One

(Author's POV)

Jemima thought he also cherished her unlike her friends, unaware that he was only using her to make money.

She wasn't the type to expect grand gestures. She'd always been the nice girl people described with fake smiles and Lukewarm compliments.

But Ryan chose her for two years and that alone made her believe she was special.

It was her birthday and their two-years anniversary. The happiest day of her life. The day she decided to spend the rest of her life with him.

Jemima stared at her reflection, running her fingers down the small wrapped box on the dresser. A silver watch engraved with 'Forever starts today'. She bought it with the money she'd been saving for a month now. She imagined him, smiling, pulling her closer whispering the word she'd been yearning to hear.

"Marry me, Jemima. And make me the happiest man on earth."

By evening, she was in Chicago's busiest bakery buying his favourite chocolate cake. She could see the night unfolding in her head; Dinner, laughter, maybe champagne...

Ryan thought she’s still at work. She'd told him she would be late just so she could sneak the suprise into his night and watch his face lit up.

Something made her pause, the door wasn't locked. She tilted her head, a ridiculous thought crossed her mind, it might be one of his surprises.

She stepped inside. The living room was empty. Quiet. Too quiet. Balancing the cake box on her hip, she crossed the carpet, her heels clicking softly as she moved down the familiar hall way.

The sound hit her first. loud, vulgar, and shameless sounds. A mix of screams and moans, punctuated by the heavy, rhythmic slap of skin against skin.

Her fingers went numb. And she froze.

"Oh gawd, you're so fucking tight."He grunted in pleasure.

That voice. That familiar grunts she loved hearing in the moment of passion.

He was naked, thrusting deeply into a woman under him,her legs coiled around his waist,moans on moans, his hands gripping him like she belonged to him.

Her stomach lurched. No, no , she had to be hallucinating.

"Yes...baby, more."The woman moaned under him breathlessly.

He kept penetrating inside her deeply, the more she screamed the more he drove inside her. They were so lost in it, to the extent that they didn't notice she entered.

Jemima's vision blurred, her fingers shook so violently she almost dropped the cake box.

"You love me right?,”the woman's voice rose, almost a plea.

"Ryan...mmm...answer me!"She screamed when he didn't respond.

Jemima blinked, she knew that voice. Her world tilted as Ryan grunted one word that made her knees buckle

"Evelyn..."

Evelyn–her best friend, her sister in everything.

"...I love you, Jemima is nothing to me, she's just my credit card.”

Tears clawed Jemima's eyes as reality clawed into her. The cake slipped from her trembling hands, the box crashing onto the cold tiled floor, it's content spilling in a mess of frosting and broken sugar flower.

The sound snapped them from their haze. Ryan's head whipped around, he pulled away from Evelyn, his chest heaving.

“Jemima…”He stuttered. "It's not...what you think."

A flu befell her and her whole body trembled, Jemima's gaze shifted to Evelyn who was now sitting up straight on the bed, her chest rising and falling from the sinful aftermath.

The woman she called her best friend, the only human she considered more than a sister.

"Oh my God."Her voice cracked–lips shaking and her eyes red.

"Jemima... it's...not what you..."

Evelyn hissed. "It's what you think, we're having an affair right under your nose."

"You were my best friend Eve, and you betrayed me like this!" She said, her voice cracked.

Evelyn scoffed, she didn't feel any guilt even though Ryan was pleading with her. He stood up after wearing his shorts.

"Jemima.. please...I can explain" He tried touching her but she moved away.

"Explain what?! You cheated Ryan... you betrayed my trust, our love, and... for her?!" She shouted at him, tears blurred her vision.

"Cheating is not something new" He scoffed.

"Coming from you? Ryan..."she whispered, her lips trembling.

He rolled his eyes as though her pain was like a performance he didn't have time for. "Yes, it shouldn't be new to you."

"Really? Cheating shouldn't be new to me?" she asked again.

"Get a hold of yourself, Jemima. And don't make a fuss about this. Ryan loves me and I feel the same way, you can't tell me to ignore my feelings just because you were pathetic to keep him!" Evelyn's words landed like a blow.

Jemima could remember the countless times she'd defended Even going to jail to cover for her mistakes.

"Eve, we've been best friends for five years even before he came into the picture." She yelled.

"So what?!" Evelyn snapped back.

"You never valued his sexual needs and I did, you don't have to make it a big deal just because you weren't ready to open your legs for him every time." She said.. "And besides he said you weren't beautiful for him. I mean we both know you're ugly."

Jemima stared at Ryan, hoping he'd at least lie to her face that he didn't say that.

"Ryan, tell me it's not true?" She demanded, staring into his eyes. Hoping to see him shake his head and say "No, you know I'd never say something like that."

He chuckled darkly, his voice hollow.

"It's true. You never gave me what I wanted, so why are you surprised?" He said like the last two years of us meant nothing to him.

"Despite everything I have done for you," she poked her index finger at him. "You have the audacity to tell me all this! Ryan, I paid your bills, rent, last month I was fired because of you and after all these sacrifices, you loved her!"

"Yes I loved her, you know why?!" He snapped, his breath warm against Evelyn's skin. "Because she's the prettiest woman I've ever seen. Have you ever looked at your reflection? You're worthless, Jemima. And your ugly face makes me want to puke."

Evelyn grinned,as if she's been waiting for this day and finally it's happening.

"You paid his bills, his rent, yes who hasn't done that before? He deserves someone pretty, not a worthless bitch like you." She spatted.

She moved back a bit, tears spilling down her eyes weakly. Their cruel words echoed in her head. Her best friend of five years and her boyfriend of two years. It was too much for her to bear.

Ryan's tone hardened, with finality"And if you think I owe you any explanation,I never asked you to do all what you did for me, you were so desperate for love and attention, and you decided to play the martyr. That was your choice, Jemima."

She staggered. He used her. Her chest rose and fell in an uneven gasps. His words cut deeply inside her. She was never desperate for love and affection. She just showed him, she loved him too much.

He grabbed her hands, and she was too numb to resist.

"We're done, Jemima," he said before slamming the door loudly on her face.

Just like that, he discarded her like a trash. Two years relationship, five years friendship, all gone.

The cold air slapped Jemima's face when she finally made it outside. Night had already fallen, Chicago's street was alive with distant chatter, honking cars, glowing neon lights. But to her it was silent and empty.

Each step felt heavier than the last, her body trembling from the weight of everything she'd just heard.

Ugly. Worthless. And she's nothing but a credit card to him.

She crossed the street without even looking. A black sleek pulled to a sharp stop in front of her. The tires screeched and the burnt rubber filled the night air.

She froze blinking through her tears at the blinding lights. A tall figure stepped out of the car, his presence commanding even from a distance. His shadow stretched across the street light as he moved towards her.

"Are you okay?"

Her lips parted but no words came. The silver box slipped from her fingers clattering on the pavement. And just before darkness swallowed her whole, she saw the stranger's eyes—dark and terrifyingly familiar.

Her boss–-Khalid Greyson

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