Serena didn't remember how she got home.
Her heels had blistered her feet, her legs had screamed with every step, but she barely noticed. Her mind replayed Ethan's voice in a vicious loop, each word striking her harder than the last:
She's just a means to an end.
By the time she stumbled through her front door, the tears had dried on her cheeks, leaving salt stains and a hollow ache. She dropped her bag on the floor with a dull thud, pressing her back against the door as if she needed it to hold her up.
The living room lights spilled across her, revealing her friends gathered in their usual chaos. Chloe was scrolling through her phone, Maya was painting her nails, and Jade—radiant even in her oversized hoodie—was sprawled on the couch, one hand resting absently over her small but growing belly.
Jade looked up first. Her brow furrowed instantly.
"Serena?"
Serena forced her lips to curve, but the attempt collapsed. Her body shook once, twice—then the dam broke.
Chloe was on her feet in seconds, phone forgotten. "What happened? Hey, hey, breathe—"
But Serena couldn't. The sobs tore out of her, raw and uncontrollable. She crumpled onto the couch beside Jade, who pulled her close without hesitation, rubbing soothing circles into her back.
"Shh, it's okay," Jade murmured, though her own eyes were wide with fear. "Tell us, what happened?"
Maya set down the nail polish so fast it spilled onto the table, staining the wood. She didn't care. She knelt in front of Serena, her voice urgent. "Did someone hurt you?"
The question broke something deeper. Serena buried her face into Jade's shoulder and choked out the words between sobs.
"It's Ethan."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Chloe's jaw tightened. Maya's eyes flashed. Jade's arms stiffened before tightening around her.
"What did he do?" Chloe demanded, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.
Serena lifted her head, her face streaked with tears. Her chest heaved with the effort of speaking. "He—he was using me. For my father. I heard him—talking about me like I was—nothing." Her voice cracked. "Just a way to get to Vale's legacy."
Her friends stared, horror painting their faces.
"Oh my god," Maya whispered, covering her mouth.
"That bastard," Chloe spat, pacing the room with her fists clenched. "I knew something about him was off. Too smooth, too perfect. God, Serena—" She turned back, her anger cracking into sorrow. "I'm so sorry."
Jade stroked Serena's hair, her own voice thick with emotion. "You don't deserve this. You never did. He's a fool, Serena. He'll never know what he lost."
Serena tried to laugh, but it came out broken. "He didn't lose anything. He never wanted me to begin with."
"Don't say that," Jade snapped gently, pulling back enough to look her in the eyes. "Don't you dare. You're everything, Serena. If he couldn't see that, then it's not on you—it's on him."
Chloe sat down heavily beside them, her usual sarcasm gone, replaced by fierce protectiveness. "We're not letting him near you again. Not a call, not a text, nothing. He doesn't get to touch you after this."
Maya reached for Serena's trembling hands. "We'll get through this, okay? Together. Like always."
Serena's throat tightened as fresh tears welled in her eyes. Her friends were here. They always had been. But the hollowness inside her remained, gnawing at her ribs.
Her mother's voice cut through the room then, firm but soft.
"What happened?"
All four turned. Serena's mom stood in the doorway, her expression calm but sharp enough to read the truth in an instant.
Serena's lip trembled. She couldn't bear to say the words again. But her silence was enough. Her mother's eyes darkened, her shoulders straightening as though an old, familiar battle had just been placed at her feet.
"I should have seen it coming," her mom whispered, almost to herself.
Serena blinked through her tears. "You… knew?"
Her mother's gaze softened, pain flickering there. "I suspected. Ethan's family… their ties to certain businesses… Vale warned me years ago to be careful."
Vale.
Her father's name landed like a weight in the room. Serena's heart clenched, the betrayal cutting deeper now that she understood it was about him.
Before she could speak, Jade gave a watery laugh, trying to lift the air. "Well, at least my daughter won't be dating until she's thirty. I'll make sure of it."
Chloe snorted, wiping her eyes. "Daughter? You're that sure?"
"Of course," Jade said, her hand instinctively resting on her belly. "She's going to be a girl. I can feel it."
Serena let out a shaky laugh despite herself, leaning into Jade's shoulder. For the first time since leaving Ethan's building, she felt a sliver of warmth return.
But in the shadows outside, a different warmth burned.
Across the street, two men sat in a car, their eyes fixed on Serena's apartment window. One of them raised a phone, snapping a quick photo.
"She's home," he muttered. "Crying. Friends around her."
The other man nodded, sending the picture off. Seconds later, a reply buzzed back:
Keep eyes on her. No one touches her without my word. — D.
Dante leaned back in his chair when the message left his phone, his expression unreadable.
Andres lounged nearby, watching him with a grin. "You planning to keep babysitting her like this forever, boss?"
Dante's gaze remained on the photo, on the girl in the window with fire still hidden beneath her tears.
"For now," he said quietly.
Because shattered glass could cut the deepest. And soon, Serena would need someone who knew exactly how to handle the blood.