But the truth was right in front of me; anything he said felt like classic gaslighting.

“Julian! There’s no point in denying it. I know everything. I heard it and I saw it.

“If you admit it now, I can talk to you calmly. Don’t think about trying to deceive me again. You definitely don’t want to know what I’m capable of doing!”

I gazed deeply at Julian, rubbing my temples to ease the headache that had settled in. The events of yesterday haunted me – after receiving his drunken call and driving him home, I had accidentally caught a glimpse of his messages.

There was a girl’s avatar, stunningly beautiful, with the name Kelly followed by a heart emoji. The messages read:

Julian: [What time is your flight back tomorrow afternoon? I’ll pick you up.]

Kelly ♡: [It’s at 3:30 PM. Julian, you’re so sweet for picking me up yourself. Love you.]

Thinking back to the phone call that led me to his private room, I had overheard snippets of conversation with his friends.

“Julian, are you still not a man? You’ve kept her waiting for so many years. If you don’t make a move soon, someone else will take her away, and you’ll regret it.”