lauren (w) charlotte (k) The nightclub was filled with the steady hum of conversations. Charlotte had only agreed to come because her friends insisted she needed a night away from everything. She sat at the bar while her friends talked beside her. Their laughter rose and fell around her, but she barely listened. It had been years since the divorce, yet certain thoughts still returned when she was not careful enough to push them away. Then a guitarist stepped forward under the warm lights and began playing a slow song. When she looked toward the stage, Lauren stood beneath the lights with a guitar resting against her body. Her heart dropped into her stomach. Lauren’s hair was longer now and fell loosely around her shoulders. Her face had grown sharper over the years. She had always been lean, but now she looked thinner than Charlotte remembered, almost fragile in a way that made something painful twist inside Charlotte’s chest. But she was still beautiful. Her voice was not perfect, but it was honest and raw in a way that made Charlotte’s chest ache. It was the same voice that once whispered promises against Charlotte’s neck in the quiet hours of the night. The same voice that hummed softly while rocking Isla to sleep when she was only a baby. The thought returned quickly, like armor she had worn for years. She cheated. Charlotte repeated the words in her mind because they had always been the only explanation that made the pain easier to survive. When the song ended, Charlotte stood before she even realized she had moved. Her friends called her but she barely heard them as she pushed through the crowd toward the exit. A few minutes later the club door opened again. Lauren stepped out with her guitar case slung over her shoulder. She froze the moment she saw Charlotte standing under the streetlight. Neither of them spoke. The silence stretched between them like a bridge built out of years they had both tried to survive. Lauren spoke first. “I didn’t think you’d ever come somewhere like this.” she said quietly. Charlotte swallowed before answering. “Why did you stop coming?” Lauren stared down at the pavement for a moment as if searching for the right words. “You wouldn’t let me see her.” Charlotte opened her mouth to respond, but Lauren continued. “And after a while, I figured maybe it was better for her if I stopped making things harder.” Charlotte felt something twist painfully in her chest. “I just hope my Isla doesn’t forget me.” Charlotte felt the bitterness rush back before she could stop it. “She won’t forget you cheating on her family.” The words left her mouth colder than the night air. “You still believe that.” Charlotte stared at her. “What else am I supposed to believe?” she demanded. “I saw the messages, Lauren.” Lauren gave a small laugh, but there was no humor in it. “You would never listen to me.” Charlotte frowned. Lauren finally met her eyes fully. “Because if you had, we wouldn’t be here.” Charlotte felt her anger hesitate. “What does that even mean?” Lauren shifted the guitar case slightly on her shoulder. “I never cheated on you.” Charlotte scoffed instantly. “Don’t lie to me.” “I’m not.” “You expect me to believe all that proof just appeared out of nowhere?” Lauren studied Charlotte’s face carefully, as if trying to understand how much of the past still lived inside her. “Did you ever wonder why the business collapsed at the same time those messages appeared?” “What?” “My company did not just fail slowly, and I thought it was bad luck until one of those investors called me two years later.” Charlotte’s throat tightened. “He said someone very powerful convinced them to walk away, and that same week, the fake messages about me cheating were sent to you.” “What are you talking about?” Then she said the words Charlotte had never prepared herself to hear. “Your parents.” “No.” “Charlo–“ But before Lauren could finish, her phone rang and she just covered her mouth and ran away. Something happened, and she knows it’s bad. #winrina #karina #winter #fyp #foryoupage - @imsorel