Sophia hummed a soft tune as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, her heart lighter than it had been in weeks.

The envelope clutched tightly in her hands held the key to her mother's second chance at life—the money for the surgery. Relief and excitement coursed through her veins.

Finally… everything will be okay

She reached her door and turned the knob, stepping inside.

Something felt… off.

The apartment was quiet. Too quiet. The air was thick, suffocating, like the calm before a storm.

Tina sat stiffly on the couch, arms crossed over her chest, her sharp gaze drilling into Sophia. Alex stood near the window, his back rigid, fists clenched at his sides.

A cold wave of unease washed over her.

“Hey,” she said cautiously, shutting the door behind her. “What’s wrong?”

No response.

Her heartbeat quickened.

Then, without a word, Alex grabbed his phone and slammed it onto the table. The screen lit up, showing a paused video.

Sophia’s stomach clenched.

“What is this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Alex’s jaw tightened. “Watch it.”

Something in his tone sent ice crawling up her spine.

With shaky hands, she picked up the phone and pressed play.

Her world shattered in an instant.

The screen filled with her—bare, tangled in silky sheets, body arched against Julian’s. The raw sounds of their passion echoed in the silence of the room. Moans. Whispers. Skin against skin.

Sophia felt like she was falling.

Her vision blurred as the weight of realization crashed down on her.

Her private moment. Exposed. Violated.

Her breath hitched, chest rising and falling in uneven pants.

A sickening chill ran through her bones as she forced herself to look up.

Tina was smirking.

Alex’s face twisted with disgust.

Sophia’s hands trembled. “Where… did you get this?” Her voice cracked, barely able to push the words out.

Tina leaned back, looking pleased with herself. “Savi recorded it.”

Her blood ran cold.

“Savi?” The name tasted bitter on her tongue. “She—she was there?”

Tina let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, honey. She was there. Watching. Waiting.”

Sophia’s knees threatened to give out.

“But why?” she whispered, throat tight with betrayal.

Tina’s smirk grew crueler. “Because I told her to.”

A punch to the gut wouldn’t have hurt more.

Sophia’s pulse pounded in her ears. She took a step back, gripping the envelope in her hands like a lifeline.

“You set me up?” The words barely escaped her lips.

Tina shrugged. “You make it sound so dramatic.”

Sophia’s breathing turned shallow. “You—” Her voice cracked. “You paid Savi to do this to me?, but Tina you are my best friend”

Tina’s eyes gleamed with something twisted. “Of course. Everyone has a price, Sophia. Including you.”

Sophia clenched her fists. “Why did you do this to me?” Her voice shook with pain and fury.

Tina stood up slowly, deliberately, her smile never faltering.

“Because,” she said, stepping closer, “you don’t deserve him.”

Sophia’s breath caught.

Alex hadn’t said a word. Hadn’t moved.

But the way he was looking at her… It was like he didn’t even recognize her.

Her heart squeezed painfully.

“Tina,” she rasped, “this… this is sick. You set me up to break us apart?”

Tina tilted her head. “Break you apart?” She chuckled darkly. “No, Sophia. You did that yourself.”

Her stomach twisted violently.

“No, but you encouraged……,” she whispered, already weak and out of words.

Alex’s voice sliced through the room. “Don’t.”

Her eyes snapped to him.

His gaze burned with something venomous.

“Don’t lie,” he said coldly. “Don’t pretend”.

Tears welled in her eyes. “Alex, I—”

“You disgust me.”

The words hit harder than a slap.

Sophia gasped softly, her chest tightening.

“I trusted you,” Alex seethed, fists clenched. “I loved you, Sophia. And you—” His voice broke. “You slept with another man for money”

She sucked in a sharp breath, a sob catching in her throat.

Alex took a step closer, his jaw set in anger. “And the worst part? You didn’t even have the decency to tell me”

Her lips trembled. “It wasn’t like that, my mother…..”.

“Then what was it like?” he shouted.

Sophia flinched. “I—”

Alex let out a bitter laugh. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Because the woman I thought I loved? She's dead to me.”

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

She turned to Tina, eyes blazing. “You did all this because you wanted him?”

Tina’s smirk returned. “And now, he knows exactly the kind of whore you are.”

The sharp sound echoed through the apartment.

Tina’s head whipped to the side, her mouth slightly open in shock.

For a moment, everything stood still.

Then, Tina let out a soft, breathless laugh. “Oh, Sophia… You just made this even easier for me.”

Sophia’s world was already crumbling, but Tina wasn’t finished yet.

The smirk on her so-called best friend’s face sent a wave of nausea through her.

Sophia’s voice came out in a broken whisper. “What did I ever do to you to deserve this?”

Tina tilted her head, her expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a dark chuckle left her lips.

“Oh, Sophia…” She stepped forward, eyes gleaming with something cruel. “You want to know what you did?”

Sophia swallowed hard, her pulse thundering in her ears.

Tina leaned in, her voice dropping into a venomous whisper. “I’ll tell you… but after I do this”

Before Sophia could react, Tina’s hands snatched the thick envelope from her grip.

“No!” Sophia gasped, reaching for it, but her fingers barely grazed the edge before Tina yanked it away.

A triumphant laugh spilled from Tina’s lips as she turned toward Alex. Without hesitation, she thrust the envelope into his chest.

“This,” she declared, her voice dripping with mockery, “belongs to Alex… for all the money he’s wasted on you.”

Sophia’s breath hitched.

Alex didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.

His silence was deafening.

Sophia’s trembling hands balled into fists as she tried to snatch the money back, but her limbs felt weak—too weak. Betrayal clung to her like a vice, suffocating her, draining her strength.

Tina laughed.

“Aww, what’s wrong, Sophia? Can’t fight back?” She clutched the envelope tighter, waving it in front of her face. “This hurts, doesn’t it? Watching everything slip away? Feeling completely powerless?”

Sophia’s vision blurred with unshed tears.

Her mother's surgery.

That money was everything.

With a choked sob, she tried again, her hands trembling as she reached out. “Please… Tina, don’t do this.”

Tina’s expression hardened. “Don’t beg. You don’t get to beg after what you did to me.”

Sophia’s breath stilled.

Her voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”

Tina’s fingers clenched around the money, her knuckles turning white.

She exhaled sharply and took a step closer, her face twisted in something raw, something painful.

“You really don’t know, do you?” Her voice was eerily calm. “Do you want to know why I did this to you?”

Sophia’s throat tightened.

Tina’s lips curled into a sneer. “You stole my man from me.”

Sophia’s mouth parted, words failing her.

Tina tilted her head, watching her reaction with cruel amusement. “Let me remind you…” She stepped even closer, lowering her voice into something lethal.

“Let me remind you what you did”

Flashback.

Everything blurred as Sophia’s mind was pulled into the past—back to a moment she never thought would come back to haunt her.

A moment that changed everything.