Chapter 6

Cassie POV:

Two days later, I walked into the office, my resignation letter crisp and heavy in my hand. This wasn't just a job; it was the stepping stone to the firm Ethan and I had planned, the firm where I would have been the lead architect, the creative force. I had poured years of my life into this company, accepting a demanding schedule and often thankless tasks, all for the shared goal. Now, it was just a job I was leaving.

My colleagues, busy buzzing around their drafting tables, looked up in surprise when I handed the envelope to my boss. "Cassie? What's this?" Mr. Davies asked, his brow furrowed.

"My resignation," I stated, my voice steady. "I've accepted an architectural fellowship abroad."

Whispers rippled through the office. "A fellowship? But... what about the wedding?" someone murmured, voicing the collective confusion. "And the firm you two were starting?"

I offered a tight, practiced smile. "The wedding's off. And the firm... well, that's off too. New plans." My colleagues exchanged uneasy glances. They didn't know the truth, and I wasn't about to spill it in the middle of a bustling architecture firm.

That evening, I returned to the apartment for the last time. As I unlocked the door, I heard voices from inside. Two voices. One was Ethan's, the other, unmistakably, Kiera's. Laughter drifted from the living room, light and intimate. My stomach clenched.

I pushed the door open to find them on our sofa, Kiera draped dramatically across his lap, a glass of wine in her hand. Ethan was stroking her hair, a look of tender concern on his face. He looked up, startled, as I entered. Kiera quickly untangled herself, sitting upright, a feigned look of embarrassment on her face.

"Cassie! What are you doing here?" Ethan asked, his voice a little too loud, a little too innocent. He suddenly noticed the two suitcases by the door, already packed. "What are those?" he asked, pointing.

"Just packing some things I forgot," I said, my gaze sweeping over the scene. The half-empty wine bottle, the scattered throw pillows, the shoes kicked off beside the coffee table. It was domestic, intimate. And it was happening in the home I had built.

"Forgot?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing slightly as he glanced around the living room. "Did you... move some of my things? The shelves look a little sparse."

"Just reorganizing," I replied, my voice calm, almost bored. "Marie Kondo-ing, you know. Decluttering." I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of a full confession. Not yet.

Kiera, ever the master manipulator, put on a sweet, concerned face. "Oh, Cassie, are you alright? You look a little pale. The wedding planning must be so stressful! You know, Mark and I just eloped, it was so much simpler." Her hand went to her stomach, a subtle, almost imperceptible gesture.

My eyes involuntarily dropped to her hand. A cold dread seeped into my veins. No. It couldn't be.

"Everything's perfectly fine, Kiera," I said, fixing my gaze on her. "And as for the wedding planning, it's all been called off."

Ethan spluttered. "Called off? Cassie, what are you talking about?"

Before I could answer, Kiera stood up, her face a picture of feigned distress. "Ethan, darling, you look so upset. And Cassie, oh, this is terrible news! But, you know," she turned to me, a smug glint in her eyes, "perhaps it's for the best. After all, I am expecting. And Ethan will be a wonderful father to our child." She placed both hands over her belly, a defiant, triumphant gesture.

The words hung in the air, a final, brutal blow. It wasn't just a house. It was a whole new life he was building, with her, under my nose. He looked at Kiera, then at me, his face a mixture of shock and guilt. He didn't deny it. He didn't even try. His silence was a deafening confirmation.

I felt like an intruder, an uninvited guest witnessing the intimate unveiling of a secret I was never meant to know. The apartment, once our sanctuary, was now their stage. I was merely a shadow in the wings.

My resolve, which had been tempered by weeks of his lies, now solidified into an unyielding block of ice. There was no turning back. No argument left to have. No shared future to salvage.

"Congratulations," I said, my voice flat, hollow. I managed a small, almost imperceptible nod. The word tasted like poison.

He opened his mouth, probably to mumble some excuse, some half-hearted apology. But I didn't wait. I turned, my steps deliberate, and retreated to the guest bedroom, the one I had occupied for the past few nights. I closed the door softly behind me.

Through the thin wood, I heard Kiera's hushed, triumphant whispers, followed by Ethan's low, murmuring reassurances. They thought they had won. They thought they had finally pushed me out. But they were wrong. This wasn't their victory; it was my liberation. Kiera wasn't an innocent victim; she was a predator, cunning and ruthless. And Ethan? He was just a pawn, easily manipulated by a woman who knew exactly how to play his sense of guilt and honor.

I took out a marker and wrote "FREEDOM" on the last box. My hands didn't shake. My eyes were dry. My heart, once a fragile bird, was now a stone.

They had no idea. No idea that I was already gone, long before I ever walked out that door. And tomorrow, I would leave for good.