The night before the dance competition, my boyfriend locked me in his car under the blazing summer sun—just to ensure Melinda Qualls could win the championship.
“Xandra, you’ll have plenty of chances in the future,” he said, his voice calm and unbothered. “What’s wrong with letting her have the title this time?”
Dehydrated and on the brink of collapse, I barely managed to drag myself to the venue. When I arrived, half-dead from heatstroke, the sight that greeted me was a dagger to my heart: my boyfriend dancing passionately with Melinda.
When I tried to go on stage, he stopped me—not with words, but by breaking my leg.
“Xandra,” he pleaded afterward, as if his actions could somehow be justified, “forgive me this time. I’ll make it up to you later. Melinda saved my mom’s life—I have to repay her.”
On what should have been the happiest day of my life, our wedding day, I was instead alone in a hospital room, undergoing an abortion. The moment he lifted his bride into his arms, he didn’t find me waiting. Instead, there was a small bottle containing the remains of our unborn child. Beneath it lay a note:
[A parting of the ways—may we each find our own happiness]
***
“Zayn, please… don’t… don’t break my legs…”
Backstage at the competition, I trembled in fear, my body pressed into a corner as Zayn’s cold, merciless eyes bore into me.
I had fought to get here, barely surviving the torment I’d endured, only to face his wrath. His anger burned through me like fire, erasing any hope of comfort.
“Xandra,” he growled, “why don’t you ever listen to me? Do you have any idea how important this competition is to Melinda?”
Tears spilled down my cheeks as his words struck me. A genius, he called me—a genius who could win championships effortlessly. So what if I gave up this chance? What did it matter?
But he didn’t understand. This wasn’t just a competition. The winner would become the principal of the dance troupe and lead international tours. It was my lifelong dream to showcase our classical dance to the world, a dream my grandmother had cherished for me before she passed.
For years, I poured everything into this dream—every grueling practice session, every drop of sweat and blood. My feet bled from endless rehearsals, my wounds reopening time and again. Each pair of dance shoes I wore bore the stains of my sacrifices.
And now, with all that effort behind me, they expected me to simply step aside.
Zayn took another step toward me, a golf club gripped tightly in his hand. My heart pounded as the suffocating memories came rushing back—the heat of that car, the wilderness where he had abandoned me, my desperate cries for help that echoed into emptiness.
I clenched my fists, the pain of those moments mixing with my fury. My voice trembled as I finally spoke, my words laced with anguish.
“Zayn, you promised to love and protect me for the rest of our lives. How could you be so cruel? Dancing is my dream—my everything! Would you really break my wings for Melinda?”. Desperate and humiliated, I tore free from the bodyguard’s grasp and fell to my knees before him.
“Please, Zayn,” I begged, tears streaming down my face. “Let me compete. Just this once.”
For a fleeting moment, his expression softened. His hand reached out, resting gently on my head and hope flickered in my chest. Maybe—just maybe—he would let me have this one chance.
But then his phone buzzed, the shrill ringtone cutting through the silence. He answered the video call and Melinda’s tear-streaked face appeared on the screen. She stood on the rooftop of an eighteen-story building, her eyes swollen and red.
“Zayn,” she said, her voice trembling, “being the chief dancer has always been my dream. But as long as Xandra is here, I’ll always be second best…”
