When I stepped back into the apartment that afternoon, the silence greeted me immediately. The place felt empty, untouched—Kael still hadn’t returned.
“As expected,” I murmured quietly to myself.
He was most likely still at the ER with Selara—whether because he was genuinely worried or because she had found yet another way to keep him by her side, making sure he had no reason to come back to me.
I let out a tired breath, too drained to even feel angry anymore. Dropping onto the couch, I reached for the book I had been reading, hoping to distract myself for a while—but then something on the coffee table caught my attention.
Kael’s phone.
It lay there carelessly, left behind in his hurry to rush Selara to the hospital.
I gave a soft, humorless scoff. Kael never went anywhere without his phone. The fact that he had forgotten it now only proved one thing—Selara mattered more to him than anything else, even the calls or messages he might miss.
I leaned back and tried to focus on my book, but the constant vibration of his phone buzzing against the table made it impossible to ignore.
With a sigh of irritation, I reached over and picked it up, my fingers hovering over the screen. Message after message kept pouring in, the notifications stacking up without pause.
I had no intention of snooping. I only meant to silence the noise.
But then I saw the sender.
It was his friends’ group chat—the same pack of people he had gone with to Bali.
My chest tightened. Without thinking further, I unlocked the phone. The password was still the same—our anniversary.
“We don’t have anything to hide from each other,” Kael had once said with a lazy grin when I had hesitated to touch his phone in the past. Back then, I had believed him without question.
That naïve trust died that day. I was done living under his carefully crafted lies.
I scrolled through the messages, my eyes racing over every word—until one message made my stomach drop.
[Damn, that Bali trip was wild. Can’t believe Kael almost didn’t go because of that clingy girlfriend.]
[LMAO, imagine him having to use the ‘client meeting’ excuse just so he could vacation with us.]
[Kael, you’re a legend. You should give her a trophy—‘Most Gullible Girlfriend of the Year.’]
My breath caught. Even Selara, who was supposed to be injured at the ER, joined in.
[Nah, call it ‘Most Pathetic Girlfriend.’]
[I think Selara deserves an award instead. Truth or Dare was her idea, right?]
Selara replied again, shameless as ever.
[Well, he is my childhood sweetheart. What’s a little fun between us?]
[Careful, babe. Railey might suddenly go feral and attack you.]
[Nah, even if she finds out, she’ll just cry for a bit, sulk for a few days, and then forgive Kael like always. He’s trained her well.]
[Damn… that’s actually kind of sad.]
Their laughter seemed to echo in my ears even through the silent screen.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
What hurt the most wasn’t just their mockery—it was how certain they all were that I would stay, that I would forgive him again like I always had.
The chat wasn’t the only thing that made my chest ache. The photos they shared hurt just as much.
In nearly every picture, Selara was pressed close to Kael—leaning into him, laughing beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as if she had every right to be there.
In one photo, she held a marker and doodled all over Kael’s sleeping face while his friends snapped pictures and filled the chat with laughing emojis, praising how cute they looked together—like the perfect couple.
And me?
The real girlfriend?
I was nothing but a joke to them.
And Kael never once spoke up for me.
Not even once.
A moment later, my own phone buzzed in my hand.
A new message appeared on my screen.
[Hi, are you still accepting freelance photography jobs? I’d like to book you for an event.]
I blinked in surprise.
Photography had always been my passion. I had taken Fine Arts in college, and I used to accept freelance shoots to build my portfolio.
But over the past few months, I had stopped to focus on finishing my degree.
Curious, I checked my inbox—and found several more inquiries waiting.
Something shifted inside me then. A quiet, firm resolve settled deep in my chest.
If Kael could pour his time and attention into everything else, then I would do the same.
I would bury myself in my work.
If he had his distractions, I would have mine.
---
A week passed in a blur, and during that time, I barely saw Kael at all.
Not because I was avoiding him—but because I was too busy to even think about him anymore. My schedule filled quickly with one event after another, and my camera became both my shield and my escape from everything I no longer wanted to face.
I stopped waiting for him to come home. I stopped checking whether he had eaten, whether he had slept, or whether he was still spending all his time with Selara.
None of it mattered to me anymore.
But that night, when I returned from another long shoot, I found him waiting.
Kael sat right outside the apartment door, arms crossed, looking like he had been there for quite some time.
The moment I opened the door, his gaze snapped to mine.
“So, are you finally done avoiding me?” he said with a sharp, mocking edge.
I didn’t even look at him as I stepped inside and slipped off my shoes. “I’m not avoiding you.”
“Then explain why you leave early in the morning and only come back when I’m already asleep,” he demanded.
“Because I’ve been busy,” I answered simply as I walked past him.
But before I could reach my room, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
“Fine. If you’re still upset because I couldn’t take you to the embassy last week, just say it,” he snapped. “Selara was in the hospital, and both her parents were away. What did you expect me to do? Ignore her?”
I turned to face him, my expression calm and distant. “I don’t know, Kael. People have different priorities. Mine was my passport. If I had waited for you, it would have expired, wouldn’t it?”
My voice came out flat, almost emotionless.
His fingers tightened around my wrist. “You always have time to argue with me, but don’t you realize I’ve been exhausted too? I’ve been working and taking care of Selara at the same time.”
Then his tone sharpened further.
“The least you could do is welcome me when I get home, cook me breakfast, or prepare something before I leave for work. Is that really so difficult?”
I went still.
So that was the truth.
He had asked me to live with him not because he wanted to build a life with me—but because he wanted someone at home waiting for him while he spent his days with Selara.
For the first time, I raised my voice.
“Didn’t I already tell you I’m busy too?”
Kael let out an annoyed breath and released my hand. “Fine. Let’s just drop what happened before. Tomorrow, get ready. We’re attending Selara’s birthday party.”
I let out a short, incredulous laugh and crossed my arms. “She just got out of the hospital and she’s already throwing a birthday party? That’s impressive.”
“It’s also a celebration for her recovery,” he corrected, as if that justified everything. Then he frowned. “Railey, you really hate Selara, don’t you? You always act like this when it’s about her.”
I scoffed. “I don’t hate her. I just don’t like her. There’s a difference.” I turned away. “Go by yourself. I already have plans tomorrow.”
Without waiting for his response, I walked into my room and shut the door firmly behind me.
But the irony of everything hit me the very next morning.
Because when I arrived at my client’s event, camera in hand, I realized that my client… was Selara.
It turned out she had booked me through her butler, which meant I had unknowingly accepted a job for her birthday celebration.
And so there I was, forced to do my job while watching her cling to Kael in front of everyone.
She fed him the first slice of cake, leaning in to press a kiss against his cheek as she laughed sweetly.
Around them, their friends whispered and smirked in my direction.
“Isn’t that Kael’s girlfriend?”
“Wow, look at her. So professional. Watching her boyfriend get kissed by another girl and still taking their photos like nothing’s wrong.”
