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Chapter 11

I reached for a glass of wine from a passing server and took a long sip, to give my hands something to do and to calm my nerves down."So… you came, " a voice said softly behind me.I turned slightly and saw Ethan standing next to me. My heart raced. I opened my mouth to respond, but the words wouldn't come out.Ethan smiled softly. "It's fine. I understand. You had to honor your friend's invitation."There was something gentle in his voice: no anger or accusation."I know my sister can be a lot," he added lightly.I remained quiet, trying to fight the feelings rising inside me. I took another sip of wine.From across the room, I saw Anabel looking at us. She smiled and waved innocently, like she thought we were just having a harmless conversation."This isn't fair to her," I said suddenly. my voice was breaking slowly.Ethan's face changed. He looked at me, confused. "Not fair to who?""Anabel," I said quietly looking at him straight in his eyes. "She doesn't deserve this.""Deserve

Chapter 12

I couldn't stop smiling the entire ride home that night. One moment I didn't want to go to the party, and the next I was so excited that I went. What I thought I had lost had circled back to me again. The moment I stepped into my apartment, I locked the door behind me, leaned my back against it, and smiled. I walked into my living room and dropped my purse on the couch and just stood there in the middle of my living room, replaying everything that had happened tonight. From the introduction to the confession, to the kiss, and the way Ethan looked at me like I was the only person in the world. I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. I haven’t been this genuinely happy in a while. I started dancing and spinning around like I was in some romantic movie. I felt like I had just won a lottery. Ethan had finally found the key to my heart that had been locked away for years.My phone buzzed on the couch pulling me out of my little celebration. I grabbed it and saw Ethan's name on the screen

Chapter 13.

Anabel showed up at my apartment later that evening, long after I had changed out of my dress and washed off my makeup. I was just about to make myself a cup of tea when I heard her familiar knock, four quick taps and two slow ones—our signature knock since college. I froze for a second. I wasn’t expecting her, at least not today. I wasn’t ready to face her yet. I opened the door and forced a smile before she could study my face too closely.“Hi, babe!” she grinned, looking bright, calm, and completely unaware that I was hiding the biggest secret of our friendship behind my smile. She pulled me into a hug before I could even speak.“Hey,” I hugged her back, praying she wouldn’t feel how fast my heart was beating.“Surprise! I brought dinner,” she said, walking in with wine and takeout.“That’s really thoughtful. You are a lifesaver, thank you,” I said, taking the wine from her.She kicked off her shoes and headed straight to my kitchen like she owned the place, which, in a way, she di

Chapter 14

Later that night, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I took my phone and texted Ethan. He had sent me a message earlier that I’m just seeing.[Ethan: I miss you already.]My fingers hovered over the screen. I was having mixed feelings already. How could something feel so right and yet so wrong at the same time? I typed, going straight to what was bothering me:[Me: Anabel came over. She just left my place now.]He replied almost instantly.[Ethan: And?][Me: She told me about your date. She’s excited and can’t wait to meet the woman.][Ethan: I figured she would be excited about meeting you.][Me: Except she doesn’t know that I’m the ‘woman’]Three dots appeared and then disappeared again. There was a long pause before Ethan’s text came in.[Ethan: Lin, are you scared?]He finally asked. I stared at the question while asking myself. Was I? Yes, I’m very scared Anabel will find out before I tell her the truth.[Me: Yes, I am. I don’t want to hurt. I feel bad already that I broke the rule,

Chapter 15

Weeks passed, and the secret stayed intact. But it didn’t feel light anymore. It didn't feel exciting the way it once did. Instead, it felt like something fragile we were constantly trying not to drop. Anabel leaned on me more than ever. She would call me late at night just to talk, or show up at my place with swollen eyes from crying about David. She would sit on my couch, wrapped in a blanket I kept just for her, venting about how tired she was, how betrayed she felt, how she didn’t know who to trust anymore. Sometimes she would even show up at my studio unannounced and cry about the loneliness that followed. And I always listened to her and comforted her. I gave her the best parts of me, while I was hiding the one truth that would break her again.Ethan and I became more careful. Sometimes he would come over after work, only staying long enough for a quick dinner or an hour on the couch before heading home so Anabel wouldn’t get suspicious. If Anabel called while he was with me, h

