The hallway was quiet when Ellie stepped inside, the soft thud of her heels echoing against the marble floors. A file of contracts was tucked under one arm, proposals for the engagement dinner venue, the floral company, the brand of champagne they'd toast with.
Everything was set.
Everything was perfect.
Or at least, efficient.
She didn't love Jake.
And he didn't love her.
But the merger between their families' companies needed smoothing, and marriage was the sharpest tool in the box.
It was supposed to be simple.
She set the file down on the hallway table, shrugging off her coat. The apartment still smelled like his cologne, a sleek, cold scent that clung to leather and glass.
But something was off.
There were two wine glasses on the kitchen counter.A silk scarf draped over the arm of the sofa, not hers and a single stiletto heel, red and glossy, abandoned like a clue.
Her stomach sank. Not with heartbreak, there was none of that. But with something worse: dread, coiling in her gut like it had before, back when she was younger, and her sister used to take everything she touched.
Ellie moved through the apartment slowly, calmly, until she heard the laugh.
That laugh.
High. Breathless. Familiar.
She stopped outside the bedroom door. It was cracked open just enough. She didn't need to look, but she did.
Jake was shirtless, lying on the sheets. Her sister, Lily, was on top of him, her laughter soft and breathless, the kind she saved for when she wanted to feel admired.
Ellie didn't flinch. She didn't gasp. She simply stood there, her nails pressing crescents into the palm of her hand.
Familiar hollowness settled over her. The kind that didn't scream or shatter, it just closed.
Quietly.
Ellie walked away without a sound.
She didn't scream. She didn't cry. She didn't even slam the door.
By the time she reached the elevator, her heart wasn't pounding. It was quiet. Too quiet.
She pressed the button for the lobby and caught her reflection in the mirrored walls. Her lipstick was still perfect. Not a strand of hair out of place.
But something in her eyes had shifted.
"I always let her win," she whispered to herself.
"Not this time."