Everything Falls Apart

The door closed behind her with a soft click that felt like a slam. Selena leaned back against it, letting her head rest against the wood. Her heels dug into the polished floors of her home, but she barely felt them. Her eyes were still puffy from the tears she'd shed in the garden outside Brooks Holding, and her skin was tight from dried mascara and regret. That disastrous birthday has been a week. Every second seems like a year for everyone now. 

Peter was gone when Selena was home after doing the groceries. The house was silent. Just the echo of her breath and the hollow ache in her chest.

She dropped her purse onto the hallway table and walked to the kitchen, dropped everything in her shopping bags, and she needed water but found only silence. Everything felt wrong, like the world had stopped spinning while she broke into pieces.

Then her phone rang.

The sound made her jump.

She hesitated before answering when she saw the name: Mom.

Selena picked it up slowly and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Selena," her mother's voice came through, tight and careful. "Your father and I need to talk to you. Can you come over?"

She swallowed. "Now?"

"Yes. Your father's not feeling well. And…" A pause. "Brian's here too."

Selena gripped the edge of the counter. Of course, he was.

"I'll come."

Twenty minutes later, she stood on her parents' porch, stomach churning, wishing she could turn back time or vanish into thin air. But she knocked.

Her mother opened the door, her expression unreadable. No smile, no hug. Just a step aside to let her in.

Selena walked into the living room, where her father sat in his usual chair, a blanket draped over his knees and a mug in his hand. He looked older than she remembered just last week. His eyes were tired. Her mother hovered beside him.

Brian stood across the room, arms crossed, his jaw tight.

Selena didn't sit.

"Thank you for coming," her mother said stiffly.

Selena glanced at Brian. "So this is an intervention?"

Brian scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Brian," their father said, his voice low. "Let her speak."

"No," Brian snapped. "You asked me to be here, so let me say it first. I can't even look at you without feeling sick, Selena."

She flinched.

"After everything? You lied. You stood at my birthday dinner, pretending everything was fine while you were—" He stopped himself, shaking his head. "Sleeping with my best friend."

Selena's voice was small, but firm. "I never wanted to hurt you. Not everything is about you, Brian!"

Brian barked a bitter laugh. "Yeah? That makes it better?"

Her father cleared his throat. "We're not here to attack her."

Brian looked at their dad, angry and exhausted. "Then what are we doing? Pretending this is normal?"

Selena stepped closer. "Peter and I were already broken long before Jack—"

"Jack?" her mother said, eyes narrowing. "You're calling him Jack like he's your boyfriend now?"

"He's not—" Selena started, then stopped. "I don't know what he is anymore. He won't even speak to me."

"So what," Brian said. "Now that he's done with you, you want sympathy?"

Selena turned to him, her eyes glossy. "You think this was easy for me?"

"Easy?" Brian took a step forward. "You had an affair with my best friend, Selena. You didn't just break your marriage. You broke literary everything. You know how long I've trusted Jack? Since I was eleven. You destroyed that."

"And Peter?" she snapped. "You want to talk betrayal? Peter brought up an open marriage so he could screw our nanny while pretending everything was fine. He made me feel like I was nothing. I didn't cheat first, Brian. I just got tired of pretending I was happy while dying inside."

The room went still.

Her mother looked stunned. Her father rubbed his temple.

Brian's voice dropped. "So that's your excuse? Peter cheated, so you did too?"

"I didn't do it out of revenge," Selena said quietly. "Jack saw me. He cared. When I was drowning in my marriage, he pulled me out."

"But then he pushed you back under," Brian muttered.

Selena bit her lip, trying not to cry again. "He didn't. I did."

Her father looked up. "Are you in love with him?"

"I… don't know," Selena admitted, barely whispering. "Maybe I was. Maybe I still am. But he doesn't want me now."

Her mother sat down slowly. "Selena, we raised you better than this."

Selena turned to her. "You raised me to be honest. To follow what's right. And maybe I didn't do that in the right order—but don't act like I'm the only one in this family who's made mistakes."

Her father said nothing. Her mother looked away.

Brian's jaw clenched. "He came to every family event. He was family."

"And I am your sister," Selena shot back. "But you didn't notice when I stopped smiling. You didn't ask when I stopped sleeping in the same bed as my husband. You didn't see me."

Brian's face twisted in frustration. "You're twisting this."

"No," she said, standing taller. "I'm telling the truth."

They all fell quiet.

After a long beat, her father finally spoke. "So what now?"

Selena looked at him. Her voice broke. "I don't know. I just know I can't go back to Peter. And Jack… Jack doesn't want anything to do with me."

Brian stared at her, then shook his head slowly. "You broke two men, Sel. One who gave you his name, and one who gave you his loyalty. You can't fix that with an apology."

"I'm not trying to fix it," she whispered. "I'm just trying to survive it."

Her mother exhaled sharply and stood. "I think we need space. For all of us."

Selena nodded. "I understand."

She turned to leave, pausing by the door. "I never wanted this to be the end of everything."

Brian's voice came from behind her, quiet but cold. "Then you should've thought about that before sleeping with someone you couldn't keep."

Outside, the sky was gray and heavy, mirroring the way her chest felt.

Selena slid into her car, but didn't start the engine. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

She had lost Jack.

She had lost Peter.

And now, maybe even her family.

The silence was deafening.

And for the first time in her life, she had no one left to lie to, except herself.