Wasn't I enough? Was I not pretty enough? Sure, Vera had the curves, the sultry smirks, the revealing clothes that turned heads everywhere she went. But hadn't Ethan always told me he preferred women who were different? Hadn't he sworn that he hated women like her?
I didn't know what broke me more: the fact that it was Vera sitting there, smug and victorious; the expression of cruel satisfaction painted across her face as I cried; or the cold, detached glances Ethan shot me, like my pain was nothing but a mild inconvenience.
"Look, Gilda," Ethan finally spoke, and I stared, hanging on to every word as though he might still salvage himself.
"Check yourself out… from head to toe." His eyes raked over me, filled with disgust and disdain.
I looked down at myself. A plain red dress, loose-fitting and modest. Nothing like the bum shorts and crop top Vera had tossed carelessly on the floor. But wasn't this who he said he wanted? A decent girl. He had mocked women like Vera before. He had praised me for being different. For being pure till he'd taken my virginity, or so he thought.
"I don't understand you, Ethan." My voice shook as I reached toward him, seeking any scrap of validation. "What's wrong with my dressing? I'm covered, I'm decent. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
He stepped back from my touch like I was poison, nearly making me stumble. His words gutted me.
"That was before, Gilda. Now I love women like Vera. And besides…" He paused, his lips curling cruelly. "I never loved you from the start. I only used you to get closer to her. She's the one I wanted all along."
"What?" My heart lurched painfully in my chest. "Ethan… no, you can't be serious. You told me you loved me. You told me—"
"Ohhh, Gilda, my beloved sister…" Vera's mocking voice rang from the bed, her tongue clicking as she shook her head with feigned pity.
Beloved? I almost choked on the word. Vera had never loved me, never even tolerated me. Her hatred for me was something I had felt in my bones long before tonight. I didn't need anyone to tell me she had nothing but venom to offer.
"Ethan has made his choice," she snapped suddenly, her smugness turning sharp. "Why can't you accept it? He's never been interested in you. He only used you to reach me. Can't you scrape together even an ounce of self-respect and leave?"
Her eyes glittered with malice as she leaned forward, voice dripping venom. "Oh, wait. I forgot — you don't have any. With a whore like you, whose hole men's dicks could get lost in, what shred of shame could you possibly have left? Not that I blame you. From where I stand, it must run in your genes. Just like your mother's."
"Whoa, Vera, you ate with that statement!" Ethan's laugh rang out, mocking, like her cruelty was some kind of entertainment.
I couldn't take it anymore. The insult lodged deep in my chest, choking me. My legs moved on their own as I turned to leave, my vision blurred with tears that refused to stop spilling.
"Come on, Gilda!" Ethan's voice chased after me, cruel and unrelenting. "It's not like I forced anything on you! Did you really think someone as wealthy as I am would settle for an upcoming actress like you? Be serious! You don't even get important roles, you're nothing but the overworked cast shoved into the background! What bragging rights would being with someone like you ever give me in front of my friends?"
Vera's laughter followed next, ringing sharp in my ears, but I didn't turn back. I didn't dare give her the satisfaction of seeing me crumble completely.
All I wanted was to run, to cry until my chest caved in, to scream until my throat bled. To purge this pain from my soul.
Why hadn't I noticed? Why hadn't I seen that I was nothing more than a pawn to him? Why hadn't I realized I was being toyed with and played like a fool?
Why did my life have to feel like one endless script of heartbreak? Why did it seem that everyone who entered it only came to tear me down further and carve deeper wounds into scars that I was still trying to heal?
*****
It's true what they say about the sad news reported on polygamous homes. I thought bitterly as I stepped into the bar, memories tugging me back to the beginning, back to when my father had married my mother and brought us to live with his family.
Vera's mother had been barren for ten years of their union, and when her husband secretly began a relationship with my mother, his secretary, she got pregnant with me only months later.
That pregnancy forced him to make her his second wife. But nothing good came of it. His first wife never forgave her, and when she too conceived and gave birth to Vera shortly after, all hell broke loose.
I shook the thought away and glanced around the bar, scanning for the table where the team from the recently concluded movie sat.
Truthfully, I hadn't planned to attend. But weighed down by the sting of my recent betrayal, I had wanted to drown myself in the distraction of the party. When I heard Vera had declined to come, I thought it safe. And since today was my birthday, it felt like a double win. I could slip in quietly, blend into the crowd, forget my sorrow for a night and secretly celebrate the twenty-seventh birthday I was too broke to mark on my own.
But then my eyes flickered toward the hotel lounge, and I was taken aback when I saw Vera.
My jaw slackened. What in God's name was she doing here? I had thought such gatherings were beneath her. Why had she suddenly appeared, as though fate had decided to mock me? My lips went pale as the only thought in my head was to turn and leave before anyone noticed.
Unfortunately, someone already had.