“Hey, love… why don’t we slip upstairs instead and make love there—”
Mason—no, the man pretending to be Ethan—reached for my waist again.
I reacted instantly, shoving him back so hard he staggered a step.
My pulse was pounding in my ears. “Stop it, Mason. Stay away from me!”
Music kept playing around us, loud and cheerful, but everything else faded until it felt like only the two of us existed in that moment.
He blinked, eyes widening in a carefully exaggerated look of hurt. “Clara… sweetheart, what are you talking about?” His voice wavered as if he were wounded. “I’m Ethan. Your husband. Why are you suddenly bringing Mason up?”
He even pressed a hand to his chest like I’d physically hurt him. It was all an act. Every expression, every breath—fabricated.
A few guests slowed their dancing. Some turned their heads. Drinks hovered mid-air.
“Did you miss him?” Mason—still acting as Ethan—lowered his voice, but not enough. He wanted them to hear. “Is that it? You saw him earlier and now you’re confused again?”
“Don’t twist my words,” I spat.
He stepped closer.
I stepped back.
“Clara,” he said softly, voice trembling just right to sound hurt, “I’m trying here. I really am. But you’re treating me like a stranger… just because Mason showed up? Do you… do you like him? Are you regretting—”
“Because you are,” I snapped.
His expression flickered—something dark flashed for a split second—but it vanished just as quickly behind another mask. “What did you just say?”
I swallowed hard, forcing the words out even as my hands shook.
“I said you are not Ethan,” I said louder, clearer. “You’re Mason. Stop lying to me.”
The crowd gasped.
Everything seemed to freeze, like the entire garden had lost its breath.
Then another figure approached.
The real Ethan—currently wearing Mason’s identity—walked through the stunned silence with calm steps, shoulders straight, expression controlled. Like none of this chaos could touch him.
“Clara,” he said carefully, “what’s going on here?”
Before I could answer, Chloe’s sharp laugh sliced through the air.
“Oh my God,” she scoffed, stepping in beside him. “You’re still hung up on my fiancé, aren’t you?”
I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
She smiled like she already knew she’d won. “Don’t act innocent. Everyone knows you never got over Mason… or maybe you regret choosing Ethan. You told me yourself you were torn between them back then. And now that Mason is alive and with me, you’re losing it.”
“That’s not—”
“Oh please,” she cut in, laughing. “You can’t even tell them apart. Or is it because you were always obsessed with Mason anyway?”
“I wasn’t— I never—”
The man everyone thought was Ethan—still pretending—raised a hand sharply.
“Enough,” he said, exhaling like he was tired of me. “Clara, stop this.”
“I’m telling the truth—”
“Just stop,” he said, shaking his head like I was embarrassing him. “Really. Just stop. You rejected me once, didn’t you? And now I’m happy, you decide to ruin everything at your own birthday party just to get attention?”
That hit like a blade.
I could feel it in my chest, in my throat, in the way the air suddenly refused to go in.
The whispers started. The stares. The judgment.
I couldn’t breathe.
Without another word, I turned and walked away—fast, blind, burning inside. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just needed out. Away from eyes. Away from voices. Away from them.
I pushed into the nearest room—my room—and locked the door with shaking fingers.
My whole body trembled.
But I felt him before I even saw him.
Ethan.
The real one.
He entered quietly, closed the door behind him, and leaned back against it like the night had drained everything out of him.
“Clara…” he sighed, rubbing his temple. “Are you seriously trying to destroy your own birthday celebration?”
I stared at him like I didn’t recognize him anymore. Or maybe I did—that was the problem.
“You’re making a scene,” he continued. “Dad is on his way. If he hears what you said… if he finds out you confused me with Mason—do you know what that means? He’s always wanted you to be my wife. You’re hurting everything—hurting me—why are you doing this?”
“Why?” My voice broke. “Why did you lie to me, Ethan? Why did you have to pretend—”
A sudden scream pierced the night from outside.
Chloe.
We both froze.
But Ethan didn’t hesitate.
Not even for a second.
He didn’t look at me.
Didn’t finish his sentence.
Didn’t explain.
Didn’t choose me.
He just ran.
Out the door. Straight toward her.
Like he’d been waiting for that moment all night.
The door slammed shut behind him.
And the silence that followed felt endless.
I stood there completely still, like my body had forgotten how to move. Then my knees gave out and I sank onto the edge of the bed, both hands pressing against my stomach as if I could hold myself together.
“I’m sorry, baby…” I whispered through tears that burned as they fell. “I don’t think you should come into a world like this.”
Something inside me shattered quietly, completely.
Because I finally understood what kind of world I was in.
One where truth could be rewritten.
Where love could be stolen, swapped, disguised.
Where I could be left mid-breath… for someone else.
I forced myself to move.
Reaching for my phone, I wiped my face with trembling hands.
There was only one thing left I could still decide.
I dialed.
One ring.
Two.
Then someone picked up.
“Good evening,” a calm voice said. “Attorney Delgado’ office.”
My voice shook, but I didn’t stop it.
“This is Clara Reyes,” I said. “I want to file for divorce.”
