Vitamin Secrets

Elena watched Marcus across the kitchen table, the morning light catching the silver at his temples. He'd been her best friend for three years, ever since that terrible rainy Tuesday when he'd helped her carry groceries to her third-floor walk-up. Now he was gone, leaving nothing but a half-empty coffee mug and the scratch of Luna's claws against the hardwood.

Her golden retriever whined softly, nudging Elena's hand. Luna had always loved Marcus more than anyone else, which made it worse.

The corporate security team had shown her the evidence yesterday afternoon: Marcus wasn't a freelance graphic designer. He'd been a corporate spy, sent by her company's biggest competitor to infiltrate their R&D department. Every late-night strategy session, every brainstorm over tacos, every drunken confession about career anxiety—all of it had been reconnaissance.

She'd spent years trusting him with her fears about turning forty, about her irregular heartbeat, about the daily ritual of staring at her vitamin supplements and wondering if they actually did anything. He'd held her hand during panic attacks. He'd celebrated when she got promoted to vice president. He'd told her she was brilliant, that she deserved every success.

And all the while, he'd been stealing the formulas she helped create.

Luna barked, startling her. The dog's water bowl was empty again. Elena filled it mechanically, watching the water swirl and settle. How much of their friendship had been real? The way he remembered how she took her coffee—black with a splash of oat milk. The inside jokes about their terrible landlord. The time they'd spent three hours discussing whether they believed in soulmates.

That conversation had ended with him saying he thought friendship was the purest form of love. She'd teased him for being sentimental. He'd looked at her with such tenderness, she'd felt her breath hitch.

Had that been part of the operation too?

Elena's phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number: I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I had a choice to make.

She blocked the number without responding. Some betrayals didn't deserve explanations.

Luna rested her head on Elena's knee, golden eyes trusting. Elena buried her face in the dog's soft fur, finally letting herself cry. In the end, maybe Marcus had been right about one thing: you never truly know someone until you see what they'll do when they have everything to lose.

The vitamins sat on her counter, a row of promises she'd kept making to herself. Tomorrow, she told herself. Tomorrow she'd start taking them again. Tomorrow she'd be someone who knew better than to trust so completely.

Tomorrow, she'd stop waiting for messages that would never come.