Heartbreak and New Beginnings

Chapter 1

How could this have happened? How on earth did she not see the signs?

Angel was currently in the bedroom, hastily packing all her clothes and belongings into a large bag. Tears cascaded down her face as she packed, the memory of last night's events still embedded in her mind.

________________________________________________________________________________

It was another hard night at the hospital, but finally, Angel was off work. She sensed her back full of tension and pain, and quite honestly, she was ready to get into bed and fall asleep in the arms of her fiance.

Anthony Terrance.

The two had met three years ago in a local diner after Angel had accidentally spilled her coffee all over him in a rush to get to work. After the initial shock, the two laughed as she attempted to help him clean his shirt. Then, after buying him his meal as an apology, the two quickly started talking. It wasn't long until they exchanged phone numbers, joking that now Angel owed Anthony dinner.

It wasn't long until the two started dating. But, of course, this wasn't until Anthony met Angel's daughter Yuai. Yuai was from a previous relationship Angel had with a turtle named Raphael, and Angel made it very clear to Anthony that Raph was still highly involved in Yuai's life. This, of course, meant that Raph had met Anthony and that Raph would be around a lot.

A few months into the relationship and Angel started to notice some red flags. Something about Anthony just wasn't right. It began with him coming home late from work, and whenever Angel asked, he responded with, "I got caught up at the office." or "I lost track of time." Of course, Angel didn't think anything of it and continued.

Strike one

The next red flag came when Angel had gone over to Raph and Tamara's warehouse, where they trained the new foot clan and lived. Raph and Angel often shared custody of Yuai and traded weekends so she could see both her parents. Raph had invited Angel to stay for dinner since it was almost six at night.

Raph and Angel were in the kitchen while Tamara stayed with Yuai to entertain her. Raph glanced over at Angel and coughed, clearing his throat.

"Hey Angel, can I talk to you about something?" Raph asked, his voice filled with concern.

Angel looked over at the red-clad turtle, confusion on her face as she nodded.

"Yea, what's up, Raph?" She asked, her voice filled with nervousness and distress.

Raph bit his lip as he looked at Angel. There was something that Yuai had mentioned to him that got him concerned about Angel's relationship. Initially, he wasn't going to say anything, but when he saw Angel, he recognized he had to tell her. It would be morally wrong to keep it a secret.

"Uh, Yuai mentioned hearing something I think you should know. When Yuai was doing homework in the living room, she heard Anthony talking to someone on the phone. She wasn't eavesdropping on purpose or anything - he was talking pretty loud. But it's what she said that kind of confused her. He mentioned something about meeting up with someone now that you were at work and that he couldn't wait to see this person. Then, as they were ending the call......H-He said he loved this person." Raph said, looking Angel in the eyes. He could see the sorrow in her eyes as her eyes kept a stoic expression. As much as Raph despised doing this to her, she also didn't deserve this.

Angel's mind was racing with thoughts. Was Anthony cheating on her? Maybe Yuai misunderstood what he was saying? or perhaps he was talking to some family members? The wheels just kept turning in her brain. She could see the concern in Raph's eyes. Angel understood he wouldn't be saying this if it was nothing, but she couldn't believe that Anthony would cheat on her. After all - they had just gotten engaged last month.