Chapter 3He Cheated With My Best Friend

My hands trembled as I opened Zoey's post.

Evan had his arms around her as they leaned against the art wall on campus, their faces so close that they were almost kissing.

The diamond ring Evan threw on the ground earlier was now sitting on Zoey's ring finger.

Right behind them was a huge poster with my face on it, celebrating me as one of the conservatory's top students.

Her caption read, [After waiting all this time, I finally got the love I deserved.]

Seeing my own face in the background of their relationship announcement made my stomach turn.

I couldn't help myself. I left a comment.

[You two deserve each other. What a joke.]

The replies started coming in almost immediately.

[Wait, what happened?]

[Girl... Did they cheat on you?]

[No way. Weren't you three literally best friends?]

I liked every comment calling them out.

A second later, I accidentally picked up a call from Evan.

His voice was tight with anger.

"Seriously, Kaitlyn? Professors are already messaging Zoey, asking what happened. Did you really have to air all of this out online?"

I could hear Zoey crying in the background before she took the phone.

"Kaitlyn, I'm sorry! I swear we never meant for any of this to happen. When you suddenly stopped talking to us, we freaked out and did something stupid. I'll take the post down right now. Just please tell everyone it was all a misunderstanding."

I let out a bitter laugh.

"Wow, Zoey. So you didn't mean for any of this to happen. You just accidentally slept with my boyfriend. And I guess posing with him in front of my picture to announce your relationship was an accident, too."

The other end of the line went completely silent.

Evan, who was furious just seconds ago, didn't say anything for a long moment. Then he sighed.

"Kaitlyn, since you already know, there's no point pretending anymore. So that's what you've been so upset about this whole time."

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was almost dismissive.

"What happened between Zoey and me was a mistake. That's all. We both still care about you. If it bothers you that much, we'll end it. I'll explain everything when I get back."

He hung up before I could say another word.

I stood there staring at my phone, too stunned to even process what I had just heard.

Just like that, he brushed off his betrayal as one stupid mistake and made me sound unreasonable for being hurt.

But the Evan I remembered was the 16-year-old boy who once stepped between me and a group of guys in an alley and got stabbed protecting me.

At 18, when college threatened to take us to opposite sides of the country, he gave up his own dream without a second thought and followed me to my city.

How did that passionate, devoted boy become someone so cold and selfish?

I could accept that his feelings changed. I could even accept that he fell for someone else.

What I couldn't accept was how casually he treated cheating, like it was no more serious than grabbing dinner or having a drink.

For the next month, I kept my phone off and stayed home, throwing myself into my thesis.

Then one evening, the doorbell rang.

Evan was standing outside with several bags of groceries, while Zoey lingered behind him with red, swollen eyes.

I started to close the door, but Evan caught it with one hand.

"I'm cooking tonight, Kaitlyn. I'll make some of your favorites. The three of us need to sit down and talk."

I looked at the two of them, a mess of emotions twisting inside me.

I stepped aside and let them in.

Fine.

The three of us had made plenty of good memories in this apartment once. Maybe it was only fitting that this was where everything ended.