My Fiance Said Betrayal Was Mutual Revenge Chapter 01

My Fiance Said Betrayal Was Mutual Revenge Chapter 01

The day my boyfriend Kyler Harlan decided to study abroad, he dropped it on me like it was nothing. “Your best friend? I was the one who took her virginity.”

I stared at him, unable to process the words. He just shrugged. “It wasn’t cheating. It was mutual revenge.”

“The night we turned eighteen, she ran her mouth again. I was wasted. I snapped. Threw her down on the bed.” A grin flickered across his face, like he was savoring the memory. “You called me seven times that night. So I fucked her seven times.”

“Next day in gym class, she was bleeding. You thought she just got her period. That was from me.” He leaned back, totally casual. “She acts all hard, but she’s soft as hell. She was freaking out you’d find out. Crying, begging me to keep my mouth shut.”

Then, without a shred of guilt, he pulled out his phone and voice-messaged my best friend. “I couldn’t help it. I told her the truth. Guess I lose. French maid costume, right? Fine. I’ll wear it for you.”

My blood turned to ice.

Just minutes ago, my best friend Brynn Reed had asked me, all casual, what I’d do if Kyler ever cheated. I thought she was just being jealous again. So I’d played along. “If I lose him, I still have you.”

Kyler pinched my cheek, like he was sure I’d never walk away. “Cheer up. You’re still our favorite person. Three days. Then I’m taking Brynn with me to study abroad. You’ll come see us off, right?”

***

It felt like my heart had been ripped open, the wind cutting straight through.

Brynn was my best friend. When I was eight, I was kidnapped. She grabbed onto that car door and held on, her body dragged for a full mile, until she got me out. After surviving that together, we became inseparable.

I never imagined that the girl who fought with Kyler nonstop, who called him every name in the book, would be the one to betray me.

It took me a long time to find my voice. When I did, it came out scraped raw. “How long has this been going on?”

“Does it matter?” Kyler leaned back, utterly indifferent. “I hated her at first. Hated how she stole you from me. But then she stopped giving me shit all the time, and honestly? I missed it. Don’t overthink this. I’m still keeping my promise. I’ll go do my thing overseas, finish school, then come back and marry you.”

The look on his face, like he was still in the honeymoon phase, twisted the knife deeper. My whole body shook. I was about to explode when Brynn rushed in, shoved Kyler hard away from me, and grabbed my hands, her grip desperate.

Her voice trembled. “Elowen, please don’t hate me. Just say the word and I won’t go with Ky.”

I forced a smile. It probably looked worse than crying. Ky. She called him Ky.

Kyler had long forgotten. The night his parents were murdered by a rival family, it was my dad who dove into that river without hesitation and pulled him out. Kyler survived. My father drowned.

I was still drowning in grief myself, but I shoved it down and helped him claw his way out of his clinical depression, step by step. Growing up, Kyler said one thing to me more than anything else. “Elowen, I owe you my life. I’ll spend the rest of mine taking care of you.”

Then Brynn came along, and the two of them always fought over me like I was a possession. “Elowen’s mine! You’re just the side chick!”

“Too bad you’re a girl. As long as I’m here, you don’t stand a chance!”

I was naive enough to think I was the luckiest person alive. Now the two people who made me feel that way had destroyed me.

Before I could say anything, Kyler’s face darkened. “You even think about bailing on me, I’ll knock you out and carry you onto that plane myself.” Watching him care so much about someone else sent a fresh wave of pain through my chest.

I remembered all the times he’d openly mess with Brynn. After every class, the hallway filled with their back-and-forth, flirting disguised as fighting. I tried to shut it down so many times.

Kyler always scowled and swore, “With that attitude? I’d have to be blind to fall for her!” And Brynn would wrap her arms around me and scoff, “Rich playboys? They make me sick.”

Once, during a school sports event, I wiped out. On my way to get patched up at the nurse’s office, I saw them coming out of the equipment room.

Kyler’s shirt hung open. Marks covered his chest. Brynn’s lips were so swollen they looked bruised. They said they’d been stung by bees. I believed them. I panicked and limped around, dabbing iodine on both of them.

Now the memories hooked into my heart like barbs and pulled. They’d been at it all along.

My nails dug so deep into my palms they nearly broke skin. I couldn’t let it go. I forced back the tears.

“Brynn, you knew how much I loved him. How could you do this to me? And Kyler—have you forgotten how my father died? Both of you. After everything. Aren’t you afraid of what’s coming for you?”

“Elowen.” Kyler sighed and cupped my face in his hands, his voice syrupy. “I told you. I’m going to marry you. Just wait for us. Three years.” I stared at the soft look in his eyes. My blood had gone completely cold.

Brynn jumped in, her voice uncertain, desperate. “Elowen, don’t worry. I’ll call you every single day while we’re gone. You can keep tabs on me the whole time.” I nodded. A small, hollow nod.

They both exhaled, relief washing over their faces. Then, right in front of me, they started joking around again. “See? I told you Elowen’s not as petty as you!”

“Oh, so you’re the generous one now? Generous Vee, is that it?” They were too busy laughing to notice me looking down at my phone, typing out a message.