Chapter 3

The door to that room shut right in front of me, and suddenly, it felt like I was in a whole different world.

I watched as Sophie reached out, gave Ryan a playful tap, and held a piece of cake up to his lips.

I wanted to say, "Ryan never eats cake." He always acted like anything sweet was beneath him.

On my birthday, I'd bought myself a special cake, all excited, and cut a slice to feed him. But before the frosting could even touch his lips, he turned his head away.

Ryan frowned, his voice sharp as he scolded me. "How many times have I told you? I don't eat sweets. You should cut back too. Too much sugar makes you fat, and it's bad for you. Why do you keep doing this?"

With that, he stood up, grabbed his coat, and stormed out in a huff.

The fancy restaurant felt huge and empty, and the beautiful cake with a slice missing was left beside the scraps, totally forgotten.

I stood there, fork still in hand, frosting dripping off the tines, completely frozen.

But now, under the warm lights, Ryan smiled, head down, and opened his mouth, letting Sophie feed him the cake.

He reached out and brushed the frosting off Sophie's fingers for her.

And then I watched as Ryan dropped to one knee, pulling out a beautifully wrapped velvet ring box from his pocket.

My eyes were glued to that box, and my mind went completely blank.

Suddenly, I remembered how Ryan had taken me to look at wedding rings not long ago. I was over the moon.

Thirteen years, and I thought we'd finally made it and that we were about to get our happy ending.

I just tagged along behind him, watching Ryan act like he knew exactly what he was doing as he found the salesperson.

When he saw me, there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but he didn't say a word. He just told the salesperson to bring out the custom ring.

I was so shocked and happy that my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest. I took the ring and examined it carefully. I slipped it onto my ring finger, but it got stuck.

The ring was a size too small, and it was a struggle to get it on.

Ryan frowned, took my hand, and said, "Take it off."

I wanted to say it was fine and that it would loosen up after a couple of days. But he grabbed my hand and yanked the ring off, pulling so hard that it scraped my knuckle.

My knuckle was scraped raw, a little blood welling up, and I couldn't help but hiss in pain.

Ryan didn't even look at me. He just carefully put the ring back in the box and slipped it into his pocket.

I just thought he was saving it for a big, romantic proposal, so he wanted to keep it safe for now.

But now it turned out that the ring was never meant for me.

The black velvet box opened slowly, and there it was—the very same ring I'd tried on that day.

Ryan slipped the ring onto Sophie's finger.

Everyone around them started clapping, and a few even whistled.

I wanted to barge in, scream my head off, smash the plates, and rip their masks off for everyone to see. But what good would that do?

I clutched the pregnancy test in my bag, completely lost, not knowing what to do next.

Just then, the door to the room swung open. The noise and laughter from inside spilled out, snapping me out of it.

Ryan walked out with a smile, but when he saw that I was still there, he instinctively frowned. "Can you just keep it together tonight? I'll explain everything tomorrow."

I turned my head away. Explain what?

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I shoved him aside and headed for the stairs. Gripping the railing, I stared blankly at the decorative mirror.

The woman in the mirror looked pale, her eyes red and swollen, her hair a mess.

Sophie strolled over, her high heels clicking sharply on the floor.

"Emma, you lost to me, so you have to accept it," she said. "Yeah, I know I hurt you when Ryan and I first started seeing each other. But after all these years, didn't you ever suspect anything?"

I dug my nails into my palm, the pain barely keeping me from losing it. "Why didn't you just tell me sooner?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, rough and strained.

"Didn't you think it was kind of thrilling?" Sophie said.

Sophie came up beside me, and together we stared at our reflections in the mirror. One of us looked like a wreck, and the other flawless and composed.

She shrugged. "Ryan always said you were so calm and reliable, keeping everything at home in perfect order. He never has to lift a finger. But me? I'm sensitive and delicate, always needing him to spoil me, always craving his attention."

Her voice was dripping with condescension. "You just wanted to do everything for him, but guys only want a girl who makes them feel needed. You're too independent and too capable. That's why your love means nothing to him."

She lifted her hand, casually tucking her hair behind her ear, her fingers brushing over her wedding band, almost like she was showing it off.

Sophie looked at my red, empty eyes in the mirror, her smile turning even more triumphant. "See? I'm the winner here."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I lunged forward, grabbing her by the arm. "You knew you were the bitch here! You've been wrecking my relationship for eight years! Don't you feel even a little guilty?"

She looked at me, gave a mocking laugh, and shoved me away hard.

"Ah!" I cried out.

I stumbled, barely able to steady myself, when Ryan rushed over and shoved me away with even more force. I tumbled down the stairs.

I clutched my stomach, gasping, "Help—"

"I'm the bitch?" Sophie stood at the top of the stairs, leaning into Ryan's arms, towering over me with a triumphant smirk. "Emma, how could you say something like that about me?"

I gripped the railing for dear life, doubling over in pain. "The baby..."

Ryan let out a cold snort, his eyes filled with a disgust I'd never seen before. "Emma, I never thought you could be so vicious. You know how delicate Sophie is. Couldn't you just talk to her nicely?"

He carefully checked Sophie, ignoring me completely.

Back then, he'd rush to my side, terrified I might get hurt. But now?

I was curled up on the floor, pain wracking my body, cold sweat soaking my clothes, unable to get a single word out.

Warm blood kept streaming from between my legs, spreading across the floor.

Everyone watching finally started to panic. "Hey, something's wrong! Emma's bleeding! There's blood everywhere!"

Everything went black.