The city lights blurred into streaks of red and gold through the windshield, but Eliana saw none of it.
She sat in her car, parked in the shadows across the street from Ethan's building. Her hands were clamped around the steering wheel, her knuckles white. She wasn't crying. The time for tears was over.
She replayed the conversation in her head, again and again, branding every syllable onto her memory. The giggles, the condescension, the cold-blooded planning. They thought she was a fool. Good. Fools were underestimated.
Her phone buzzed, lighting up the dark interior of the car. A message from Ethan.
"Baby, where are you? I have a surprise for you tonight." Followed by a kiss emoji.
A violent wave of nausea churned in her stomach. She took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the bile down. Calm. She had to be calm. She had to be the loving, trusting girlfriend they expected her to be.
Her thumbs moved over the screen, composing a reply.
"Honey, I'm just putting the finishing touches on my designs. I'll be done soon. I miss you too."
She tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, next to the black portfolio. The bait.
She started the engine and pulled away from the curb, driving not home, but to her small, rented studio space downtown. An idea was taking shape in her mind, cold and sharp as a shard of glass. They wanted her portfolio? She would give them one. A very special one.
The next day, she met Ethan for coffee. She had smudged dark eyeshadow under her eyes, a perfect imitation of exhaustion. She slumped in her chair, resting her head in her hand.
Ethan took the bait immediately. "You look tired, El. Were you up all night working?" His voice was a mask of concern, but his eyes, she now saw, held a flicker of greedy impatience.
"I just want it to be perfect," she murmured, pretending to be hesitant. "This collection... it's everything to me. But... I want to share it with you."
His face lit up with a triumphant smile he tried to hide behind a sip of coffee. "Of course, baby. I'm so proud of you." He was convinced. She was still his naive, little fool.
Later that afternoon, she watched from a distance as Ethan and a beautifully dressed Ashley left his apartment. Eliana had told him she had a meeting with a gem supplier across town. A perfect alibi.
She stayed a few car lengths behind their taxi, her heart a cold, heavy stone in her chest as she saw it turn in the direction of City Hall.
The pain was a dull, physical ache, but it only strengthened her resolve. She parked her car, pulled on a pair of oversized sunglasses and a simple baseball cap, and slipped inside the grand, marble building.
It was easy to find them. They were standing at the marriage license counter, laughing as Ashley flashed a diamond ring on her left hand. A ring Eliana had never seen before.
She found a secluded spot behind a large pillar. Her hands were perfectly steady as she lifted her phone. She zoomed in, capturing their smiling faces, the documents they signed, the clerk handing them the official certificate. Click. Click. Click. Each photo was a nail in their coffin.
She uploaded the images to a secure, encrypted cloud server. The first piece of hard evidence.
But she wasn't done. She waited in a corridor she knew they would have to pass through to exit. She timed it perfectly, stepping out from behind a corner just as they approached, her phone already recording in her pocket.
"Ethan? Ashley?" she said, her voice a pitch-perfect blend of surprise and confusion. "What are you guys doing here?"
Their smiles vanished, replaced by sheer panic. Their faces went pale.
"Eliana!" Ethan stammered, grabbing Ashley's hand and pulling it behind his back. "We, uh, a friend of Ashley's is getting married. We're just here to help out."
"Oh, how lovely!" Eliana beamed, playing the part of the clueless girlfriend. "Well, please send them my congratulations." She let the lie hang in the air for a moment before turning the conversation. "Ethan, honey, I finished the portfolio. I can bring it over tonight. I'm sure it could really help Ashley with her own work."
The relief on their faces was immediate and overwhelming. They thought they had dodged a bullet. They thought the prize was within their grasp.
"That's great, baby! That's amazing," Ethan said, his smile returning, greasy and false.
"Yes, thank you, sister," Ashley added, her voice dripping with fake sweetness.
Eliana kept the smile plastered on her face as she said her goodbyes. The second she turned the corner, it dropped. Her expression became a mask of ice.
She stopped the recording. She now had them on camera, and on audio. Lying. Cheating. And admitting they wanted her work.
She had them right where she wanted them.
