CHASING MY EX-CONTRACT WIFE

PRISCILLA’S POV

Moans filled the air as I made my way into the bedroom that I shared with my husband.

What was going on? Still not believing my ears, I pushed open the door and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks. For a minute, I couldn't breathe.

My husband was laying on the bed while his ex, Pamela — the one he assured me was no threat to me— rode him. She bounced up and down on top of him, her skirt hitched around her thighs.

I stood there, frozen in disbelief.

“Oh, harder, Brent,” she cried wantonly. “Harder.”

The world seemed to slow down as I watched them, my mind racing with a thousand different emotions. Betrayal, anger, heartbreak—they all swirled together inside me. How could he do this to me? How could he break my trust so completely?

She continued her moans while I just stood there, tears pooling rapidly in my eyes.

I must have made a noise because Pamela looked back and threw a wicked smile at me when she saw me.

Blindly, I pushed out of the room, made my way out of the house, and soon found my way to the park.

The images of what I had seen kept flashing through my brain. Not only had Brenton betrayed me, but he had betrayed me with his ex on our matrimonial bed. And he had done this despite the reassurances he had given me. He had told me it was my insecurities acting up and that there was nothing between him and Pamela anymore.

The tears began to gush out again when I remembered when we first met years ago.

Three years ago, my fiance had cheated on me with my best friend and I had gone to the bar to drown myself in alcohol. It was there that I met Brent.

Fueled by the alcohol in my body, I seduced him and we eventually went to a hotel and had sex. By the next morning, he was gone. I had thought it was the end of our meeting with each other but I met him again the next month when his enterprise was investing in my business. He had promised to invest if I could be his contract wife for a year. It had been his father’s stipulation for him if he wanted to remain CEO.

Having no other choice, I had agreed to the contract marriage.

How I wish I didn't. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have found myself in such a position.

God, God, God, I chanted to myself as I tried not to cry out loud.

This wasn't what I wanted for myself — and my unborn baby.

Just a few hours ago I had gone to the doctor after feeling sick every morning for the past few weeks and it had been revealed that I was pregnant. It was when I got home that I met Pamela and Brenton together.

A part of me wondered what would have happened if I had stayed home. Would I have been able to prevent the incident?

People began to look at me as they walked past me and I strained to stop my tears.

“Are you okay?” someone stopped to ask.

I managed to reply, “Yes, yes, I am.”

“Are you sure?” asked the other woman in front of me.

“Yes,” I repeated, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I'm quite fine. Thank you.”

“Alright then, dear,” she replied and I tried to pull myself together as she left but my thoughts kept circling back to Pamela on top of Brenton.

I always knew. Somewhere deep inside, I always knew it would end like this, but anytime I expressed my worries, Brenton would tell me that I was overimagining things, that I was insecure.

My hands tremble as I pull my phone from my bag, staring at the screen as if it might give me answers. I want to call someone, anyone, but I don’t know what to say. What do you say when you’ve just watched your husband, the man who promised to love you forever, with someone else? I bite my lip to keep the sob from escaping.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this.

I thought about my unborn child. When I got the news of my pregnancy, I was part happy, part terrified because I didn't know how being a mom would be. But now, this was the least of my worries. My happiness had been overshadowed by fear and uncertainty. What was the next step for me?

How could he do this to me — to us?

I don’t know what’s worse—knowing that he cheated, or knowing that I’m carrying his child while everything crumbles around me.

I rest my head in my hands, the weight of it all finally crashing down on me. The baby. What am I supposed to do? How can I bring a child into this mess? How can I trust him to be a father when he can’t even be faithful to me? And yet… the thought of leaving, of being a single mother, terrifies me just as much.

What if I can’t do it?

I wipe my face with the sleeve of my jacket, trying to pull myself together.

The first thing I need to do is decide what I want. Do I want to stay with him, to try to work things out for the sake of this child? Or do I leave, start over, and raise the baby on my own?

The idea of leaving feels like ripping my heart out, but staying… Can I ever forgive him? Can I ever look at him again without seeing him? Without wondering if he’ll do it again?

But I knew I couldn't sit here forever and keep on crying. Crying won't wound back the hands of time and stop what had happened. All I had to do was find a way to move ahead and put Brenton's betrayal behind me.

I got up and made my way back home. I had to figure out what my next step would be.

****

Anxiety filled my heart as I approached the stairs leading to the front door. I could hear Brent and Pamela's voices inside the living room.

What would he say when I entered the room? What excuse would he give? What an apology!

Taking a deep, calm breath, I climbed up the stairs and pushed the door open.

I had barely made it inside when I saw that Brent was cradling Pamela on the sofa which she lay on. He looked up when I shut the door and our eyes clashed. His face was filled with cold terrifying fury.

Before I could say a word, he spat out,

“Cheat!”