BENEATH THE LIES

001

The setting sun painted the sky in hues of amber and violet as I walked home from the supermarket. The plastic bags in my hands cut into my palms, but I barely noticed.

Life with Ryan wasn’t perfect after I left my father's house, my mother begged me not to leave but I did.

Ryan and i didn't have much. We scraped by on my earnings as an author, stretching every dollar, but it was enough. We were enough. We had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and love—wasn’t that what mattered?

I climbed the porch steps and reached for the door, but something made me pause. A glint of black caught my eye.

A pair of black heels sat by the entrance.

I frowned. Those weren’t mine.

My grip on the grocery bags tightened.

Ryan had company, but that made no sense. He knew how I felt about unexpected guests, especially women.

I pushed the door open, stepping inside.

The first place my eyes landed on was the table.

A pair of panties lay draped over the edge, delicate lace with tiny heart-shaped designs.

My stomach dropped.

I knew those panties.

Not because they were mine—because they weren’t.

Ryan had bought me a similar pair months ago, but these were a different size. A different fit. Not mine. Someone else’s.

My gaze quickly snapped to the bedroom door, slightly ajar as muffled sounds trickled through the crack—soft, breathless gasps mixed with deep, guttural groans.

My blood ran cold.

Just then a high-pitched moan escaped from the room.

"Oh yes, Ryan! Don’t stop!"

My entire body locked up.

No, I whispered to myself

My mind rebelled against what I was hearing, but the proof was all around me.

"Ugh, that’s so good. Keep going," Ryan’s voice rumbled—deep, familiar, unmistakable.

I staggered forward, my heart pounding against my ribcage like it was trying to escape.

I reached the door. Stopped. My hand hovered over the knob, trembling.

I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to know.

But I already did.

With a sharp intake of breath, I pushed the door open.

And my heart shattered.

There, tangled in the sheets of our bed, was Ryan. His body slick with sweat, his hands gripping the hips of the woman straddling him. Her head was thrown back in pleasure, lips parted as she rode him like he belonged to her.

A strangled sound left my throat before I could stop it.

The woman gasped, scrambling for the sheets to cover herself.

Ryan, on the other hand, didn’t move. Didn’t panic. He just lay there, his gaze meeting mine—calm, detached. Like this wasn’t the destruction of everything I had built with him.

“Why, Ryan?” My voice barely came out, raw and broken.

He exhaled, tilting his head. “So now you’ve lost your manners, Alora? You barge in without knocking, you intrude on my privacy, like, who the hell do you think you are?”

I flinched, my eyes widened in shock, who the hell am i?, intrude on his privacy?, what privacy?, I asked myself.

My house, my bed and yet I'm the intruder?

I folded my fist in anger as something inside me snapped, walking towards him I slapped him hard across the face.

You're a cheat Ryan!!, I yelled, a good for nothing cheat.

Ryan clutched his cheek then he gave me a deadly stare, Before suddenly his vicious face was replaced by laughter.

The kind that made me sick.

I couldn't quite get why he was laughing. He only made me more angry but Before I could say another word, he slapped me hard across the face and I fell on the bed due to the impact.

My cheek burned but I forced myself not to cry, just then my eyes landed on the woman who was still on the bed, her face covered with the sheets leaving only her eyes and hair visible.

My anger intensified and I stood up from the bed, I glared at Ryan and without wasting a minute I began walking towards the woman.

The woman shrank back. But then I recalled those eyes, they were familiar, it was then I remembered the face

My breath hitched.

I stumbled back a step, as more tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Ash?”