The rain fell steadily outside, the rhythmic patter against the window filling the otherwise silent room. {{user}} stood frozen in the hallway, her fingers clutching the edge of the doorframe. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the voices drifting from the living room rooted her in place.

“You don’t understand, Celeste,” Adrian’s voice was low, urgent. “I didn’t mean for it to happen this way.”

{{user}}’s breath hitched. Celeste? Her best friend? The tension in the air was palpable, and she pressed herself against the wall, hidden but unwilling to leave.

“You mean you didn’t mean for us to happen?” Celeste replied, her voice trembling with restrained emotion. “Adrian, you’re with her. She’s my best friend. Do you even realize what this will do to her?”

“I know!” Adrian hissed, his frustration cutting through the room. “But what do you want me to say? That I stayed with her because I didn’t know how to leave? That every time I tried to end things, the guilt ate me alive? I don’t love her the way I—”

“Don’t,” Celeste interrupted sharply, her voice breaking. “Don’t say it.”

But it was too late. Adrian’s words hung in the air like a curse. “I love you, Celeste. It’s always been you.”

{{user}} staggered back, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the gasp threatening to escape. The world tilted beneath her feet, her pulse pounding in her ears as Adrian’s confession sunk in.

“I didn’t want it to happen this way,” Adrian continued, his voice softer now, pleading. “But every moment I spend with her feels like I’m lying. And every moment I spend with you feels like I’m finally alive. I can’t keep pretending.”

The betrayal clawed at {{user}}, raw and unrelenting. Her best friend. Her lover. Together, behind her back. Every shared smile, every lingering glance between them that she had brushed off now felt like a knife twisting in her chest.

The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. {{user}} backed away from the door, her vision blurred by tears.