BETRAYAL.

Chapter 1

Endora’s POV

My fingers tightened around the cake box. The pale pink ribbon I had tied earlier dug into my skin.

I had spent three hours on that cake. Vanilla sponge, raspberry filling, and the exact frosting my boyfriend liked.

Tonight is the night I finally gave him my body and everything he had longed for.

The thought alone made my heart hammer so hard that I felt it in my throat.

I didn’t have to knock before I pushed his door opened and the familiar scent of his cologne mixed with something else swirled into my nostrils.

The smell of sweat, sex, and the sharp edge of perfume that I could have sworn wasn’t mine.

I barely took two steps before I heard it. A low, broken moan drifted from the living room.

“Ah... fuck, harder. Don’t stop—” The voice sounded familiar, too familiar for me not to know who it belonged to.

At that moment, my steps slowed. The smile on my face slipped away.

I rounded the corner.

And there it was. Mia, my cousin knelt on the couch, her dress shoved up around her waist, her back arched.

Jace stood behind her, his hands locked on her hips as he drove his rod into her pussy hard enough for the couch legs to scrape against the floor.

The cake box hit the tiled floor with a soft, useless thud.

“Jace,” I breathed in disbelief.

Yet he didn’t stop. His eyes flicked to me, dark and startled for half a second, before he thrust deeper.

Mia’s head dropped forward with a loud moan. “Fuuuck, yes!”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he rasped, still moving.

Mia turned her face towards me, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted.

“Oh… it’s my cousin.” Her voice sounded breathy, almost amused by my presence. “Y-yes, Jace, cum inside my cunt.”

Something cold and heavy settled in my chest instantly. I knew I should run, leave, or better still, rip both of them apart.

Damn me because how stupid could I have been...

Oh, I had chosen not to see the signs. Some delusional part of me had decided the warnings were lies, that Jace would never do this to me.

Finally, he pulled his wet rod out. He dragged his jeans up with one hand while Mia tugged her dress down, her eyes never leaving mine.

Even words felt too heavy for me to utter at that moment, but I knew I had to speak.

“How could you do this to me? H-how could you cheat on me with my own cousin?” I asked, genuinely curious about where I had gone wrong.

Jace’s expression shifted. Guilt flickered across his face before it hardened into something uglier.

“You must be out of your mind calling me a cheat when you’re worse,” he snapped. The vein between his brows stood out in fury.

My lips parted. “What?”

Mia bent down and picked up a brown envelope from the coffee table.

“Show her,” she murmured with a sly smirk. Jace snatched it from her and threw it at my feet.

I forced my gaze down to the photographs scattered across the floor. The room tilted immediately.

There I was, walking into a hotel lobby beside Danny, my best friend.

In one shot, his hand rested lightly on the small of my back. In another, we stood too close by the elevator with smiles spread across our faces.

“I didn’t...” The words stuck in my throat.

“Didn’t I tell you she was going to lie?” Mia stepped closer and slid her hand into the crook of Jace’s arm with a venomous smile etched across her face.

Every dot connected instantly, hitting me like a bucket of cold water.

Mia had done this. She had set me up. The photos had been staged, stolen, or both.

“You’re the liar,” I said, my voice rising. “Jace, you could have talked to me instead of treating me like I meant nothing. Instead of cheating on me!” A single tear slipped free before I could stop it.

He scoffed and closed the distance between us.

“You kept your legs closed for almost two years. You claimed you were a virgin. And the whole time your best friend fucked you behind my back, yet I’m still the one who’s wrong?” He dragged a hand through his hair as he hissed.

“Not only are you a slut, but you also have the nerve to stand here acting like the victim. Endora, you must really be out of your mind!”

“She’s lying!” I stepped forward, shaking my head hard. “How can you take her word over mine? I never slept with anyone. I don’t even—”

“I believe her.” He cut me off with a straight face as he wrapped an arm around Mia’s waist.

“Now get out.”

The two words landed like a resounding slap. My jaw went slack as humiliation clinged to me like a second skin.

“Jace—”

“Get out.” His voice rose this time, leaving no room for argument. He wouldn’t even look at me properly anymore.

Mia’s lip curled. “You heard him. He’s mine now. Take your pathetic ass and leave.” She pointed at the door.

Something in my chest clenched so tightly that it hurt to breathe.

They had cheated, lied, and now they threw me out like garbage.

I swallowed the rest of my tears. “You’re going to regret this, Jace.” My voice came out low and steady.

Yet he rolled his eyes.

Before I could move, Mia acted first. She shoved both hands hard against my shoulders, driving me backwards through the open door.

In the hallway, her eyes lit up with triumph. “I win,” she whispered, close enough that only I could hear.

"It’s time you learned how to lose, bitch.” Then she shoved me so hard that I almost lost my balance.

The door slammed hard in my face.

I stood there in the sudden silence, the cold air brushing against my skin as I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.

Tears gushed freely from my eyes as every memory made my lips tremble.

“Just how stupid could I have been?” I whispered with a bitter laugh.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. A message from Danny lit up the screen.

“Where are you? There’s some ridiculous news online. You need to stay where you are,” the text read.

Somehow, the message made my stomach churn.

I wondered what else Mia had orchestrated this time.