"I thought that I've been hurt before

But no one's ever left me quite this sore

Your words cut deeper than a knife

Now I need someone to breathe me back to life."

Romance novels have spoiled us.

Everytime we have a special night with someone, everytime time we're going on a date, everytime a guy texts us- we expect too much.

We expect because we read about it in a romance novel and the male protagonist had nailed every moment.

We expect because, in our minds, we have standards that have been set too high and we have dreams that are near impossible to fulfil.

But can you blame us?

A girl can dream, right?

That's probably the reason why when I woke up, I had expected to wake up with him by my side. I had expected to still be curled in his arms with my face placed on his chest. I had expected to wake up to him smiling down at me with sunlight falling on his face making his grey eyes look beautiful.

But you can't always get what you've expected, can you? Life isn't all unicorns and rainbows and nothing can be perfect.

When I woke up alone in the bed, with white sheets covering my naked body, I convinced myself that it was okay.

It is not important for him to be with me when I wake up. I mean, I can't be so demanding, right?

He probably went to freshen up in the bathroom. Or maybe I have waken up too late and it's like 6 in the evening and he has gone training. Or maybe he got hungry and is making himself breakfast. Or maybe he got a call for his beta duties.

The possibilities are endless.

So I decided to shove the sinking feeling in my chest away and I tried not to get dissapointed when I woke up alone.

I could hardly complain after the beautiful night yesterday and I didn't want to ruin the moment by being demanding and clingy.

It is alright if my teenage fantasy wasn't fulfilled and I had to wake up alone after my first time.

I was so convinced that I was okay and there was nothing to worry about. But then why did my heart feel crushed and my intuition was on full alert mode?

Wrapping the sheet around me, I looked for my clothes in the room to find my blouse with all of it's button torn.

A chuckle escaped my lips as I reminisced the events of yesterday night and I clutched the blouse to my chest, preserving it.

I borrowed one of Chance's shirt from his wardrobe and walked back to my room.

I'll just brush my teeth and comb my hair before going downstairs for breakfast.

Entering my washroom, the first thing I noticed was my face in the mirror.

I noticed how there was a small, giddy smile on my face that refused to go. I saw how my eyes held a glint that shone in the light. I saw how my cheeks sported a proud blush and I observed how undeniably happy I was.

Giggling goofily to myself I decided to just take a bath when my eyes fell on a sticky note that was stuck to the corner of my bathroom mirror.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I took it off and read it.

It said that I had to meet him at his office at 3 pm.

I smiled as I read the letter. See? I knew it. He was probably busy and had to leave for some office work. This letter is the sweetest thing ever. I read it over again and folded to keep it one of the drawers.

I preserved it for memories.

After taking a bath, brushing and wearing a simple everyday outfit, I exited my room to go meet Chance.

I was so confident till I reached the door of his office which was located on the ground floor. As I held the door handle, my hands started turned clammy and my heart thudded away in nervousness.

It was my first time seeing him after yesterday! I had every right to be nervous. Will it be awkward between us now? Or will we be closer than ever?

Goddess, I hope it's the second.

Sighing, I debated whether I should knock or not but then decided against it. Because like, I am his mate. I can enter without knocking.

Fuck it. I should get that much leverage.

Plus, it would be like a surprise for him. (Even though he knows I am coming).

So when I pushed the door open, I expected to see the smiling face of my mate waiting for me. Hell, I even expected him to be working his arse off in there.

But what I didn't expect was to greet the sight of him sitting with Cindy on his lap sucking on his neck.

What in the hell...

"Chance!" My voice came out far more shaky and shocked than I had thought.

My chest filled with a familiar pain as my heart clenched in agony. She wasn't kissing him on the lips, otherwise I would have known it before because of the mate bond.

But this wasn't acceptable either. This wasn't acceptable at all.

Chance looked up at me with a lazy smirk on his face. No remorse. No shock. No denial of any sort.

"Oh hello there, mate." He said with a bitterness in his tone when he said 'mate' and my heart clenched again.

What is going on? What the hell happened? Everything was going perfect then what in the hell is this?

"What are you doing..." I whispered, my shoulder sagging, my mind clouded with denial as I tried to convince myself that it wasn't what it looked like.

Like I hadn't just caught my mate in the arms of someone else after being so close to me yesterday. As if Cindy wasn't giving me the smug smirk rightnow. As if all my dreams hadn't just crashed right beside my foot.

"Oh me?" He drawled. "I was just having fun. You know, I was feeling quite horny after yesterday. And Cindy was ready to fulfil my needs. So, why not?"

My mouth opened in shock as my body went numb and cold.

"...you want to join us? I won't mind humoring two ladies at once." He finished with a dirty smirk on his face as he looked at me with cold, emotionless eyes as I wondered who this person was.

This wasn't the Chance I fell in love with. He didn't have the same warm, loving eyes as him. His tone wasn't caring like my Chance. And nor did he have that boyish grin on his face which I could die for.

Where was my Chance?

I shook my head furiously at him, my hands trembling in fear and nervousness as I clenched on the door handle and tears flowed down my eyes without any permission.

"Y-You're kidding right?" I asked him. I needed him to tell me that this was just one of his silly pranks and not what I think it was.

That he didn't just move on to another girl after giving me the best night of my life. After taking something I had held on to just for him from me.

He can't be so sweet at one moment just to be bitter in the other.

But he didn't listen to silent prays as his boisterous, yet humourless laughter reverberated throughout the room.

"Oh my sweet sweet Oli." He chuckled, pretending to wipe the fake tear off his eyes. "You humour me so much. That look on your face though..."

He laughed again and this time Cindy laughed with him as she got off his lap and stood in front of me.

Chance soon followed behind and stood beside Cindy as they both faced me.

Once he was done laughing, he looked at me with a disgusted expression.

"This is the expression I had been dying to see. To see this crushed, broken, lost and agonized look on your face." His menacing glare fell at me and I felt my entire body go cold.

The pain in my chest was so much by now that it felt like someone was clawing my heart and squeezing it mericlessly.

It was hard to breathe.

I was scared. And humiliated.

"I have invested 15 days in this look. I have worked hard. Planned. And used my best of acting skills to get to this. Let me look at it for a while, Cindy. Let me enjoy this broken look on her."

We stood there for a few seconds till I convinced my heart that it was okay to hurt and I urged my body to keep going.

I had to be my rock. I had to give myself strength.

"Why me?" I whispered.

"Because I hate you, honey. Because I hate you so damn much. Didn't I tell you that? Oh wait...I didn't."

His laughter that once used to be music to my ears mocked me and love for him and I closed my eyes tightly as tears fell down and I cursed mysf for being so sensitive and crying right in front of him.

Be strong, Oli. Be stronger. You are the strongest.

"I am still surprised how naive she was," this time it was Cindy as she clung to Chance's arm from the side and looked at me with a smug.

"I mean, the plan was foolproof. But how did you not suspect even once? So much for being a straight A student, huh?" She giggled again and her squeaky voice irritated my ears as she turned to chance.

"What do you say, baby? Should we tell her?" She asked and he looked at me with a triumphant look.

"Why not?"

And I looked at them with glossy eyes and shaken heart as they proceeded to tell me how they'd successfully mocked my love and exploited my faith and trust in my mate.

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