Lily's POV
The apartment door clicks open at exactly 6:47 PM, thirteen minutes before my surprise party starts.
I juggle three grocery bags against my hip, fumbling for the light switch. The bags are heavy with decorations Madison asked me to pick up: streamers, balloons, that expensive champagne Nathan pretends to like. My best friend's been planning this for weeks, texting me constantly to make sure I stay away until seven.
Just trust me, she'd said this morning. This birthday is going to change everything.
She was right about that.
The apartment is dark. Too dark. Nathan's car was in the parking garage, so he should be home from work by now. Maybe he's changing clothes before everyone arrives.
I flip the switch. Nothing happens.
Nathan? My voice echoes in the silence.
Something sounds from the bedroom. A thump. Then a muffled voice, female, followed by a low laugh I'd recognize anywhere.
My fiancé's laugh.
The grocery bags slip from my hands. Champagne bottles crack against the hardwood floor, liquid spreading like a dark stain. I should stop walking. Should turn around. Should literally do anything except move toward our bedroom.
I keep walking anyway.
The door is cracked open. Warm light spills through the gap. My hand touches the wood, and time does something strange—it stretches and compresses all at once. I push.
The door swings wide.
Nathan is shirtless on our bed. The bed I picked out. The sheets I washed yesterday. Madison is underneath him, her red dress pooled on the floor like blood.
They freeze. All three of us locked in this horrible moment.
Nathan's eyes go wide. His mouth opens. Lily
I can't move. Can't breathe. Can't do anything except stare at Madison's face. She's not panicking. Not crying. Not even apologizing with her expression.
She's smiling.
Oh, Lily. Madison sits up slowly, pulling the sheet around herself like she has all the time in the world. Her lipstick is perfect. Not even smudged. I'm so sorry you had to find out like this.
Find out. Like this was something everyone knew except me.
Nathan scrambles off the bed, reaching for his shirt. This isn't, we didn't
Don't. My voice sounds far away, like it's coming from someone else's mouth. Don't lie. Not now.
Madison stands, completely calm. She walks toward me in just the sheet, and I step back automatically. We've been best friends since college. She was supposed to be my maid of honor in three months.
I need you to understand something, she says softly. This wasn't about hurting you. Nathan and I, we have history. We tried to fight it, we really did. But he was always mine, Lily. You were just... convenient.
The word hits like a slap.
Convenient.
Two years of my life. Planning a wedding. Building a home. Loving a man who apparently belonged to someone else the entire time.
Lily, let me explain Nathan reaches for me.
I jerk away from his hand. Don't touch me.
It's not what you think
You're naked. She's naked. In our bed. What exactly am I supposed to think?
He has no answer for that.
Downstairs, I hear voices. Laughter. The front door opening and closing. Party guests arriving early, excited to surprise me.
Madison's eyes flick toward the noise, then back to me. You should probably go. Unless you want everyone to see you like this.
Like what? Destroyed? Humiliated? Seconds away from falling apart?
How long? The question tears out of me.
Nathan and Madison exchange a look. Some silent conversation I'm not part of. I've never been part of.
Six months, Madison finally says.
Six months. Half a year of lies. Of Nathan kissing me goodnight while texting her. Of Madison helping me pick wedding invitations while sleeping with my fiancé. Of everyone in my life knowing except me.
Did everyone know? My voice cracks.
Nathan looks away. That's answer enough.
More voices downstairs. Someone calls my name—Jazz from my marketing team, I think. They're setting up. Expecting me to walk in surprised and delighted.
I turn and walk toward the bedroom door.
Lily, wait Nathan grabs my arm.
I spin, and something inside me snaps. My hand connects with his face before I can think. The crack echoes in the silent room.
Nathan stumbles back, hand on his cheek. For a second, he looks genuinely shocked. Then his expression shifts into something ugly.
You're going to regret that, he says quietly.
I regret a lot of things. That's not one of them.
I walk out.
The hallway stretches endlessly. I pass our photos on the wall, engagement pictures, vacation snapshots, the life I thought we were building. All lies.
Downstairs, the party is in full swing now. I recognize at least a dozen voices. Nathan's friends from work. Our couples' group. Madison's college roommates who became my friends.
Our friends. Except they're not mine, are they? They're his. They knew. They all knew.
I slip down the back stairs toward the service exit. No one sees me. No one even notices.
Outside, the February air bites through my thin work blouse. I forgot my coat. My purse. My keys. Everything.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out with shaking hands.
A text from Jazz: Where are you??? Everyone's waiting!
Then another from Nathan's mother: So excited for tonight, sweetheart! You're going to love your surprise.
Then Madison: Don't make a scene. We can talk about this like adults.
I stare at that last message until the words blur.
My phone rings. Nathan's name lights up the screen.
I answer.
Lily, come back inside. His voice is steady now. Controlled. The voice he uses with clients. We need to discuss this privately. Don't embarrass yourself in front of everyone.
Embarrass myself?
If you leave now, people will ask questions. Let's just get through tonight, and tomorrow we'll figure this out.
Figure what out?
There's a pause. Then: How to handle this without damaging my reputation.
The line goes dead, because I've thrown my phone against the brick wall.
It shatters. Screen cracking into a spider web of destruction.
I sink down onto the cold concrete steps behind my apartment building, Nathan's apartment building, his name on the lease, and finally let myself feel it.
The betrayal. The humiliation. The complete destruction of everything I thought I knew.
I don't cry. I can't. The hurt is too big for tears.
My phone buzzes once more on the ground, screen flickering despite the damage.
One new email.
Subject line: TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
From: Richard Kim, CEO - Kim Development Group.
Nathan's father.
I tap it open with numb fingers, and the first line makes my blood run cold:
Due to inappropriate conduct with a colleague, your employment is terminated immediately. Severance will not be provided. Security will collect your belongings tomorrow.
The timestamp says 6:52 PM.
Five minutes after I found them. Before I even left the bedroom.
They planned this. All of it.