Chapter 1

My world shattered in an instant as I stood there, my heart pounding in my chest. Anguish and fury surged through me like a tidal wave. The man I had loved with every fibre of my being, Damien, had plunged a knife into my heart. His action was a cruel blow—his arms wrapped around another woman, their lips locked in a passionate embrace. My eyes welled up with tears of anguish as I watched the scene unfold before me.

“DAMIEN, HOW COULD YOU?” The words burst from my lips, sharp with anger and pain. Shocked, he quickly jumped away from the arms of the woman. The room seemed to tremble with the intensity of my emotions.

After everything we’d been through, after all the love we’d shared, how could he do this to me? My voice trembled as I confronted the man I thought I knew, the man who had shattered my trust.

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his shoulders slumped with the weight of his actions.

“Fiona, I can explain,” he stammered, his voice barely audible. He reached out to touch my arm as if trying to calm the storm he had created. But I couldn’t bear to be touched by the hands of a cheat. I pushed his hand away with a force I didn’t know I possessed, tears streaming down my face.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I spat at him, my voice laced with venom. “Explain? There’s nothing you can say that will justify this, Damien.”

The woman looked distraught finding herself in the messy situation.

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t know…” she stammered looking at anywhere but me. It was easy to know she was lying.

“Sorry?” I asked in disbelief. “Sorry isn’t going to fix this!” My voice shook with anger. “But I hope you find the happiness you’re clearly looking for.”

She quickly gathered her clothes and retreated from the room, leaving behind a sense of guilt that hung heavy in the air.

“How long, Damien?” my voice trembled as I asked the question that had been burning in my mind. “How long have you been cheating on me?”

“Please don’t put it that way, mi amor,” Damien began, his voice quivering as he tried to deflect my question.

I couldn’t stand his attempts to downplay his gutlessness. With a surge of anger and hurt, I stepped forward and delivered a resounding slap across his face.

“You don’t get to call me that ever again!” My words were like shards of ice, cutting through the air, each one infused with the searing pain of what he had done. I watched as the shock registered in his eyes, a stark realization of the depth of the wound he had inflicted.

“Three months,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “It was a mistake. She doesn’t mean anything-”

I raised my hand, a gesture as commanding as it was final, silencing any more lies that threatened to spill from his mouth. The room seemed to hold its breath, trapped in a moment of raw emotion and bitter truth. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Damien any longer. My heart ached, and I needed to get away from him. With trembling hands, I began packing my belongings, my mind racing with thoughts of leaving the house we had shared for so long. I couldn’t stay here.

I continued to pack my belongings with a determination fueled by pain and anger. Each item I placed into my bags felt like a piece of the life I had known, now tainted by Damien’s actions. The room remained heavy with the weight of our shattered trust.

As I was throwing things into my bags, Damien’s voice broke through the silence. He stepped closer, his eyes red and swollen from tears, and reached out to stop me. “Fiona, please,” he pleaded, his voice quivering. “I made a terrible mistake. I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t meet his gaze, my focus on the task at hand. “Sorry isn’t enough, Damien,” I replied, my voice cold and distant. “You’ve ruined everything.”

He took a step closer, desperation in his eyes. “Please, just listen to me. I never meant for any of this to happen. It was a moment of weakness. I love you.”

I paused for a moment, torn between the love I had once felt for him and the pain of what he’d done. Slowly, I turned to face him, my eyes filled with tears. “Love isn’t supposed to hurt like this,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

Tears streamed down Damien’s face as he reached out to touch my arm. “Fiona, please don’t leave. We can work through this. I’ll do anything to make it right.”

I shook my head, my resolve hardening. “It’s too late, Damien. The trust is gone, and I can’t stay here.”

I made my way downstairs and dialled up an Uber, my fingers trembling as I placed the call. As I sat on the couch, waiting for the Uber driver, the rain started pouring heavily outside.

A few minutes later, the car arrived, and Damien rushed downstairs with an umbrella in his hand, his eyes filled with tears and desperation. What the heck was he crying for?

I grabbed the umbrella from his arms and began dragging my bags to the car. When he tried to pick up one of my bags, I used the umbrella to swat his hand away.

"I can manage my things myself," I sneered as I attempted to carry all the luggage at once while still struggling to hold the umbrella.

"You clearly can't," he sighed, taking the umbrella and holding it over my head while also carrying a few bags.

I slammed the back door shut and got into the passenger seat, leaving Damien standing in the rain, his eyes pleading for me to hear him out.

The Uber drove me to my sister’s house, Monica. I had hoped for the comfort of her presence, someone who could help me navigate this storm of emotions. As I approached her front door, I knocked, but there was no answer. Where could she be? I set my belongings down on the porch, feeling a growing sense of vulnerability.

I was soaked within moments, my clothes clinging to my body, my hair matted against my face.

With a heavy heart, I unlocked my phone, and the lock screen appeared. It was a picture of Damien and me, taken during one of our dates when he took me to an aquarium. Seeing our smiles, the way we had once looked at each other, was too much to bear. I broke down in tears right there in the pouring rain, the salty tears mingling with the raindrops, a symbol of the overwhelming grief that now consumed me.

Just as I thought I couldn’t bear the pain any longer, a voice called out, breaking through the sound of the rain. “Fiona? Is that you?” It was Monica’s voice, and it felt like a lifeline in the storm of my emotions.

I turned towards the sound of her voice, and there she was, rushing towards me with concern in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around me, shielding me from the rain, and I clung to her, grateful for her presence.

As Monica held me close, shielding me from the relentless rain, a sudden and eerie silence descended upon us. The downpour seemed to pause for a breath as if nature itself held its collective breath in anticipation.

In that pregnant pause, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly amiss. Monica’s concerned expression turned into a puzzled one, and she slowly released me from her embrace, her gaze shifting from me to the surroundings.

And then, from the depths of the darkened street, a figure emerged. It was obscured by shadows and the relentless rain, but its presence felt ominous, sending a shiver down my spine. My sister’s grip on me tightened, and she whispered,

“Fiona, we need to go inside, now.”