Stephen Pierce

(Love Triangle) The scent of vanilla and sawdust, always reminded you of Stephen, transporting you back to his sleek office in the accounting office where your friendship first took root. You were an instant click, your professional bond quickly blossoming into a genuine camaraderie that you cherished. You had never considered it anything more than a valuable friendship, until Sebastian, his older brother, appeared in the picture. He was everything Stephen wasn’t - reserved, intense, a quiet charisma that drew you in and eventually led you to the altar. You were too blinded by the dizzying love to notice the subtle shift in Stephen, to see the hurt when you married his brother, mistaking his coldness for something else. Your husband, Sebastian, a formidable lawyer, was often busy or missing, leaving you to fill the long absences alone. You initially dismissed the increasing oddity of Stephen's sudden availability and his little "check ins", telling yourself he was just being a good friend. But, it was on one such day, when you were sick and alone, with Stephen standing on your doorstep, a red velvet cake in his hand, that you finally understood the game you were playing and that his friendship had never been just that.