Arlene POV
The sound of Mrs. Anderson's cheerful voice stopped me in my tracks just as I searched my purse for my keys.
"Your boyfriend's friend is the sweetest, always helping him carry groceries upstairs. You are so lucky!" she whispered with a smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes.
Friend? What Friend?
I blinked, fumbling to match her words, "Right… Evan surely has good friends, they are always helping each other out. I mean—everyone needs good friends, right?" My laugh came out in a high pitched voice, and I hated how fake it sounded even to my own ears.
"Mm," she hummed, clearly satisfied, and shuffled off toward her apartment door. "Anyways, welcome back, dear."
I stood frozen for a moment, her words gnawing at my thoughts. Does Evan do groceries when I leave, I thought I get him things that will last for a month when my boss takes me for a business trip.
And Evan? He had never once mentioned a friend dropping by when I wasn't home.
Sliding my key into the lock, I hesitated for a second. What if it was what my mind was thinking, my pulse kicked up with an unease I couldn't explain.
The door creaked open, and a faint sound drifted out of the dimly lit room—a low muffled laughter. It could be the television or Evan laughing at some video games as he plays with maybe, his friend.
Yeah surely, but even I didn't believe myself.
I stepped inside the room carefully quiet to suprise him. My bag slipped from my shoulder and landed silently on the rug as I heard low voices, a whisper and then a stifled giggle from the kitchen.
My stomach twisted as I padded down the hall, with my steps full of fear and anxiety.
My Eyes couldn't believe what was happening before me.
It was Evan, I meant my Evan with his hands buried on someone's hair, and lips locked with hers like he was drowning and she was the only air he needed to breath.
The time stopped for a split second, I couldn't breathe nor move. I stood still for some minutes as I debated to leave or confront them.
My heart seemed to forget its rhythm, then I muttered back all at once in a painful stutter. "Eva..Evan."
The word tore out of me before I could stop it, I felt my heart shatter through the air like a fragile glass shattering.
He jolted back with wide eyes, his face running out of color. The girl turned slowly, smiling like she had been waiting for this moment all along.
And when I saw her face, bile rose in my gut. It was her. Erica. Why am I not surprised?
I couldn't help the chuckle that left my lips. She had always lingered too long in the store aisles when I shopped with Evan. She was always throwing me wired looks like I stole something from her and now, maybe I did.
She would sometimes flash me a tight smile and "accidental" bumps of her cart, but her eyes on Evan was always shining like she was watching a beautiful painting. I couldn't blame her, I mean Evan was beautiful.
I couldn't believe she had always been competing or I had always been the one competing with her for Evan but he can't seem to still choose me.
Disgrace, Anger rushed over me as I glared down at her smirking in my kitchen with her red gloss stained still on Evans lips.
For a minute, I thought of slapping her to wipe that damn smirk from her face.
"You?" My voice cracked with disbelief as I turned to Evan "Seriously, of all people—her?" I asked my voice coming out in a harsh whisper.
"Why can't it be me? I'm obviously better than you." She leaned back against the counter with a smug smile, her eyes scanning me up and down. "Wow," she drawled, wiping Evan's stained mouth with her thumb, as if she was cleaning up her property. "No wonder he came running to me, you don't even know how to keep your man's dick dangling in his pants, most especially making him entertained."
The snarl in her words hit harder than the sight of them together. And I hated how everything she said felt so true. I mean I don't even touch Evan even as I craved him.
My hands trembled as I balled them into fists restraining myself from throwing fist on her. "Entertained?" My voice shook. I turned on Evan with rage and hurt burning like fire in my chest. "We had an agreement Evan, I thought we promised each other—" My throat tightened. "I thought you said we'll wait until marriage before sex, remember you told me that and you swore."
Erica laugh rang out loud, low and mocking as it hit my nerves. "Oh honey, you really believed that?" She tilted her head, her grin widening with triumph. "Tell her, Evan, just tell her the truth. That whole little 'wait till marriage' story? It was all a scam."
The word 'scam' lingered in the air, the sound stinging my ears.
My heart pounded like a hammer was hit hard on it. "A… scam?" My voice cracked as my eyes darted to Evan, desperate for him to deny it, to tell me she was lying, that this was just some cruel game she was playing.
But Evan wouldn't even meet my gaze. His jaw clenched, his shoulders tensing up. The silence stretched until I couldn't bear it anymore.
"Say something!" I screamed. "Evan!" Even if it was already clear that, it was the truth. I just wanted to actually hear it from Evan.
Finally, he spoke with a voice harsh and cold, filled with something I couldn't name. Was it regret? Resentment? I couldn't tell.
"She's right."
The floor seemed to vanish as the words sank in.
"It was all… it was all a scam," he muttered, "The whole 'waiting till marriage' thing—I only said that to keep you hooked, to make you trust me which you did." He smirked, "I never really meant it."
I stumbled back a step, my hand flying to the wall just to steady myself because I was breaking. "So all this time… you were just stringing me along? While you—" My throat closed around the words. "While you were with her?"
Erica slipped closer to him, draping her hand across his chest trying to show off. "See?" she purred, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "I told you she wouldn't last, she's too naïve and too soft. You need someone who actually knows what she's doing."
And the worst part? He didn't even push her away nor flinch.
He just stood there, letting her cling to him, letting her speak for him and all he did was just nod and smile to all she said.
Something inside me cracked then, the tears threatening to fall burned in my eyes, but I forced them back, refusing to let either of them see me break.
"Wow," I whispered, my voice trembling with a mix of heartbreak and rage. "So this was it, this was what you were hiding, all the late nights you told me you were busy, all the excuses you made and all the times you swore it was just me." I laughed bitterly.
"Fuck, and I believed you. God, I actually believed you."
Erica's smile widened. "Believed him? Darling, you built your whole world on a fairytale, and look how easy it was for me to pull him out of it."
I turned my eyes on Evan, forcing him to look at me. "You let her say that? You let her stand here in our home and humiliate me like this? Evan, I promise I'll make you regret this."
For a flicker of a second, guilt flashed across his face. But then it was gone, replaced by a blankness I didn't recognize.
"I'm not sorry Erica," he said flatly. "Actually I had a valid reason to do that. Your mom was a home wrecker, she seduced my dad making him leave my mom and now you'll face the punishment for your dead prostitute mother." He screamed out the sound ringing bells to my ears as I tried to put it all together.
I could feel the malice in his words. "What mom, you didn't meet my mum, she wouldn't even do that. Finding reasons for the shame you caused me wouldn't help. My mom died in an accident months ago."
"Tsk, Is that what the investigators told you?" He chuckled. "You couldn't even see her before she died." He stepped closer, his eyes widening as he muttered. "She committed suicide because she found out my dad was married."e whiskey already kicked in making me see a blurred fucking Giovanni.
Or was it Ethan? Did he come for me?