Chapter 001
Reese
''Don’t worry about me, I’ll just call my daughter if I need something...'' the words were spoken in a hushed voice by my mother-in-law as she lovingly clasped my hand, her soft eyes looking tenderly at me. She was currently resting in her bed, exhibiting signs of weakness due to the severe disease that had been diagnosed by the doctor.
Because she was so ill, she required my assistance in everything, including preparing her meals, feeding her, assisting her in going to the bathroom, and a great deal of other things.
Mia, my mother-in-law’s only daughter and the younger sister of my husband, worked as a nurse at St. Jude Hospital. However, rather than taking care of her own mother, she decided to work and provide assistance to other people, which would undoubtedly result in her coming into financial gain.
When I took a quick look at the clock that was hanging on the wall, I noticed that it was only fifteen minutes before five o’clock in the afternoon. In a short amount of time after her shift in the hospital, Mia would promptly return home.
''All right. I am going home for now, mom. I’ll just come back tomorrow...'' I spoke to her in a soft voice as I tucked her in with the sheets and then kissed her on the forehead before I walked out of her bedroom.
Troy was the one who asked me to take care of his mother, and as an obedient wife, I complied right away. I was never given a chance to object when he told me that it was an important matter for him.
At first, I assumed I would only stay for a single day. Troy did not inform me that I needed to stay so that I could check on his mother at night as well. This was because Mia would be very exhausted after work. However, he stated that I was still allowed to go home at least twice or three times a month.
The fact that my mother-in-law gave me permission to go home today was a nice surprise. She was aware that my second wedding anniversary with Troy was today. I had planned to take him by surprise by preparing a special dinner for us.
My hardworking husband was still working at the time, but I was confident that by the moment he got home, I would have finished preparing the table for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
I walked out of the house with a sense of excitement and was going to flag down the taxi that I had just seen passing, when all of a sudden, it started pulling up in front of me. When I saw Mia sitting in the passenger seat at the back, my pupils contracted. I watched her as she handed the driver her payment and then exited the vehicle.
As she turned her head in my direction, her eyes instantly rolled. She walked past me with a slight bump on my shoulder, and I somehow managed to avoid her a bit, because I knew that she’d do it. The impact wasn’t that hard, making my lips curve silently.
A friendship between Mia and I had never existed. Her hatred for me stemmed from the fact that she liked her brother for her best friend. Unfortunately for them, Troy chose me over Nica.
As I climbed into the cab, I shrugged my shoulders and then proceeded to tell the driver my address. After that, he began to speed away.
''What’s that smell?’’ The driver suddenly scrunched up his nose, sniffing around, and heat immediately crawled up my face, my cheeks reddened in embarrassment when I noticed that my clothes were full of vomit.
My mother-in-law had thrown up on me earlier. I wasn’t able to change my clothes before I left since I was so eager to get back home.
I bit my lip as I pulled a tissue out of my bag and began to wipe my clothes. However, this action did not do much other than create a mess in the taxi, and the smell did not even begin to reduce. I couldn’t help but feel relieved that the driver had refocused his attention on the road and continued driving, ignoring the offensive odor that was emanating from me.
As soon as the taxi came to a stop in front of the house, I hurriedly paid the driver, rushed out of the vehicle, and then fished for my keys to open the main door.
Noticing that there were two pairs of shoes at the entryway caused my eyebrows to furrow in surprise. I recognized the pair of black shoes as my husband’s, but the other pair made my frown deepen. It was a pair of silver stiletto heels.
I let out a sigh of dismay as I contemplated the fact that I would no longer be able to surprise Troy because he had already returned home. But the fact that he invited a friend to celebrate with us made me smile in excitement.
I did not bother to use the keys that I was holding in my hand and instead seized the doorknob and wrenched it open. Of course, it was unlocked.
I entered the house with the expectation that Troy would be waiting for me on the couch with his friend, the person who owned the silver heels. But the house was empty, and it greeted me with the silence that seemed to reign inside of it.
On the other hand, there were some things that did not correspond to the peace that I could or could not perceive. Because when I padded towards the kitchen, Troy’s suit was hanging on the chair, and his dress shirt was lying on the floor. I picked it up before returning to the living room, where I looked around again, but found that the room was still deserted.
I let out a long sigh as I ascended the stairs, and as I walked my way down the corridors, I froze when I heard a peculiar sound emanating from the bedroom.
Moanings and groanings. Those were the things that pounded on my ears at that moment as I slowly approached the bedroom. My knuckles turned white as I tightly gripped Troy’s shirt.
I was unmoved outside the door, and there was no question in my mind about what I was hearing. I felt my shoulders slump as I let out a soundless breath.
Although my entire body started shaking, I was still able to hold the doorknob and twist it, pushing it open. I was shocked at the sight that was in front of me, and it hit me like a freight train. The sounds that I had never heard from him before---a horrible combination of scenes and noises that sucked the air out of me, filled me with a wave of sickness that knocked me off my feet.
Troy, my husband of exactly two years today, was on our bed, naked. He was using our marital bed by having sex with someone else in between those sheets, someone that wasn’t me, someone that has a smaller frame than me.
The only woman I knew who had a smaller frame than me, was Nica. And she loved to wear heels. Stilettos, cut-outs, pumps, peep-toes. Name it, and you can find it in her collections.
I thought Troy didn't like her. I thought he had already chosen me over her. I was wrong.
I remained completely frozen at the doorway in complete shock, not a single word coming out of my mouth, not a cry, even though tears started to well up in my eyes. I felt a rising sensation of betrayal in my chest, which coiled itself around my heart and threatened to cut and dice.
I was experiencing a ringing sensation in my ears, as if they had been damaged by a strong explosion, which was comparable to a bomb going off in my area and rendering me fleetingly deaf.
By this point, I ought to be accustomed to being rejected and betrayed. As for rejection, I have had enough of being rejected by people I believed I could trust, and men have proven that they cannot be trusted.
As I clutched the doorknob tightly, as if I could keep my heart from bleeding hurt, I told myself to race away from the disgusting and horrible scene, but I couldn’t move my feet. I couldn’t walk away. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them, and I even couldn’t step inside to stop them.
The only thing that the parts of my body were capable of doing was shaking violently. My gaze was fixed on their bare, sweaty bodies, as they intensely slapped and moved together.
My lips were trembling, watching that body of my husband that I knew so well, and that other body I couldn’t identify, because Troy was covering her face as he hovered on top of her. I could only catch a peek of her ginger hair, which was quite long.
Ginger hair, exactly the same as mine. I absentmindedly touched my hair and looked down at the strands that were cascading over my shoulder.
Wait. Ginger?
But Nica’s hair was dark brown.