Chapter 16

"So…For how long?" her voice finally trembled."A few weeks," Ethan answered quietly.She turned to him so fast it almost startled me."You shut up," she snapped. "You don’t get to speak first."She turned back to me, her eyes filling with hot, betrayed tears. "You sat in my apartment while I cried about David. You told me I deserved someone who chooses me without hesitation… and all this time, you were hiding this?""I wanted to tell you, Anabel. I swear," I whispered, the tears finally spilling over."When? After I found out from a stranger? Or after you got married?" She shook her head, a sharp, broken laugh escaping her. "We made a rule, Lin—the Golden Girl Code. Family is off-limits. You were the one who said we could survive anything as long as a man didn't come between us.""I know and I’m sorry," I sobbed. "I didn’t plan for this and I didn't chase it, it just… happened."Anabel shook her head violently. "It just happened…""I love him, Anabel," I said loudly without knowing i

Chapter 17

I woke up with a headache the next morning. My eyes were still adjusting to the light when I reached for my phone out of habit. There were no messages, no calls from anyone, not even Ethan. I opened Instagram to post my designs for the day, and saw Anabel’s story. I checked it immediately. The post said:[Some betrayals don't come from enemies.] with three heartbroken emojis.There were no names, no tags, and no explanation, but I knew what the post meant and who it was directed to.I sat up slowly on my bed while staring at the screen. My chest felt tight seeing that post. Anabel had posted it at 2:47 a.m., which meant she couldn't sleep either. She had been awake alone in the dark, hurting, and that was the only thing she could do with the pain because there was nobody else to talk to about it. The three people in her life had already betrayed her. I betrayed her, Ethan did and David did too.I put my phone face down on the bed and cried my eyes out, I feel horrible for letting thin

Chapter 18

I walked into the studio on Monday morning wearing my sunglasses. Not because it was bright outside, but because the weather wasn’t particularly sunny. I didn't want anyone to see my eyes. They were swollen from a weekend of crying. I told myself I just needed to get back to work and focus. I believed routine would fix this. It had to.Maya was at the reception desk reviewing samples. She paused and looked at me, then slowly stood up. I tried to keep walking, hoping she wouldn’t notice anything but it was too late."Linda." Maya's voice stopped me before I even took another step.I turned slowly. She was standing in front of the desk with her arms folded, looking at me the way she always did when she already knew something was wrong and was waiting for me to confirm it."Good morning," I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could."Take off those glasses," she said quietly.I hesitated. Then I reached up and slid them off.Her expression shifted instantly."Oh no."That was all it to

Chapter 19

A week passed. I counted every day of it, and somehow the silence between Anabel and me still felt just as heavy as it did that first morning after she found out. I told myself to give her space.I kept myself busy the way you do when you're trying not to think about something, I worked from home, sketched, took client calls, and rearranged things in my apartment that didn't need rearranging. I checked my phone less. I was trying, genuinely trying, to give Anabel the space Maya said she needed.On Saturday afternoon I stopped at the supermarket a few streets away from my apartment. It was the one Anabel and I had been going to for years. I wasn't even supposed to go to that supermarket. I had a closer one near my apartment, but I ran out of a few things, and that store had the brand I liked. I grabbed a basket at the entrance, turned into the first aisle, and there she was.Anabel.She was standing a few steps away from me, a basket hanging from her arm while she examined a row of avo

Chapter 20

He reached over and took my hand."It's okay, babe. I'm not here to make you feel worse. I just need you to know that I'm not going anywhere so don’t push me away because you feel guilty. And don’t act like what we have here doesn’t matter, because it does."His eyes held mine. He brushed my hair behind my ear with his hand."I love you a lot, Lin. And I’m not going to stop loving you just because my sister is angry right now."The words settled somewhere deep inside my chest. Warm and steady like something I didn't know I needed to hear until he said it."Anabel will come around," he added."But don’t let us ruin what we have before she does."Something in my chest loosened at those words. I nodded slowly."I’m sorry," I said again. "I didn’t mean to ignore you. I just… I hate what this has done to her. I hate that I'm the reason she's hurting.""I know, Lin," he said softly. "I hate it too.""I just don't want it to look like we're rubbing it in her face," I said carefully. "Like we

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