Chapter 59

Chapter 59
KAT’S POV
That night, I leave my house late at night. I don’t want anyone to see me like this—messy, stripped open, shaking at the edges.
I throw on a big hoodie, sunglasses, and tie my hair back, trying to disappear inside myself. The air outside is cold when I step onto the street, and it bites at my cheeks in a way that feels almost punishing. Maybe that’s why I don’t stop driving until I reach the same upscale bar Melissa and I used to visit back when we were best friends - back when things made sense, and she hadn’t turned her entire life into a weapon aimed at me.
The moment I push open the door, nostalgia hits me hard. The place looks the same—warm lighting, marble counters, soft jazz playing in the background, the familiar smell of citrus and whiskey. But instead of comfort, something sharp twists inside me. It hurts. It hurts to remember sitting here with Melissa when we were young and stupid, sharing secrets, laughing, dreaming like the world was ours. Now all she does is tear me apart for validation. Now, she betrayed me
She fucked my husband.
I keep my hood on and walk toward the bar, but people notice anyway. Of course they do. I hear their conversations as they talk to me.
“That’s Kat Ford.”
“Oh my God, that’s her.”
“Melissa said she was evil.”
“She really used that woman’s mom as a servant?”
“No wonder her husband left her…”
Each whisper hits me hard. I pretend I don’t hear it, but every comment lands like a bruise. I sit at the bar, shoulders tight, and when the bartender raises an eyebrow at me, I manage a soft, “Whiskey. Neat.”
He pours it. I throw it back. The warmth burns down my throat. I ask for another. And another. And another. At some point he hesitates, but my eyes must look empty enough that he keeps pouring.
I keep drinking because it’s the only thing numbing the noise in my head.
My thoughts spiral in messy loops. I think of everything I’ve been trying to ignore - Melissa’s fake tears in that LIVE, Matt cheating and smiling while doing it, Paula’s betrayal after I gave her everything, Percy’s disappointed face when he thought I’d lost control, and the internet calling me a monster like they’ve been waiting for it. Everything collapses over me until my chest tightens so hard I can barely breathe. I blink, and my eyes sting. Tears threaten to fall but I force them down with another drink.
I am so heartbroken. So tired of being disappointed. So tired of trusting the wrong people. So tired of surviving the same kind of betrayal over and over until it feels like a cycle I’m cursed to repeat.
My phone buzzes. Percy’s name lights up on the screen from earlier calls. He’s calling again but I don’t answer. I feel ashamed of myself.
I click on Paula’s name. I open a message and type without thinking:
“You don’t have to come to work anymore.”
I don’t even have time to lock my phone before she replies with a long, furious paragraph.
“You are heartless. Vindictive. Completely unstable. I can’t believe I even apologized to you. I hope people see who you really are. You ruin everything you touch. And my son deserves better than someone like you. I’m glad he’s free from you.
I stare at the message. My vision blurs. I let out a dry, humorless laugh. I’m too tired to even be angry. Too tired to care. Too tired to defend myself from someone who was never truly on my side.
This is the same woman who was on her knees begging me days ago. How ironic.
I drop the phone onto the counter and rub my face.
That’s when a man approaches.
He smells like expensive cologne and confidence. He sits beside me without asking and nods at the bartender. “Put her next drink on my tab.”
I squint at him, trying to bring his face into focus. He’s handsome in that polished, bold way some men are, like he knows it and expects everyone else to know it too.
“You’re prettier in person, Kat,” he says.
Great, someone else who knows me from social media. Isn’t this perfect?
I tense. “Thanks,” I mutter, taking another sip.
He smiles and leans in a little, elbow on the bar. “Rough night?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Something like that.”
He starts talking and cracking light jokes. I answer a few things because the alcohol makes my tongue loose. I nod when I don’t care. I shrug when he tries to flirt. For a second, for the smallest moment, I wonder if maybe I should just let go. Let myself forget. Let someone else distract me from the pain clawing through my chest.
But then he touches my shoulder. And everything in me recoils.
His hand feels wrong. His voice feels wrong. His presence feels wrong.
“I’m not interested,” I say, slurring a little as I pull away. “You’re not him.”
He pauses, his smile fading. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not him,” I repeat. My voice is low and tired. “Just—go.”
His expression twists into something ugly. “You’re drunk and you’re crazy. No wonder everyone hates you.”
Something hot flashes through me. I snap back without thinking. “Then go talk to someone who cares. Because it’s definitely not me.”
For a moment, he looks like he might argue, but he backs off with a muttered insult under his breath.
I push off the barstool, nearly stumbling. The floor tilts beneath my feet. My head spins. The humiliation, heartbreak, and alcohol mix into something reckless and dangerous.
I fumble with my car keys as I walk out into the night.
I shouldn’t be driving. I know I shouldn’t. Even drunk, even numb, I know better than this. But right now, everything hurts too much, and I just want to get away, from the bar, from the whispers, from the memories.
Rain starts pouring all of a sudden as i walk out. Thunder cracks overhead. The streets shine with reflections from the streetlights. Everything looks blurry and distorted. I slide into my car, hands shaking as I grip the wheel. My breath fogs the windshield.
Percy’s disappointed expression plays again in my mind. Melissa’s lies. Matt’s betrayal. Paula’s message. The world calling me evil.
My vision swims.
I press the gas.
The car swerves sharply. I try correcting the wheel, but the tires skid on the wet road. My heart slams against my ribs as I start to panic.
“No, no—please—”
The headlights blur. The road tilts. The rain slashes across the windshield.
Then—
A loud scream tears out of me.
CRASH.
Glass shatters. Metal crumples. The world snaps apart in one violent second.
And then everything goes silent.