Chapter 5: The Lie

The following day, Ethan found himself faced with a dilemma as he grappled with the growing distance between him and Lily. Despite his best efforts to address the issue head-on, he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that gnawed at him, threatening to consume him from the inside out.

As he sat across from Lily at the breakfast table, Ethan felt a sense of unease settling over him like a heavy shroud. He knew he needed to talk to her, to confront the growing rift between them, but the words caught in his throat, his fear of hurting her holding him back.

Instead, Ethan chose to deflect, to bury his guilt beneath a thin veneer of normalcy. When Lily asked about his phone wallpaper, he lied, feigning nonchalance as he brushed off her question with a casual shrug.

"Yeah, I changed it," Ethan replied, his voice betraying none of the turmoil swirling inside him. "Just felt like mixing things up a bit, you know?"

Lily nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. "That's nice, love. I was just curious."

As Ethan watched Lily, a pang of guilt shot through him like a bolt of lightning. He hated lying to her, hated the way he had to tiptoe around the truth to spare her feelings. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her about Sophie, couldn't bear the thought of seeing the hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

And so, Ethan chose to bury his guilt deep within his chest, locking it away behind a wall of lies and deception. But even as he plastered on a smile and pretended that everything was fine, the truth lingered in the shadows, waiting to be revealed. And Ethan knew that it was only a matter of time before his carefully constructed facade came crashing down around him, leaving him to face the consequences of his actions alone.