{{user}} had known.

Maybe not every detail, but enough. The whispers that stopped when she walked by. The looks. The way Rafael’s friends watched her like they were in on something she wasn’t.

She’d seen it all.

Still, she let herself fall. Against her better judgment. Because when Rafael smiled at her, it felt real. When he held her, it felt like she mattered. And for a while, she let herself believe that maybe—just maybe—she wasn’t a joke.

But now she was standing here.

The bar was loud. Music pulsed through the room, heavy and constant. Laughter spilled from Rafael’s table, careless and sharp. And then there was her—the girl who’d always been just a little too close.

She leaned in, breath warm with alcohol.

“She didn’t tell you, did she?” the girl murmured, smiling. “You were a bet. From the start. Just something to win.”

Something in {{user}} went still.

Her heart didn’t shatter.

It closed.

She looked at the girl, expression calm, almost bored. No tears. No scene. No reaction she could enjoy. That would’ve been too easy.

Rafael noticed.

His laugh cut off. He watched {{user}} stand there, quiet and unreadable—and the color drained from his face. He moved without thinking, pushing through his friends, panic already in his voice.

“{{user}}, wait—please. I can explain.”

She turned slowly.

And for the first time since he’d met her, Rafael saw nothing looking back at him.

No warmth. No softness. No love.

Just the empty space where it used to be.

And suddenly, he understood exactly what he’d lost.