3.

"Don't you look all glowed up?" Jane teased Nadia as she sat down at the breakfast table.

The next morning, she went to Nate's house and pretended like everything was alright. And as always, Nadia also showed up minutes after she did. This was how their Saturday mornings were like.

Now all she could do was wonder how many times they fucked the night before and laughed at the breakfast table with her.

She would have thought their playful banter was a normal thing, and last week, she would not have been paying close attention to the way they interacted with each other, whether it's a casual shove or some longing eye contact.

How long have they been going on behind her back?

Wasn't Nadia the one that was sceptical about her relationship with Nate in the first place?

Where did she go wrong for him to turn to her best friend instead?

"I need to use the bathroom," Jane croaked, getting up and rushing in the direction of said room. She turned in the direction of his office and burst in, her eyes immediately going to the table they were busy at the previous night and images floated around her mind again.

She searched for something she could use to make Nadia uncomfortable. But the bitch took everything that belonged to her. When she didn't find anything, she reached into her bun and loosened it, twirling the hairband between her thumb and index finger. They had matching hairbands so she hoped that would do the trick.

She tiptoed to the kitchen in hopes of catching them red-handed but felt disappointed when they weren't even looking at each other but eating their food instead.

"Where did you leave this?" Jane asked, raising the band in the air to show her.

Nadia's hand instinctively flew to her hair and her eyes went as she glanced at Nate before going back to Jane. "I-I don't know. I kept looking everywhere for it. Where did you find it?" She asked, faking a chuckle as she got up and reached for it from Jane's hand.

"You should be more careful with what you do," Jane warned, her eyes quickly going to Nate who was busy on his phone before she looked at a flushed Nadia again.

Her anger was slowly creeping back up on her and she pulled out her phone at the same time that Nate got up to refill his coffee mug. He was now too quiet for her liking.

"You guys wanna see a funny video?" she smiled mischievously.

They both thought nothing of it and nodded, standing next to Jane as she put her phone on the counter facing them and clicked 'play'.

Nadia gasped and backed away, her eyes widening in response to what was playing on the phone while Nate just stared in concentration. His jaw clenched visibly and Jane hummed before facing them again with a poker face.

"What do you have to say?" She asked sternly, her arms crossed against her chest as she stared at the two people she used to love more than anything. Nadia just looked down, her face and neck red from embarrassment.

"Nothing," Nate replied shortly. This was one of the reasons she loved him; he was short, brief, straight to the point. No unnecessary words left his mouth. He didn't speak unless he needed to.

"Jane, it isn't what it looked like, I can explain. Please just give me a ch-" Nadia on the other hand rushed out. This was exactly why she became friends with Nadia in the first place. Nadia was the talker between them, always filling in the silence with her rambling.

But Jane was not having that today. She didn't stop herself when the back of her hand angrily struck Nadia across the face. Nadia yelped as she almost lost balance and held the chair for support, her hand on her cheek and pulling away to look at it.

Their eyes both widened as they saw the blood on Nadia's hand and Jane looked down on her hand and saw that the large diamond cut ring had a smear of blood on it.

She roughly pulled the ring off and slammed her palm against Nate's chest, pressing the ring into his chest as he stood there with a look that said a lot of words and yet nothing at all.

"How long?" she uttered the question she didn't want to hear an answer to. because maybe if that was the only day they ever fucked, she'd find it in herself to forgive him. But if it was days, months even-

"It's been close to a year now," he confessed, staring into her eyes as he tried to reach out and hold her waist. The regret was evident in his eyes as he looked at the only woman he loves. She couldn't tell if it was regret for cheating or for being caught.

"This is exactly why I loved you," she said, not caring about the tears that were falling down her face. "Your honesty is an admirable trait."

She turned to head for the door, her phone grasped in her hand when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her arm. She thought they would be Nate's, begging her to stay and work things out but, unfortunately, they belonged to the serpent herself.

"Jane, we're sorry!" Nadia cried, her makeup getting smudged in the process.

"I'm sure you are," Jane replied, prying her hands off her. "I'm not disappointed," she continued to speak, looking at them. They were always too close and she'd be lying to herself if the thought never crossed her mind. "It was bound to happen anyway."

"Jane, please, I-" Nate, for the first time, tried to get her to listen.

"I hope it she's worth losing me over," she cut him off, opening his door and stepping out. The chilly wind slapped her cheeks and she felt like she was struggling to breathe for dear life.

Her heart was in pieces at the thought that there was no more Nate and her but what they did was unforgivable. Loads of baggage weighed her down and the weird part was that she felt like she deserved everything that was happening to her.

She slipped in her car and was about to close her door when Nate came to her car window, seemingly breathless. "Jane, baby, I'm sorry."

"Me too."