WHEN THINGS FALL APART Episode 1

I used to believe some things were unbreakable friendship, love, and the life I had carefully built. That belief died on a Tuesday morning.

I woke up late that day, the kind of late that makes your heart race before your feet touch the floor. I rushed through my routine, barely tasting my breakfast. My phone buzzed nonstop, but I ignored it, assuming it was my best friend, Amara, checking in like she always did. Amara had been my sister by choice for seven years. We shared secrets, dreams, and heartbreaks. She knew everything about me including how deeply I loved my boyfriend, Daniel.

By the time I got to work, my supervisor was waiting. His face was stiff, rehearsed. The meeting lasted less than ten minutes. Company restructuring. Budget cuts. My role was no longer needed.

Just like that, I was unemployed.

I walked out of the office numb, holding a white envelope that felt heavier than my entire future. I sat on a bench outside, staring at nothing, wondering how I would tell Daniel, how Amara would comfort me. My phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn’t Amara.

It was a message from an unknown number.

“You deserve to know the truth. Check Daniel’s phone.”

My hands trembled. I laughed it off at first people were cruel, after all. But something inside me shifted. I went home early, my chest tight, my thoughts loud. Daniel wasn’t expecting me. His phone lay on the bed, face up, innocent.

I didn’t want to check it. But I did.

What I saw broke something inside me that could never be repaired.

Messages. Pictures. Voice notes. Love words that were once mine now shared with Amara.

My best friend. My boyfriend.

Together.

When Daniel walked in and saw my face, he knew. He tried to explain, to apologize, to say it “just happened.” Amara called moments later, crying, begging me to understand.

Understand what? That the two people I trusted most had betrayed me?

That night, I cried until my eyes burned. I had lost my job, my love, and my best friend all in one day. I went to bed feeling empty, wondering how everything could fall apart so fast.

And I didn’t know yet… this was only the beginning. Continue reading Episode 2