**Return to the City of Betrayal**
Emily stirred a pot of stew on the stove when her phone buzzed sharply on the counter. The message was from her best friend, Sophie. *Meet me at the café. We need to talk,* read the clipped text. Emily immediately tried calling back, but Sophie didn’t pick up. A dull ache settled in her chest, but she steeled herself—she had to go. She turned off the hob, changed quickly, and half an hour later, she was stepping into their favourite café. In the corner booth sat Sophie. And beside her—James. Emily’s husband. Their posture left no room for doubt.
“Sophie? James?!” Emily’s voice trembled, her hands shaking.
Sophie, without so much as a flinch, settled onto James’s lap and tilted her face toward his. He tried to stand, but Emily was already turning away, walking out.
That was the final straw. There had been suspicions before—odd behaviour, late nights at the office. But discovering her childhood friend was part of it? That shattered everything. Her heart. Her trust.
She and Sophie had grown up together in a quiet countryside town. Sophie was an orphan—her mother gone, her father unknown. Raised by a stern grandmother. Emily, on the other hand, was the cherished daughter of a warm, loving family. Her parents often included Sophie—picnics, trips to the cinema, summer fairs. Sophie clung to them as if they were her own. Their childhood was one long *us*: climbing trees, playing make-believe, dreaming of escaping to the city.
And Emily had done it. Medical school. A wedding to James, son of a wealthy entrepreneur. A flat in London, a job as a doctor. Sophie had stayed behind, selling shoes in a local shop. So when Emily offered to help her move, Sophie jumped at the chance. James even helped her find a flat.
Emily never guessed they were already talking behind her back. That James had met Sophie at the station. That an affair had begun in the shadows. It all came out later. First, James’s sudden distance. Then Sophie’s message, summoning her to the café. And finally—the scene she’d never forget.
A month later, James filed for divorce. Sophie moved into Emily’s flat. Gritting her teeth, Emily left for her hometown. She took a job at the local hospital, rented a small room. And then the chief physician found her with an offer—head of the department. The previous one was retiring.
One day, during rounds, she met a new patient—a distinguished man with kind eyes. Leonard Rutherford. His face was familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Later, mid-conversation, he suddenly laughed.
“You’re not the girl I caught falling out of a tree years ago, are you?”
Emily froze. The memory flashed like lightning. As children, walking home from school, she and Sophie had scrambled up an old oak. Emily’s dress snagged, panic setting in—until strong arms caught her mid-fall. A voice: *What were you thinking? That’s dangerous.*
Now that voice was beside her again. And in it, a calm she hadn’t felt in years.
Two weeks later, Leonard invited her to celebrate his discharge. Hesitant, she agreed. And then—everything unfolded as if meant to be. They grew closer, spent more time together. Soon, they married.
Now, Emily lives with Leonard in a grand country house. Their twin boys fill the halls with laughter. Her parents couldn’t be happier. And life, at last, makes sense.
And Sophie? She’s back in that small town, living in her grandmother’s old flat. James lost interest quickly and threw her out. Word is, she works at a greengrocer now. Bitter. Lonely.
But what goes around, comes around. And it hits harder than expected.
