Happily Ever After… Without Him

“It’s good you came when you did,” the nurse said, her hands gentle as she cleaned the raw, burned skin on my arm. “This is a second-degree burn, and honestly… you also needed stitches.”

I didn’t answer. I simply nodded, staring at the white ceiling above, blurred and endless. I remained in the hospital for two more days.

Not a single call. Not a single text. No “Are you okay?” No “I’m sorry for what happened.”

Nothing. Not even enough concern to pretend they cared.

By the second night, I found myself scrolling through my phone without purpose. Somewhere deep down, I thought maybe they would reach out. But all I discovered were pictures.

Sabrina. Her brand-new red dress glowing in the photos, grinning between Nathan and Gabriel. Champagne glasses raised high. That same victorious smirk she always wore when she knew she’d won.

“Thanks, Nathan and Gabriel, for the most amazing birthday ever! I’ll remember this forever! Check out our new friendship bracelets!!!”

I zoomed in, seeing three matching bracelets. And then I noticed—they no longer wore the friendship bracelets we had once shared.

I turned the phone face down and placed it on the side table. Silence reclaimed the room. My heart thudded in the quiet, but it didn’t hurt anymore. There was only… emptiness.

Two days later, I returned to the apartment—the same one we had all moved into after college. Supposedly a home for a family. Only they had betrayed me.

I stepped into the empty living room and walked straight to my bedroom. Opening the closet, I started packing.

I reached for my shoes and froze. There it was—the memory box. That ridiculous little box I once called my “treasure chest.”

I sank to the floor, pulling it toward me, letting the dust settle on my fingers. Inside were letters—crumpled, faded remnants of my childhood, written by Nathan and Gabriel. Stick figure drawings, silly poems, “get well soon” cards for when I was sick.

And a photograph. The three of us—me, Nathan, and Gabriel—kneeling by a treehouse, dirt smeared on our clothes, grins stretching across our faces.

I remembered that day vividly. The summer I almost got bitten by a dog. I had always feared dogs, and the neighbor’s had broken free. I froze in terror. Nathan and Gabriel jumped in front of me without hesitation. Nathan even got bitten on his arm just to keep me safe.

After that, everything shifted. They became my shadows. My protectors. And somewhere along the way, I had fallen for Nathan, while Gabriel treated me like a sister.

Until Sabrina came and destroyed everything.

I sat on the floor, clutching a friendship bracelet with my name engraved on it. I had been a fool.

My parents had warned me when I begged to adopt Sabrina. “Are you sure about this, Elena? Not everyone wants a sister the way you do. And what if she hurts you? You can’t trust just anyone so easily.”

I hadn’t listened. I believed that love alone would be enough.

But now?

Now I understood. She hadn’t wanted to be my sister. She wanted to replace me.

I finished packing the rest of my belongings. Then I carried the memory box to the backyard. I struck a match.

The flames caught almost immediately. Letters curled and blackened. Bracelets twisted in the heat, their golden shine turning lifeless. Photographs disintegrated into ash.

“Elena!”

I looked up to see Nathan running from inside, panic etched across his face.

“What are you doing?!” he shouted. “Those… those are our albums! The bracelets?!”

“Yes,” I replied, simply. “I’m destroying all our memories.”

He stepped closer, but I planted myself in front of the fire, blocking him. “It’s over. All of it.”

Gabriel appeared moments later, looking equally shocked.

“Is this some kind of tantrum?” he asked, arms folded. “We get it, you’re upset. But this… this is extreme, even for you.”

“This isn’t a tantrum,” I said, voice steady and calm. “This is the end.”

“You’re really going to let one terrible night erase years of friendship?” Nathan asked. “Elena, please… we can talk—”

I met both of their eyes before turning to Nathan. “I don’t ever want to have anything to do with either of you again.”

I turned my back and walked inside the apartment, leaving the smoke curling behind me like the last trace of a life I would never return to.