Chapter Ten: Beaten for the first time

Reaching home, I felt like I couldn't breathe, couldn't talk. I just walked straight to our room, Ethan wasn't home yet, which meant he didn't know about the accident or maybe went to the hospital from the hotel .

I sank onto the edge of the bed and felt tears stream down my cheeks as I stared at the handkerchief in my hand.

"What do I do now?" I thought to myself, my eyes lifting to our wedding photo hanging on the wall above the bed.

The only thing I thought of doing was divorcing Ethan. I couldn't see myself living with him again.

This was beyond being able to forgive. I couldn't take his awful behavior anymore, talk now that there was no one left to keep him in line, who knew what next he would do.

Then another thought came to me. "Would it be smart to divorce him now that both my mother-in-law and father-in-law are in a coma?"

"Oh, God," I said out loud, crying harder as I thought about how I would deal with this pain until my parents-in-law woke up.

"Welcome, sir," I heard Suzzy's voice from the living room.

I knew it was Ethan. I quickly wiped my tears and went to the dressing table, looking in the mirror and pretending to fix my hair.

The door burst open, and Ethan stormed in as if he were ready to kill someone. His eyes were full of fury. I turned to get a better look, thinking he must have found out about his parents' accident.

My own anger turned into concern. "Ethan, what's wron…" I couldn't finish my sentence when a heavy slap, loud as thunder, landed on my cheek.

"What?!" I screamed, holding my stinging cheek. Tears spilled from my eyes. "Ethan, have you gone crazy?"

"Why are you following me? Why do you have to spy on me?" he shouted.

"Is that what you should be asking? Ethan, I caught you with my own eyes sleeping with a woman and not just any woman, but Anna, someone you know is my best friend. And all you can do is come home and hit me?"

"What did you expect me to do? Say sorry and blame the devil? Back when we were dating, you slept with my close friend, Andre. Did you apologize then?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My head spun, and I almost fell, but my hand grabbed the edge of the dressing table, and I managed to stay on my feet.

"What?" I said, trying to understand what he meant.

"Are you going to deny it? There's no need. Here's the proof." He held out his phone. The screen showed a picture of Andre in just his boxer shorts, and me waving goodbye as I left his room.

I was taken back to that day. I had just finished class and was supposed to meet Ethan, but I couldn't find him at his usual spot with his friends, Andre and Paul. My phone was off because I had forgotten my charger.

Then I saw Anna, who told me she saw them heading to Andre’s place. So I went there to look for them, but Anna said she forgot something in class and would meet me there later.

When I got to Andre’s apartment, his door was unlocked. I didn't bother knocking because I thought everyone was inside. But when I walked in, it was just Andre. He was sweating and only wearing shorts. He had just finished having sex with his ex-girlfriend, who was in the bathroom at the time.

"I'm sorry, Andre, I should have knocked. I thought you were here with Ethan and Paul, like I was told," I said.

"It's okay, Maya. They were here, but they went to the supermarket to get something for you. Ethan said he was meeting you today."

"Alright, thank you. Having a good time as I can see," I said, waving at him as we both laughed. Then I left.

That's all that happened.

"Why didn't you come to me directly and ask me about it when you found out?" I said, arguing back. I didn't feel the need to explain what happened that day. Whatever he wanted to believe, he could. He didn't deserve an explanation.

"Why would I ask a harlot like you? It's clear you'd just deny it just like you are about to do," he said as he unbuttoned his shirt to change.

"It is You and your so-called side chick that are the harlots, not me!" I shot back. "You're nothing but a fool being controlled by a harlot to hit me just because I caught you in the act!"

My words infuriated him. He couldn't control himself. He took off his belt and rushed toward me.

I reacted instantly, turning and running out of the room, heading for the stairs. He chased right behind me.

The maids in the living room looked shocked. Our guards rushed inside, thinking something serious was happening, only to see Ethan holding his belt.

This was the first time anything like this had happened. I felt so ashamed, not just for myself, but for Ethan. I stopped halfway down the stairs and quickly turned to face him.

Ethan stopped, too, but he still tried to whip me with his belt. I shouted as loud as I could.

"Go ahead, beat me! That's all you can do while your parents are there lying in a coma!"

My words were a shock to everyone, including Ethan. I could see from his face that he didn't believe me.

He reached for his phone, but couldn't find it. He quickly rushed back into the room. I knew he was going to check his phone and see the missed calls and messages from Dr. Gilbert.

I knew this wasn't the right way to tell him, but it was an act of defense, the only way I could divert everyone's attention at the moment.

"Please, ma'am, what do you mean by 'Sir and Madam are in a coma'?" Suzzy asked. She was the only one brave enough to speak while everyone else stood still, wanting to know what happened.

"Yes, Suzzy, you heard me right. They had an accident on their way home, and it caused them to go into a coma. I just saw Dr. Gilbert, and he told me," I said, slowly sitting on one of the stairs.

The whole house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Soon, I heard Ethan's footsteps running out of our room. He rushed past me without a word and left the house.