Chapter 5: The Set-Up

It took a few weeks for Emma to put her plan into action. It wasn’t about causing a dramatic public scene or humiliating Jack and Claire outright—it was subtler than that. She was going to take her time, move in the shadows, and let them slowly feel the weight of their actions.

The first step was re-establishing contact with Jack. It wasn’t hard. He had been sending her messages, apologizing, begging her to listen, to talk. At first, Emma had deleted them all. But now, the game was different. She wasn’t the heartbroken girlfriend anymore. She was in control.

She responded to his latest message: “We need to talk.”

They set a time for a meeting, a neutral location—a small café in the city center. Jack, ever the fool, believed this was a chance to apologize and perhaps work things out. Emma, however, had no intention of reconciling. She just needed him to think she was vulnerable, to think he still had some hold on her.

On the day of the meeting, Emma was calm, her emotions carefully controlled. When Jack arrived, he looked the same as he had the last time they’d met—dressed casually, with that apologetic look on his face, as if everything could just be fixed with a few heartfelt words.

"Hey," he said softly as he slid into the seat across from her. “I’m really glad you agreed to meet. I know I messed up, but I—I want you to know how sorry I am.”

Emma didn’t respond immediately. She simply looked at him, her eyes cold, emotionless. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel anything—it was just that she had learned not to let him see it.

“You really hurt me, Jack,” she said finally, her voice surprisingly steady. “But I’m not here for you to apologize. I’m here because I want to know why. Why you thought you could betray me like this.”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, Emma. I never meant to hurt you.”

Emma leaned forward slightly, her gaze intense. “Don’t lie to me. You knew exactly what you were doing. And you chose Claire over me.”

His face twisted with guilt. “I didn’t think it would—”

“You didn’t think, Jack,” she interrupted, her tone cutting. “That’s the problem. You didn’t think about the consequences of your actions. You just did whatever felt good in the moment. And now you’ve lost everything.”

Jack’s face hardened, his shame turning to defensiveness. “I never wanted to hurt you. I never meant for it to get this far.”

Emma gave a small, bitter laugh. “Well, it did. And now you’re going to have to live with the consequences.”

For the next hour, Emma let him talk. He apologized over and over, blaming his actions on his own insecurities, his need for validation, his fear of losing her. But Emma wasn’t listening anymore. She wasn’t even angry. She was simply detached, emotionally removed. It was all part of the plan.

By the time the meeting ended, Emma had achieved what she wanted: Jack was now convinced that there was still a glimmer of hope, still a chance to make things right. He thought that if he tried hard enough, he could win her back.

What he didn’t realize was that Emma had already won

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