Rejected by Fiancé's Lies

The Seattle wind cut through my jacket as I stepped onto the bridge. Celeste had texted me an hour ago, her message frantic and desperate: *Meet me at the middle of the bridge. I need to talk to you.*

I should have ignored her. Should have blocked her number like I'd threatened to do a dozen times since the wedding disaster. But something in her message—the raw desperation—made me come.

She stood at the railing, her auburn hair whipping around her face like flames. When she turned, I saw she wasn't wearing a coat despite the biting cold.

"You came," she said, her voice brittle.

"Of course I came." I kept my distance, watching her carefully. "What's this about, Celeste?"

She laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Isn't it obvious? I've lost everything."

"You haven't lost anything that was ever truly yours," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

Her eyes flashed with something dangerous. "You don't understand. Damon was supposed to be mine."

"Through your sister," I reminded her. "You were just a substitute."

The word 'substitute' seemed to hit her like a physical blow. She flinched, then straightened her spine.

"I could have made him happy," she insisted, her voice rising. "I could have given him everything Gabrielle never could."

"But you're not Gabrielle," I said quietly. "And now you never will be."

Something snapped behind her eyes. In one fluid motion, she climbed onto the lower railing, her legs dangling over the churning water below.

"See what you've done?" she screamed, her face contorted. "You've ruined everything! I have nothing left!"

People passing by slowed to watch the drama unfolding. A couple of tourists stopped to record on their phones.

"Celeste, get down from there," I said firmly, taking a step closer. "This isn't the answer."

"Stay back!" she warned, swaying slightly. "One more step and I'll jump!"

I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Okay, I'm staying right here. Just talk to me."

"Talk?" She laughed wildly. "There's nothing left to say. You've won, Nia. You've taken everything."

"I haven't taken anything," I said, trying to keep my voice calm despite the fear coursing through me. "Damon made his choice clear when he—"

"When he what?" she spat. "When he chose you? Is that what you think?"

Before I could answer, she lunged at me, grabbing my shoulders with surprising strength. We stumbled backward together, her fingernails digging into my skin.

"You're so smug," she hissed, her face inches from mine. "So perfect little Nia who saves everyone."

We teetered dangerously close to the edge. I could feel the bridge vibrating beneath us from passing traffic.

"Celeste, stop this!" I pleaded, trying to steady us both.

But she wasn't listening anymore. With a final push, she shoved me hard against the railing. I felt it give way under our combined weight, and then we were falling.

The cold water hit me like a thousand needles piercing my skin at once. The shock stole my breath as I plunged beneath the surface, the current pulling me under.

---

"Where is she?" Damon's voice cut through the chaos on the bridge above.

I coughed violently, water spewing from my lungs as two paramedics helped me onto a stretcher. My teeth chattered uncontrollably, my soaked clothes clinging to my shivering body.

"There's another victim," one of the paramedics called out. "Female, early twenties, pulled from the water about fifty feet downstream."

I turned my head to see Celeste being loaded into another ambulance. Unlike me, she was unconscious, her face deathly pale.

Damon appeared at the edge of my vision, his face tight with panic. For one hopeful moment, I thought he was coming to check on me.

Instead, he rushed past me without a glance and headed straight for Celeste's ambulance.

"Is she okay?" he demanded of the paramedics attending to her. "Will she survive?"

Not once did he look back at me.

The paramedic beside me pressed a thermal blanket tighter around my shoulders. "We need to get you to the hospital," he said gently. "You're going into shock."

As they loaded me into the ambulance, I watched Damon climb into the other vehicle with Celeste. The doors closed between us, and I was left alone with my chattering teeth and racing thoughts.

---

"Hold still," the nurse instructed as she wrapped a bandage around my wrist where the railing had torn my skin.

I winced but nodded, my body still trembling despite the warm hospital blanket.

The door burst open, and Damon stormed in, his face a mask of fury.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, advancing toward me.

I blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You pushed her," he accused, his voice shaking with rage. "You tried to kill her!"

"No!" I protested, struggling to sit up. "Damon, that's not what happened. She was threatening to jump, and then she attacked me—"

The slap came without warning, his palm connecting with my cheek with enough force to snap my head to the side.

"Don't you dare lie about this," he snarled, his eyes wild with a hatred I'd never seen before. "I know what you're capable of. Your jealousy has always been toxic."

I stared at him in stunned silence, my cheek burning not from his slap but from the realization that the man I'd loved for so long could believe I was capable of such a thing.

"Damon," I whispered, tasting blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my cheek. "How can you think that of me?"

But he was already turning away, his attention focused on the door where Celeste would soon be brought for treatment.

And in that moment, I knew that whatever we'd had between us was truly over.