Six months after my divorce, I finally felt like myself again. My ex-husband Nathan had left me emotionally shattered, but my sister Lena pulled me from the wreckage. She moved in, fed me, reminded me to breathe. I thought she was saving me.
On my birthday, I hosted a small gathering to celebrate this new chapter. Laughter and warmth filled my apartment — until the doorbell rang. I opened it to find Lena holding Nathan’s hand, both of them smiling like it was the most natural thing in the world. The betrayal hit me like a punch.
“We didn’t want to hurt you,” Lena said. “But we’re in love now.” Nathan added they planned to get married. Rage burned through me. My sister, the woman who’d wiped my tears, had been seeing the man who caused them. I told them both to leave — but the night wasn’t over.
Just then, Nathan’s boss, Mr. Hargrave, burst in with his pregnant wife. “That child is yours,” he told Nathan. “And I know about the embezzlement.” Nathan paled as everything unraveled. Lena stood frozen, devastated.
Nathan tried to chase after them, but Lena clung to him. “How long?” she sobbed. He shook her off and snapped, “My paycheck’s walking out the door.” She turned to me, pleading, but I was done.
“You knew who he was. I won’t catch you this time.” Then to everyone else: “If you supported this, leave with him.”
That night ended in chaos, but for me — it was finally closure.
