1 Chapter 1: The Betrayal
The jiggling of the keys and twisting of the knob reverberated throughout the tiny apartment.
That was Alexandra's cue.
She sprung herself off their second-hand couch and hastily grabbed the cake off the table before making a beeline for the bedroom where she hid herself in the closet.
It was her husband's birthday. She was working at a bakery, of course, she had taken the time to bake him his favourite chocolate cake before coming home from work early to surprise him.
She had it all planned in her head. She was going to jump out of the closet with the cake in hand the moment he stepped foot into the room. With a giddy smile plastered across her face, she held the cake in her hands carefully, close to her chest as she eagerly waited for Ethan to walk through the door.
It was not long before the lights flickered on, peeking through the tiny gaps of the old wooden closet. A smile was still etched onto her face and with her eyes squinted, she watched him walk through that very door. But that same smile that was once on her face soon faded the moment her eyes landed on another woman walking into the same room.
The strong scent of a sweet vanilla perfume, Ethan's favourite, lingered in the air and the sounds of giggles reached her ears. Through the tiny gaps, she only noticed the girl's long dark hair and the way she had her arms wrapped around her husband. He had his hands on each side of her waist, his eyes fixated on the girl before him before pulling her closer to him, their faces now only inches apart.
Her eyes widened and she watched in horror as they kissed and his hands roamed her body hungrily. She had never felt rage and disgust quite like she did right now. Before her mind could even completely register what was going on, the closet doors swung open, hitting against the wall with a loud bang echoing throughout the room.
"Fucking bastards!" Alexandra screamed, her shrill voice piercing through the thick air as she threw the cake she was once holding across the room, scraping the side of Ethan's face.
"Guess all your late nights at work you spent fucking this woman?"
"What the fuck Al," he cussed as he wiped the pieces of cake off his cheek, a disgruntled look on his face, as if he was annoyed that he was caught with another woman who looked not much older than she is.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, it's not what you think it is," the woman said almost immediately. Despite the words that were coming out of her mouth, her voice was almost way too calm for someone who was just caught in an affair with a married man.
"Cut your bullshit. You don't look sorry at all."
Their eyes met and there was a hint of recognition in the woman's eyes, but she quickly brushed it off.
The woman had started walking towards her with a knowing look on her face, not even an ounce of guilt or regret in her dark eyes. The woman looked proud even, knowing that she could get a married man to look her way.
She could almost see the smirk on her face, cleverly masked with her ingenuine concern that her husband seemed to fall for. "Please calm down," she said this time as her arm stretched out to touch Alexandra on her shoulder.
"Why the fuck would you tell me to calm down after you fucked around with my husband," she screamed as she raised her hand to slap her in the face. But Ethan had already stepped in front of her, standing between the both of them. He had grabbed onto her wrist so tightly that it turned red before he pushed her to the ground.
Alexandra fell to the floor and she watched as her own husband turned around to comfort her sister. The way he caressed her cheeks and the look of concern on his face disgusted her.
"Babe, are you okay? Did she hurt you?" He asked in one of the most gentle voices she had heard in a while now.
"I'm fine," the woman muttered under her breath before making her way towards Alexandra once again, crouching down to ask if she was okay.
Alexandra looked over at her, staring intently.
She hadn't noticed earlier but now that the woman's face was only inches away from hers, Alexandra almost thought that she was looking into a mirror, staring at her own reflection. The girl in front of her had the same dark hair and brown eyes just like her, they even had the same dimple on the right side of their cheeks.
They looked almost… identical?
Guess he must have a type.
Without a second thought, Alexandra pushed her onto the ground. The woman fell to the floor this time with a loud thud and a yelp escaped her lips. Before she even knew it, she was kneeling on the ground crying out in shock as tears fell down her cheeks.
Alexandra watched as her husband ran towards another woman in an instant, crouching down to check on her.
She had this pout on her face as a single tear rolled down her flushed cheek. "I was only asking her if she was okay, did I- did I… do something wrong?" The woman stuttered as tears filled the brim of her eyes before rolling down her cheeks.
Alexandra could only scoff at her words, rolling her eyes as Ethan wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Al?" Her husband had turned around to yell at her this time, his own wife. "She already apologised, what more do you want? For her to kneel and beg for your forgiveness?"
"Babe, it's fine, don't yell at her, she's just upset," the woman said, looking up at him with the same pout still on her face as she gently placed her hand on his chest.
"You are lucky she is kind enough to let this slide," he remarked as Alexandra scoffed.
Her lips were pressed shut and she was looking at him straight in his eyes before she grabbed anything she could reach and threw it right at them, screaming to vent her anger in that moment. Without any hesitation, Ethan jumped in front of the woman, shielding her with his body as Alexandra continued to throw almost anything she could find.
"Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Really? What's wrong with me? Me? Are you even listening to yourself?"
There was a small pause before he spoke again.
"I want a divorce," her husband demanded this time, his voice cold and his eyes void of any emotions.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Only less than a year ago, they were the picture-perfect couple, with a relationship that everyone wishes they had. They grew up together, living next to one another, and going to the same schools. They were almost inseparable.
He said he was going to marry her when they were only in middle school. He was the boy she liked since middle school. But they drifted when they were high school as they went on to date other people. It was only after she had graduated from college that they found each other again and they fell in love.
He was once the sweetest guy she knew, the guy who would do almost anything for her. But right now, there she was, standing in front of the man she once loved as he demanded a divorce all because he found another girl.
She wanted to scream, to shout and cry but she knew she didn't want to give him the reaction that he was looking for, so she only said a single word.
"Okay," was all she said. Soon after, she started packing, throwing anything she could find to bring with her. With the bag slung across her shoulder, she called out for her dog, Sunny, and left with her.
As she was leaving, she could still hear the woman sobbing softly in the back and her husband's comforting words. A cold chuckle escaped Alexandra's lips as she continued walking ahead, never turning back around to look once.
The night was cool, the summer breeze ruffling her already messy dark hair. She tugged her jacket closer to her as she walked under the night sky. It was a few minutes to 1am. The sky was almost pitch black with only a few stars and the brightly lit moon decorating that seemingly blank canvas.
She had no clue where she was going; her legs just kept walking and walking, until they finally stopped.
She had wandered far.
The sandy shores and the sounds of the waves crashing onto the rocks were like a quiet and soothing lullaby humming beside her ears. The faint scent of the ocean lingered in the cool air. Her lips curled up into a small smile as she took in the view before her.
She had sat herself down somewhere, as Sunny also sat quietly next to her. Her knees were tucked closely to her chest with her arms resting atop. She let out a soft sigh as all her thoughts consumed her. She turned to look at Sunny who was lying down already. "Bored huh? Wanna play fetch?"
Sunny's ears perked up almost immediately with a slight tilt in her head, almost as if she was saying yes. Alexandra grabbed the ball she had taken on the way out and threw it as far as she could, watching her dog run away in excitement before bringing the ball back to her.
"Ah shit," she cussed under her breath. She had accidentally thrown it a little too far this time.
"Sunny, you stay here ok? I'm going to go get your ball," she said with a smile, patting her dog's head.
She quickly stood up and started making her way towards the vast ocean. A soft yelp escaped her lips as she first entered the water. The coldness hit her almost immediately and she was dashing towards the ball now, with only one thing on her mind - To get the ball and get the fuck out of this water.
As she reached her arm out to grab the ball, she felt someone scooped her up almost effortlessly without a single warning. A yelp escaped her lips once more, but this time it wasn't because of the cold.
