Chapter 1 The Betrayal

Ellen Grater walked with bold steps into the Haven Hotel. She was dressed in a navy-blue dress that stopped at her knees, and her brunette hair cascaded down her back in lovely curls. Despite the casual wear, her height and elegant V-shaped face added to her appeal, as many heads turned in her direction.

With a confident gait, she moved through the lobby of the hotel in silver heels, hoping the horrible information she had received was not true.

"Luke just proposed to Emily," read the text sent to her phone an hour ago.

Ellen had learned that her ex-boyfriend of two years, who had broken up with her two weeks ago, had just proposed to another lady! Emily!

She walked into the elevator and pressed the button to the fourth floor. The surprise proposal was said to be taking place at the private restaurant at the hotel.

Stepping out of the elevator, she moved down the hall towards the private restaurant. On her way, she came across an elderly woman struggling to open her door and looking almost frustrated. Having had a soft spot for elderly women because of her neighbor, Mama Anderson, she couldn't leave the woman helpless.

"Hello ma'am, Is something wrong?" She asked, seeing the woman leaning against the wall.

"Oh dear, I can't seem to open my door, and I'm so tired of standing," the woman replied.

"Okay, let me try it again for you," Ellen said, taking the keys from the elderly woman. She noticed the woman was holding the key to room 122, and she was standing at the door to room 115.

"Oh, I think your room is still a few doors away," she said to the elderly woman, smiling at her. The elderly woman was suddenly frantic. Noticing this, Ellen reached out to take her hand and assured her "Not to worry, I'll escort you there; it should be just around the corner".

She helped the woman to her door, assisted her in opening the door, and ensured she got into the room.

"Oh dear, thank you," the elderly woman said, grabbing Ellen's face.

"You're welcome, ma'am," she replied.

As she turned to leave, a middle-aged lady rushed into the room and said, "Mrs. Warner, I've been looking for you."

"Oh, Mary, this young lady here helped me," the elderly woman said.

Turning to Ellen, the lady said, "Oh, thank you so much".

"You're welcome" Ellen replied, and she added more quietly "you need to be more vigilant so she doesn't go off on her own".

Smiling one last time at the two, she left the room and headed to the private restaurant on the same floor. Upon entering, she noticed a section of the restaurant was decorated with flowers, and there were petals on the floor around the center table, which was the focal point of the decoration.

The couple were none other than Luke Willer and Emily, her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée. Summoning all the courage she had left, she walked up to their table.

"Look who's here," she said, smiling at them. "Hello Luke and Emily, how are you?"

"I heard Luke proposed to you tonight; congratulations," she said to them.

"Ellen, what are you doing here?" Luke asked as he looked around, hoping no one was paying them any attention.

"So, this was why you broke up with me, and to think it was for Emily," Ellen said as she glared at the two in front of her.

"We can explain, Ellen; we never meant for any of this to happen," Emily told her.

Oh, really, is that why you were ashamed to tell me you were dating my boyfriend behind me?" Ellen glared at her.

The attention of those around them was beginning to be drawn to them, and Luke was becoming uncomfortable. He had a few of his colleagues in attendance, and he didn't want anything to taint his reputation.

He moved closer to Ellen and whispered, "You're causing a scene, Ellen; let's take this outside."

She laughed hysterically, turning to look at the faces of those who had gathered around them. A few faces she recognized had a shocked expression on their faces. A few of them were her colleagues; she pretty much worked with a lot of them across various departments.

"What do you think is going on?" Ellen heard someone say in the crowd.

"I have no idea, but it looks like Luke's mad at Ellen right now," another person replied.

Ellen, let's talk outside," Emily said, grabbing her hand.

"You all enjoy the rest of the party," Ellen said as she was pulled away by Emily.

"Ellen, I know you're hurt, but there's hardly anything you can do about this," Emily told her as soon as they were outside.

"Ha ha..." feigning a half laugh, Ellen fired back at her, "You've got some nerve, you know."

"You had the audacity to cheat with my boyfriend, and you're not ashamed of it".

"These things happen okay, so don't come and spoil this for me; after all, we're like sisters." Emily smiled wickedly as she turned and headed back to the restaurant.

Appalled at what Emily had said to her, Ellen stood there, shocked. She was hurt that Emily had felt no regret for what she had done.

Emily met Luke at the door and said to him, "Go pacify her, Luke; whatever you need to say to her, say it."

"I don't want her spoiling this for us; it was your idea to keep dating her all this time, so go fix it," she added as she returned to the party.

Seeing her standing at the end of the hall, Luke ran to her.

"Ellen, let me explain," he told her, touching her shoulders.

"I do not need your explanation; I just need you to answer one question: how long has this been going on?" she asked him.

Flipping a hand through his hair, his frustration was evident as he replied, "Ellen, please, let's not do this."

"Drop the act, goddammit, and answer the fucking question!" Ellen yelled.

Resigned to his fate, he yelled back at her, "A year, okay!"

"There you have it. Are you satisfied now?"

Ellen staggered at his answer: How has she been that gullible and blind? They had deceived her for this long, and she had not noticed.

"One year! A whole fucking year!" she shouted. "You betrayed me with my best friend".