Chapter 1: Hurt and Broken

SCARLETT

I would never forgive a cheater. If you asked me two months ago, that would be my answer.

Trevor has been my boyfriend for three years, the only man I’ve ever dated, but two months ago, he slept with my one, true, worst enemy and he claimed to be drunk and begged for my forgiveness.

I was hurt, broken and devastated. I never thought I could ever forgive such a thing in my life. It’s the bottom line of a relationship, I know. If cheating is not the ultimate red flag, I don’t know what is.

But the moment came and I couldn’t do it. My life will not be the same without him. He has been the centre of my life since forever, and I gave him my everything.

So there, I made the worst decision in my life, I forced myself to nod when he begged.

You can hardly pinpoint the moment where things went wrong in your life, but that was it for me. That moment was the exact point where my life fell apart.

I stare blankly at the text I had just received from him, asking me to join him at his favorite hangout spot. It was the only text I had received from him all day. I remember when he would call and text a dozen times a day but all of that changed after “the incident”.

That’s what we call it now. We can’t even mention it by name.

Caution is the new feeling of our patched up relationship, not joy.

Every bone in my body is screaming for me to head straight home after pulling my third eight hour shift at work this week but I cannot remember the last time I hung out with Trevor.

Maybe this is his way of trying to make things up to me and rekindle our old flame. If he is trying, I have to get over myself and give him a chance, after all, no one is above mistakes.

“Take me to Halie’s corner,” I instruct the taxi driver from the back.

“That’s gonna cost you an extra hundred miss, toll fees are at an all time high,” He replies curtly, taking a sharp turn and I sway in my seat.

“It’s fine,” I reply, but I know it’s not. That’s going to come out of rent for next month. This is my life now, struggling over a hundred. That used to be my tip for a waiter I like.

This would have been the least of my problems three months ago, but with everything that happened to Dad’s company, the creditors freezing up our bank accounts and assets, my life spun on a dime and I literally went from princess to pauper overnight. From living in a 12 bedroom luxurious mansion to splitting rent with my aunt in an old single bedroom apartment.

I heave a deep sigh as I tuck my phone inside my bag, bringing out my mirror to make sure I at least look decent enough. My auburn hair still has its shine and my big blue eyes stare back at me but I can see how much they’ve lost the light they used to have in them.

My life is such a mess. Maybe that’s what made me so hung up on Trevor despite what he did.

The thought of seeing him lifts my mood a little, but that shred of joy soon shatters.

What I thought was going to be just two lovers having a good time, turned out to be some kind of party and to make it worse, Ashley was here, the girl Trevor cheated on me with.

She was the first to see me and my stomach churns at the sight of her but what she does next makes it hard to believe she and Trevor didn’t still have something going on, or maybe she wants me to think that.

She grabs a shot of whatever’s in her glass and offers it to Trevor, turning it down his throat herself and then uses her finger to wipe the excess liquid off his lips and dips it in her mouth, licking it sensually as she shoots me a challenging gaze.

I feel a tug of pain in my heart at the way Trevor smiles at her gesture, cupping her face. My heart races, thinking he’s about to kiss her but he follows her gaze and his eyes land on me.

He withdraws his hand but he doesn’t shift away from her.

“Don’t just stand there like a stranger baby, sit,” He says over the low background music, pointing at the couch opposite him.

Why would he do this? Why is he acting like this is okay?

Inviting me to where the girl he cheated on me with, is? Despite how I openly tell him about my insecurities and just see how she is openly flirting with him in my presence.

Sometimes I feel like I’m overreacting because of the incident, but other times I feel like I’m the only sane person in our crazy world.

“What are you wearing, Scarlett? It’s a party, not a funeral procession,” Amelia, Trevor’s cousin says as soon as I take my seat beside her.

I look down at myself, wondering what is wrong with what I’m wearing, black trouser pants and a simple black blouse tucked into it.

“I came here straight from work,” I reply, my eyes never leaving Trevor and Ashley.

Why is he so comfortable with her beside him while I sit opposite him? I’m his girlfriend, I should be the one beside him.

“Oh right, you’re a waitress now…..must suck knowing your dad screwed you all,” Kenyon, Trevor's friend adds snidely.

I know he never liked me and I never liked him too. I think he’s a bad influence on my Trevor but Trevor is the only reason I tolerate him. It wasn’t the first time since dad got locked up that he has made a comment like this and he is seriously beginning to get on my nerves.

“No wonder the moment she arrived, a stench filled the air….Urgh….All that sweat,” Ashley says airily, pinching her nose and the rest of the group chuckles.

I resist the urge to smell myself, knowing quite alright that I showered before leaving work. It’s clear their aim is to try to humiliate me, but nothing hurts more than the fact that the person I’m here for doesn’t even say anything.

“Are you just going to sit there and let them talk to me like that?” I ask Trevor directly. “And why are you sitting beside her? You know I don’t like it.”

“C’mon baby, you know they’re just joking and Ash and I are cool, you have nothing to worry about,” Trevor replies dismissively.

“You really should calm down Princess. I’ve known Trevor way longer than you have and if I wanted him wrapped around my fingers, that would be the easiest thing to do. What happened between us was a spur of the moment, so chill. How many more apologies do you need from me?” Ashley adds her two cents.

I look around, and no one seems to be on my side. Trevor’s friends all smirk, waiting for me to give them another show, their girl friends playing with their nails thinking they would never have to be in my shoes.

I know. I was a part of the “rich group”. Looking at it from the outside now, I guess we were a bunch of jerks. I’m almost glad that being broke kinda saved me from this circle before I turned into one of them.

A sudden feeling of tiredness washes over me.

I look at Trevor. He wouldn’t fight with his friends for me. He never does. He is talking to his “best friend” so happily that he completely forgets that his girlfriend is being bullied. Since when did I stop being the one in his always amorous eyes?

I thought I was saving our relationship, but it never felt more dead to me than this night.

“Three years and you only allow Trevor to the second base. Just be grateful that Trevor is choosing you over a diva like Ashley,” Kenyon adds in a spitefully low tone but loud enough for all to hear.

It was a mutual decision between me and Trevor to wait for our wedding. At first he was decent like that, and I wouldn’t say that’s not part of the reason why I fell in love with him, although lately he’s been demanding it and I’m trying my best but I just can't seem to do it. I hate defending my decisions to his friends about my own relationship. “Why the hell–” I open my mouth, deciding to fight back.

“That’s enough guys. We’re here to celebrate Ashley's latest achievement. Let’s not ruin it,” Trevor says, raising his glass.

Half of my outburst is stuffed in my chest, I stare at Trevor with disbelief.

Here to celebrate Ashley?He invited me to celebrate with her? I gave up good rest, spent my rent money and sacrificed my time to celebrate the person who turned my relationship upside down?

Pain fiddled with my heart, anger danced in my gut and tears pricked my eyes but I held it all in, maintaining a calm demeanor despite the storm brewing inside me.

“I can’t do this,” I say as I hurriedly walk out. One more second there and something would have blown up. Me or my tears.

I no longer belong to this world. The moment Dad went broke, I fell from being the princess of the group to the joke of this “elite circle”.

The worst part is, the one person who claims to love me chose that world over me.