Return to the City of Betrayal
Emily stirred the pot of stew in the kitchen when her phone buzzed sharply on the counter. A message from her best friend, Sophie. “Meet me at the café. Need to talk,” the cold text read. Emily tried calling immediately, but Sophie didn’t pick up. A sharp pang tightened her chest, but she decided to go. She turned off the stove, changed quickly, and within half an hour, she was striding into their favourite café. At the corner table sat Sophie. And beside her—Edward. Emily’s husband. Their posture left no room for doubt.
“Sophie? Edward?!” Emily’s voice trembled, her hands shaking just as much.
Sophie, without flinching, slid onto Edward’s lap and leaned into him. He tried to stand, but Emily was already turning away, storming out.
That moment was the final straw. There had been suspicions before—odd behaviour, late nights at work, unanswered calls. But discovering her childhood friend was the other woman shattered everything. Her heart. Her trust.
They’d grown up together in a quiet English village. Sophie was an orphan—her mother vanished, her father unknown. Raised by a quiet grandmother. Emily, on the other hand, was the beloved daughter of a loving family. Her parents often took Sophie along—picnics, cinema trips, country fairs. She clung to them as if she were theirs. Their childhood was a constant “we”: climbing trees, playing pretend, dreaming of escaping to London.
Emily made it out. Medical school. Marriage to Edward, the son of a wealthy businessman. A flat. A job as a doctor. Sophie stayed behind, working in a shoe shop. But when Emily offered to help her move, she agreed without hesitation. Edward even helped her find a place.
What Emily didn’t know was that Sophie and Edward had already been talking in secret. That he’d met her at the station. That behind her back, an affair had started. It all came out later—first, Edward’s strange distance, then Sophie’s cryptic message, and finally, the scene she could never unsee.
A month later, Edward filed for divorce. Sophie moved into the flat Emily had shared with him. Clenching her jaw, Emily returned to her hometown. She found work as a GP at the local clinic, rented a small room. Then, the chief physician offered her a promotion—the head of department was retiring.
One day, during rounds, she met a new patient—a distinguished man with kind eyes. Leonard Richards. His face was familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Later, as they spoke, he suddenly laughed.
“You’re not the little girl I caught falling out of that old oak tree, are you?”
Emily froze—the memory crashed over her. As children, walking home from school, she and Sophie had climbed that tree. Her dress snagged, fear gripping her… then strong hands caught her mid-fall. A voice: “What were you thinking? That was dangerous.”
Now, that same voice was beside her. Calm. Steady. A peace she hadn’t felt in years.
Two weeks later, Leonard invited her to celebrate his discharge. She hesitated but agreed. After that, things unfolded naturally. They grew close. Met more often. Soon, they married.
Now, Emily lives with Leonard in a grand countryside house. They have twin sons. Her parents are overjoyed. Life, at last, makes sense again.
And Sophie? She returned to the village, living in her grandmother’s old flat. Edward lost interest fast and threw her out. Rumor has it she works at a greengrocer’s now. Bitter. Lonely.
Karma, as they say, always comes back around. And it hits hard.
