Elara’s POV

I stood before the balloons and the cake, and memories of the last night I spent with Kyle ran through my head. A grin spread across my face. I’d promised to throw him a surprise birthday party this year, and he had no idea I’d planned something so big.

Lyra, my best friend, stood beside me, cutting ribbons and humming softly. “He’s never going to see this coming,” she voiced—soothingly as her scissors snipped through a ribbon.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I wiped my hands on my jeans and pulled it out. For a second, I thought it might be a prank, but it wasn’t. It was a message from the shopping complex, the one I applied to two weeks ago. They wanted me to start tomorrow and asked that I come today to collect my call-up letter.

My chest tightened. I froze, then laughed quietly to myself. Selene, who sat on the kitchen counter with a roll of streamers, looked up. “You okay?” she asked, checking her lipstick in the reflection of her phone screen.

“I got it,” I said, holding my phone out so she could read the message. “They said I should come today.”

Selene hopped down. “Today? Girl, that’s fast! That’s amazing.”

We were supposed to finish decorating the place before I left. The living room looked like a storm of ribbons and tissue paper. Cupcakes waited in their box for frosting. I’d picked red and gold decorations—his favorite colors. Tonight was supposed to be small but perfect: his friends, cheap pizza, loud laughter, and me. But now, I have a job waiting.

“We can finish in an hour,” I said.

We threw a blanket over the cupcakes, gathered the streamers, and packed everything into my ford vehicle car.

I realized Selene stared at me while I opened the door to the driver's seat. Of course I was lost in thought. I couldn’t just shake the feeling that something might have gone wrong somewhere.

The ride to his house was short. The car smelled like coffee and vinyl. I watched the sun slide behind the buildings and thought about the job letter burning a warm hole in my pocket.

When we reached his street, everything felt off. The house was quiet—too quiet. No TV noise, no laughter, nothing. The front door was closed but unlocked. A heavy perfume filled the air before I even stepped inside. It was a scent I knew all too well—lavender and spice. My mother’s scent.

My steps slowed. Selene came up behind me, her face tightening. She didn’t say a word, just followed. My heart kept on pounding

in my ears.

I pushed the door open. The house was dim, curtains half-drawn. A shoe lay near the sofa. Kyle’s skateboard leaned against the wall, still dusty from last week. My stomach knotted.

“Hello?” My voice came out small. No answer.

We climbed the stairs. The scent grew stronger, clinging to the air like a memory that wouldn’t leave. The hallway light was on. The bedroom door was half open.

I saw them before my brain caught up. Two shapes on the bed. A man leaning over someone. The room tilted.

Kyle.

And my mother.

Her hair spilled across the pillow. She was wearing her favorite Sunday blouse—the one with the tiny pearls near the collar. His hand was on her cheek. They were kissing.

My chest turned to glass. I took a step back, then forward again. My body didn’t know what to do. The smell, the sight—it all blurred together.

Selene stood behind me, silent, her breath sharp. She touched my arm but didn’t pull me away.

“Kyle?” The name fell from my mouth, weak and wrong.

He didn’t even look at me. My mother’s hand moved down to his neck. He kissed her again like I didn’t exist. My vision blurred.

My knees felt like they would give out. My mind raced back to all the times he’d smiled at me—the park dates, his late-night calls, his lazy jokes. My mother’s laugh echoed in my memory, the same soft laugh she used when I was little.

Selene whispered my name. “Elara? Elara…”

but I barely heard her.

I stepped closer. “Wh… what are you doing?”I stuttered, My voice cracked like a broken cup.

That’s when my mother looked up. Her eyes widened, her face pale. Kyle pulled back, his expression twisting in confusion and guilt. I stared, trying to hold the tears from dropping. That was the most difficult day of my life, being betrayed by the two people I cared about the most. I imagined not finding out, perhaps both pulled up for the birthday surprise in our house.

“Elara,” he voiced low, almost choking on my name. He looked lost, scared.

I wanted to scream, to throw something, to erase what I’d just seen—but I couldn’t. My throat burned. My hands trembled. I stared at the woman who taught me to smile through pain and the boy who once swore he loved me.

The silence stretched.

My mother covered her mouth. Kyle looked down, avoiding my eyes. The sheets rustled. Everything in me wanted to run, to not exist in that room anymore.

Selene’s hand found mine. “Come on,” she whispered.

I nodded weakly and turned. My body moved on its own, numb and shaking.

I clutched the bag of cupcakes like they were proof that I’d once believed in something pure. My job letter was still tucked in my pocket, but it felt meaningless now.

We walked out of the house. The mid-day air hit me hard—cold and real. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. A car passed by. The world was still spinning while mine had stopped.

“Elara, please. It’s not really why you think it is,” Kyle pleaded as he stood to his feet. I sighted his erection. The shape of his penis was already visible through his blue jeans. My eyes felt sweaty and peppery.

My mom sat silent on the bed. She couldn’t utter a single word. She just folded her arms and kept a straight gaze at the duvet. I wondered what she’d have said at the spot though.

The image replayed in my head—Kyle’s hands, my mother’s blouse, the look in their eyes when they saw me.

Tonight was supposed to be a beginning—a birthday, a new job, a celebration. Instead, it became the night everything burned before it even began.

And as the wind brushed my face, I realized something had ended. Not just love. Not just trust. But the version of me that believed home was a safe place.

“Elara…” Selene kept whispering my name, but I didn’t respond. It felt like I’d fallen into a trance, my boyfriend who swore never to cheat on me just did, and on his birthday, with none other but my own mother. Frozen I stood, my eyes were wide open, my vision blurred, my world went dark.