight of my heartbreak was deafening.

Tanya finally spoke, her voice desperate as she avoided my gaze. “ I am pregnant Sky”

And I felt my whole world crumble beneath me.

“What?” I asked in disbelief .

“But you watched me plan for this for weeks and you couldn’t even tell me, did you two plan this, You watched me make preparations, you watched me book reservations yet you could not tell me”

“No I swear we didn’t. I just found out yesterday. I couldn’t..... I can’t get rid of it. My parents would kill me.” She replied, avoiding my gaze at all costs.

I was done with this, done with their lies and betrayal, I didn’t deserve this.

I let out a shaky breath, angrily swiping at he tears that wouldn’t stop rolling down my face. “You know what... I am done. You two deserve each other.” My voice was eerily calm, even though my whole body was trembling.

I turned to Tanya, a slow sad smile spreading across my face. “Don’t bother coming for your things, I would have them sent over to his place.”

Without waiting for a response. I stormed out of the restaurant, not forgetting to rip the invitation cards into shreds

Damn them.

The cold. Manhattan air hit me across the face with a huge slap, I didn’t even care that I looked like a banshee with my mascara rolling down my face, and my hair dishevelled. I just needed to get away from here as fast as possible

It didn’t even bother me that I became the spectacle of passers-by, everyone either stopping to stare or taking pictures. I didn’t mind. I just wanted to be far away from their betrayal, far away from the pain and heartache.