4
707words
"Does anyone else know I'm pretending?"
He thought for a moment."No,they're not as observant as I am."
Right. Even Ethan—who lived with me—never noticed.
I stood abruptly.
He grabbed my wrist, voice strained. "How much did he hurt you? Are you really going back?"
My gaze dropped to his hand. He released me like my skin burned him.
"Who said I’m going back?"
...
Days after leaving Ethan’s apartment, Lily’s text lit up my phone:
*I won.*
Two words. I could practically see her smug smirk as she typed them.
After a heartbeat, I blocked her number.
Our twisted wager started after my accident. Lily showed up first in my hospital room—not Ethan.
She’d laughed, “You honestly think he’ll choose you now that I’m back? You were just his consolation prize while he waited for me.”
Back then, I refused to believe her. Three years together. How could our love mean nothing?
So I took her bet.
It was reckless. And I lost—spectacularly. My dignity crashed and burned.
Lily would always be his unfinished business. Didn’t matter that I’d moved heaven and earth for him. His heart never left her.
The truth finally sank its teeth into me: Time to clear the damn road. No more standing in anyone’s way.
...
When Ethan got Lily’s “emergency” text, he raced to the bar—only to find her smirking over red wine.
“You lied?” Rage spiked through him.
Lily launched herself into his arms. “I knew you’d come! You still love me—”
He shoved her back, jaw tight. “I told you last week, Lily. Whatever we had died when you left for Europe. We’re friends. Period.”
“Bullshit. You’ve spent weeks jumping every time I call. When I kissed you, you didn’t stop me—”
Ethan went silent.
His body betrayed him around Lily. Muscle memory from a lifetime ago. Every shared trauma—the childhood bullies she’d shielded him from, the way his chest still seized when she cried. All wrapped in suffocating guilt.
He’d never been able to refuse her.
She’d been sunlight in his grim childhood—his tiny protector facing down every playground monster. He’d loved her helplessly, vowing to shield her forever.
Then she’d flown to Paris without looking back.
“Long distance doesn’t work, Ethan,” she’d said while he begged.
After she left? Gray static. Until Sophie crashed into his life with her quiet smiles, stitching him back together.
Sophie. He’d fallen for her. Hard.
Lily’s scoff yanked him back. “Doesn’t matter. I. Won.”
The words made no sense—yet dread coiled in his gut.
Suddenly Sophie’s eerily calm face flashed before him when he’d left. That clinical detachment.
Why wasn’t she fighting? Why wasn’t she…
Panic detonated in his chest.
He tore home.
Empty.
No Sophie curled on their ivory sofa, clutching her earl gray tea.
She must be walking the garden paths—she loves the roses this time of year. He almost smiled. She’ll light up seeing me back so soon.
After all, he’d bolted from Lily immediately tonight. Chosen Sophie. No hesitation.
His Sophie forgave quietly. She’d silently watched him orbit Lily for months—hurting but never lashing out. Even that night he’d come home drunk and seen tears glistening on her lashes.
He’d explained about owing Lily. Sophie understood obligations. Hell, she’d even encouraged him to help Lily while she lay half-blind in a hospital bed after the accident. Listened patiently as he poured out his guilt.
This time I’ll make it right, he vowed. I’ll tell her I love her. Only her. For real this time.
The realization struck like lightning:
Sophie hadn’t walked alone since losing her sight. Not once. Not unless he was holding her hand.
His fingers trembled pulling out his phone. Called her.
*Blocked.*
Tried texting:
*Failed. Blocked.*
Digital silence. Absolute.
He scrambled to find her—until horror dawned:
He didn’t have a single friend’s contact. Not one. He’d never asked.
Yet Sophie knew his entire crew. Memorized their birthdays, their kids’ names, their allergies—people she barely knew. For him.
Ethan crashed to his knees, fingers digging into his scalp.
The truth split him open:
She’s gone. And I never even knew her.
