Chapter 1 The Last Straw

"You think I'm stupid, don't you?" Seraphina's voice cracked as she stood at the center of Nate's sleek penthouse apartment, her chest rising and falling in short, panicked breaths. "You think I don't see what's going on?"

Nate stood across the room, arms folded, jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his face twitched. He didn't answer.

"I'm tired, Nate!" she shouted, her hands shaking as she jabbed a finger toward him. "Tired of being treated like a f*cking option! I'm not some emotionless doll you can cheat on, walk away from, and come back to like nothing happened! I am human! I have feelings!"

Still, silence.

Nate blinked slowly, his brown eyes dull with indifference. "Are you done?"

"Am I done?" Seraphina flinched. The sharp, clipped tone of his voice cut deeper than she'd expected.

"No," she whispered. Her voice trembled as she stepped toward him, her hands curling into fists. "No, I'm not done."

She stopped inches away from him, staring up into the face of the man she had loved for three long, humiliating years. A man she had defended. Sacrificed for. Betrayed herself for.

And he stood there... unmoved.

Tears blurred her vision, but she didn't blink them away. She grabbed the front of his crisp designer shirt - a white button-up that reeked of money and cologne - and yanked him slightly forward.

"Why, Nate?" she demanded, her voice breaking. "Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep cheating on me? What the hell did I ever do to deserve this? Am I not enough for you? Is it because I'm not rich? Because my dad works two jobs and my mom prays every morning the power doesn't get cut off?"

Nate grunted and pulled her hands off his shirt with a harsh jerk. "Stop," he snapped. "You're going to wrinkle my shirt."

Seraphina blinked. Her breath caught in her throat.

"That shirt?" she echoed. "That's what you're worried about right now?"

"It cost five thousand dollars," Nate said flatly as he smoothed the fabric where she'd clutched it. "Unlike you, I care about the things I work for."

"F- five thousand dollars," Seraphina repeated hollowly, backing away.

Her lips parted. Her eyes scanned the pristine room. Glass furniture. Leather couches. A marble kitchen island gleaming in the soft afternoon light.

Everything in here screamed luxury. Except her.

She'd always known she didn't belong in his world. But hearing it? Feeling it confirmed in the most humiliating way?

It shattered her.

She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a bitter laugh - part grief, part hysteria. "Do you even hear yourself?"

Nate rolled his eyes and walked past her toward the sofa.

"Since you feel cheating is normal and you have no remorse, I should definitely do the same. Don't you think?" Seraphina asked through gritted teeth. She simply said it out of anger but deep down, a part of her wanted to know how Nate would react to her sleeping with other men.

Nate paused, he turned to face her, "What did you say?"

"You heard me."

To her surprise, he burst out laughing with his hands tucked away in his pocket. His gaze was filled with intense mockery, "You? Cheat? On me? Nah. You won't . You love me too much to do such a thing."

"Just because I love you doesn't mean you get to cheat me like this." Seraphina was clearly tired. She ran her hand through her blonde hair. "But it doesn't mean I can't."

Nate scoffed as he walked back to her. He grabbed her chin forcefully and said, "You are not allowed to think of sleeping with another man. Your body is mine and mine alone."

Seraphina ignored the pain and smirked, "Yours? I doubt it. It is mine and I will sleep with whomever I choose to sleep with. You shouldn't have a problem with that."

"You are playing with fire, Sera. Don't test my patience." He bellowed, "I'll skin whoever sees you naked. I don't give two shits if it's a male child or an old man. So, get that dumb thought out of your f*cling mind."

His phone vibrated on the coffee table, and he picked it up without a word.

She watched him answer it, her heart already anticipating the worst as she massaged her aching jaw.

"Hey, babe," he said, voice suddenly light and sweet. "Of course. I'll be there in fifteen."

He glanced at Seraphina, then snorted - a short, cruel sound.

She staggered back a step, like his laugh had physically hit her.

He hung up and turned back toward the door. "I've got somewhere important to be."

"You mean 'someone' to be with," she corrected softly, voice trembling.

Nate paused at the threshold. "Semantics," he muttered with a shrug.

She stared at his back as he moved toward the kitchen, casual as ever, untouched by the mess he'd left behind.

He reached out, picked up the tiny cake box she had carried through the pouring rain earlier that morning - the one with their anniversary cake inside - and opened it.

Seraphina couldn't breathe.

With a lazy swipe of his fingers, Nate scooped out a bite of red velvet and placed it in his mouth. He chewed, hummed in approval, then looked back over his shoulder with a smirk.

"Tastes great," he said. "Don't eat it all before I get back, else you'll have yourself to blame."

Then he walked towards the door. Seraphina watched him helplessly as she struggled to hold back the loud sob that was threatening to break out from her throat.

Suddenly, he stopped but didn't look back. "Happy third anniversary, babe."

Without adding any other statement, he left.

The door closed behind him with a hollow click, and Seraphina stood in the silence that followed, her lungs heaving with the weight of a thousand words she never got to scream.

Her finger nails dug into her palms, almost causing her to bleed. Shutting her eyes, she collapsed to the floor.