Chapter 95 The Last Straw
In another part of the country, a small rural town was preparing to receive someone who did not yet know that her life was about to change.
A last-minute change.
A rented car.
A hastily packed suitcase.
No promises.
Just the urgent need to start over.
And sometimes, that is all a story needs to begin.
POV Maya:
I am an idiot for loving this asshole bastard—that is the only thing I can think as I look at the scene in front of me. Hidden behind a pillar in the luxurious hotel, I watch Peter, my dear and bastard soon-to-be ex-fiancé, kissing and pawing a gorgeous brunette. My mind stubbornly tries to make me believe that I must be crazy or seeing something that isn’t there. However, the way Peter is devouring the woman’s mouth as if it were the last mouth in the desert makes it clear that I am seeing everything just right. I am not having vision problems, much less hallucinating; at most, I might be feeling a headache from the weight of the horns I’ve been carrying for God knows how long.
I asked Peter to give me a crown to wear as an accessory to my Halloween costume, not a pair of horns. Traitorous bastard.
I had noticed he was different. His distance was the first alarm that rang in my head—one I should have noticed, but I didn’t. I thought he was in that phase every man goes through during the month, the phase of unexplained assholery. With all my love and care, I spoiled him, pampered him, and even let him fuck my ass to make him happy. And now I feel like a complete fool. I gave up my ass without it even being a special occasion, or a bargaining chip for some occasional blackmail.
I don’t even want to remember the insanely expensive lingerie I wore. Cheating men don’t deserve the incredible women they have. If there’s one thing I firmly believe, it’s this: when a man cheats, it’s from the waist down; when a woman cheats, it’s from the neck up. That saying already implies that they only think with their lower head, while we women use our diabolical minds for revenge—which one day comes. Oh, it comes.
I’m going over there. It’s time to put an end to this farce. I trust the control I have over myself; I know nothing serious will happen, and if it does, it’s all Peter’s fault for making the wrong decision to cheat on his crazy, unhinged fiancée. With hurried steps, I reach the two of them in the elevator. With my Louis Vuitton high heel—the one I almost had to sell a kidney to buy—I block the doors before they close.
At first, Peter’s eyes remain closed as he presses the woman into the corner of the elevator, but he soon jumps in fright when a beautiful, outrageously expensive designer shoe hits his head. I bend down immediately to pick up my pink shoe, kiss its side while apologizing a thousand times. It was for a good cause, I whisper to the marvelous shoe as I put it back on. If I’m going to slap my dear cheating fiancé, I’ll do it in heels.
“What a wonderful night, isn’t it, darling?” I ask with a devilish smile playing on my lips.
“M-Maya?” He puts on his little act, pretending to be surprised at being caught—something we both know isn’t true. If it were, he wouldn’t be here cheating on me in the first place.
Who does this bastard think he’s fooling? Me? Or this beautiful woman who doesn’t know where to hide her horrified face?
“Peter, you… you…”
“Audrey, I can explain.” I roll my eyes, unable to believe what I’m witnessing.
Shouldn’t I be the one hearing this bullshit?
“Audrey, let me explain what’s going on here,” I cut in, interrupting the pathetic excuse Peter was about to give the poor woman. “This bastard, sleazy, pathetic asshole…”
“Maya, take it easy. This asshole here is the same one who’s made you come many times.” The elevator dings, announcing that we’ve arrived on the floor, and for a second I think it might have been God sounding the trumpets so I wouldn’t have to hear such an absurdity.
The three of us step out of the elevator: the shameless bastard, the elegantly cheated-on woman in her pre-breakup look, and the beautiful brunette who is about to discover the feats of Peter the scumbag. If there is one thing I, Maya Britney George, would never do, it is create female rivalry over a man—especially a man who didn’t have an ounce of respect for me or our story. If he chose to cheat on me, he will have to deal with the consequences that will unfold in the next few minutes.
“It would be best if we went into the room,” Peter says, opening a door and gesturing for Audrey and me to enter.
Before going inside, I think of two things: either Peter is a complete idiot to go into an enclosed space with me, or he is completely delusional if he thinks he can sweet-talk me and get away with this betrayal.
“As you wish, sweetheart.” I walk into the luxurious room, feeling like an unprecedented fool.
Why is it that when it comes to pleasing and surprising their girlfriends, fiancées, and wives, cheating men never invest in something grand? Why do they always do that for women who aren’t theirs? How many incredible dinners did I plan to celebrate special occasions with Peter while he made not the slightest effort to surprise me? Women fall in love with details, and it is also because of details that they leave.
I feel my eyes burn, but there is no way I will cry in front of Peter. I will never give him the satisfaction of knowing how much his actions are hurting me. Four years in a relationship where only I saw a future. A future built on lies, apparently.
“First of all, I want to say that I can explain,” he begins his original speech, and I decide to give him the chance to explain, because despite being consumed by anger, I need to know where we went wrong.
“All right, I’m listening.” I look from him to Audrey, a powerful sense of loss suffocating me.
“For some time now, I haven’t been happy. I thought about breaking up with you countless times, but I can’t. You have no one else but me. If I break up with you, what will become of you?” I swallow the truth being forced down my throat. My eyes burn, but I remain firm. “That’s why I can’t break up, but I also can’t be faithful.”
So, summing up this whole fucking mess, I was cheated on because it was my fault? Not a chance.
“Have you and Audrey been together for a long time?” I ask, pretending his words hadn’t hurt me, when in reality my heart is shattered on the floor, next to my beautiful heel.
“We’re dating.” I nod, no longer knowing what to say. Everything I had imagined myself saying lost its strength the moment he spoke the one truth I cannot bear to hear.
The sad truth about me is simple: my parents don’t care about me. As soon as I came of age, they gifted me a card with millions in the account and went off into the world. They are nothing more than two shallow millionaires who love only money. It’s been over five years since I last saw them, let alone spoke to them. It was just me—until… until I met Peter.
“I’ll pack my things,” I say, looking at my hand where the promise he made me rests. Taking off the ring he gave me two years ago is renouncing the future I envisioned, renouncing the family I once dreamed of—it is my fear of being alone becoming real. “I’ll leave your apartment today.” I hold out the engagement ring as if the weight of the world were in my hand and not a simple ring. The moment Peter takes it, the urge to cry grows, and the pain in my chest intensifies.
“I’m sorry, Maya,” he says, holding Audrey’s hand and stabbing my chest even deeper.
“So am I.” I walk past him and stop at the door. “Because I believed your words. I believed in us.”
With what little dignity I have left, I leave the room without looking back. If four years meant nothing to Peter, I will follow his logic and not dwell on what we could have been, much less suffer over what I have just lost.
I am Maya. I can get over a betrayal.