The Betrayal Within by Reinavee

Lyra's eyes widened in shock and amusement as her only friend, Elsa, narrated her ordeal at the nightclub to her.

"Elsa, you're kidding, right?"

"I'm dead serious, Lyra. That boy was a total charmer. I don't know if it was because we were both drunk, but the chemistry was electric. You needed to be there! You'd probably have felt it too," Elsa replied a little too seriously.

Lyra chuckled awkwardly and flicked her hair away from her face. "I mean, it's totally cool, but didn't you say he was way younger than you?"

Elsa scoffed and shook her head. "Who cares? I'm not as lucky as you, who have the perfect marriage to a drop-dead gorgeous man. The man of your dreams."

Elsa angled her head backwards to study Lyra, a curious look on her face. "Hey, shouldn't you be happy for me, at least?"

Lyra laughed awkwardly and shook her head, fidgeting. "Oh please, don't get me wrong, El. I'm very happy for you. You know I'd always be. It's just... I'm concerned about you too."

"You don't have to be, girl. I just want to find the kind of love you have. You know, you have a beautiful thing about Zander. I envy you." Elsa had a wistful expression on her face as she said that, but Lyra knew she meant well, despite how she might have sounded. Elsa had always stood by her no matter what, rooting for her, and pushing her when she felt like she couldn't go on anymore.

Lyra Raven, a university undergraduate, had her fair share of misfortunes in life. She'd lost her parents and her only brother in a car accident, in which she'd somehow managed to be the only survivor. The accident had occurred on her tenth birthday, and she'd worn a cloak of guilt ever since, blaming herself for her family's demise, because she had persisted on a birthday dinner in a luxurious restaurant that day. She'd constantly wished she could turn back the unequal hands of time, to rewrite the sad, haunting past. But they were only wishes... and she couldn't ride them even if they were horses. She wasn't confident enough.

Color had gradually started to return to her bleak life when she met Elsa, in high school, and then it had gotten even more colorful on that fateful day, in her sophomore year, when she'd bumped into the man that was now her husband.

The flash of memories brought an irresistible smile to her face, and she chuckled when she caught Elsa slanting her eyes at her.

"I bet you're thinking about him, huh?" Elsa queried, then she added, shaking her head. "I told you, I'm so envious of you. Xander adores you. Have you seen the way he looks at you? I'd totally kill to have a man that looks at me the way Zander looks at you."

Lyra shrugged as she pressed the button for the garage. "Like I always say, El, love will definitely find you. Don't go looking for it."

"So, tell me more about this guy you met at the club," she added as they stepped into the elevator.

Lyra paid rapt attention as Elsa chattered about how she'd hooked up with the guy on a love settee, at a rather secluded spot in the club, and how he'd left her wanting more, with his phone number, and a heart-shaped finger gesture, as passing gifts.

"So, have you called him yet?"

"Not yet. I'm kinda nervous about it."

"Why? I've never known you to be nervous."

"Well... I don't really know what to say to him when I call. And he seemed like-"

She never got to finish her sentence, as Lyra's phone rang out shrilly, interrupting her.

"Hold on," Lyra pleaded, searching her bag for her phone.

She looked at the screen and smiled. "Hey, handsome."