Chapter 3

"No, no!" I said fervently. "You don't have to stress yourself by flying all the way."

"Something's always coming up, I'm sick of it," the voice protested.

"Just give me a few more days to sort myself out. Please don't ask what it is. Just be patient for me, please."

The voice begrudgingly agreed. "Call me immediately you have a change of heart. Don't even hesitate."

"I won't."

On cue, James entered the room as I was ending the call. His eyes curiously strayed to my phone but he did not ask. I sensed that he was in a hurry what with how he was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Of course. He couldn't wait to be reunited with Mona. I grunted with disappointment and disgust. I didn't even know why he bothered showing up here. He had nothing to prove to me, did he?

"I have to go baby shopping with Mona. Get yourself discharged and wait for me at home." Just like that, he was off once again without even waiting for a response.

I did not want to be immediately discharged however. I had a sense that James had changed all the locks at the villa and that the possibility of him trapping me inside was too high.

So as not to raise any premature suspicions on his part, I paid for the two days worth of hospital bills with his card. As far as he was concerned, I was already home. I knew he wasn't going to call to confirm.

I spent seven more days at the hospital. James never made it home even once during that period. On social media, I kept seeing videos and pictures of his romantic affair with Mona. He took her to the most romantic spots across the country and spoiled her rotten with his misdirected affection.

Finally, I made the decision to go home before my secret contact could make good on his resolve to come get me out of this hellhole himself. James had posted another picture with him and Mona on a beach at sunrise, passionately kissing.

I left a sarcastic comment on the picture wishing him a happy life with his mistress. I received quick replies from other profiles.

#aren't you his actual wife?

#wait, for real? The woman in the picture is not his wife???

#why is he doting on another woman?

My phone buzzed. It was James. I did not want to answer but my phone incessantly rang.

"Delete your comment," was the first thing he said to me after seven whole days.

"Why should I when I am truly happy for you?" I retorted.

"Since you want to continue to be childish, I am blocking you from all my social media platforms." He abruptly cut the call. It wasn't like I cared what he did with his social media. I checked myself out of the hospital with my own money.

Leaving, I passed the OBGYN department and spotted James doting on Mona. All the nurses were praising him for his masculine attentiveness. At least I knew now where James' priorities truly lay.

***

In our fifth year of marriage, I had gotten pregnant. James told me to abort it because he wasn't ready.

"It's alright James. We… we are married after all. I'll carry the pregnancy to term alone and even raise our baby alone for when you eventually come around. When our baby finally arrives, I'm sure you'll have a change of heart." I thought it was just his nerves. How very wrong I was!

"Are you deaf or do you no longer speak English? It's too early for us to have a child!"

"James, we've been married for five years."

"I don't care. I'll call the family doctor right now. He will take care of this."

I snatched the phone from him. "If you don't want the baby, I do. I've already told your father and he is excited. Maybe you should be the one to tell him you want an abortion and see what he says."

Darkness flashed in James' eyes. His sixty five year old father, Patrick Simmons, who oversaw the family business, was a conventional man who could disinherit James just for thinking about abortion. Feeling victorious, I turned my back to walk down the staircase. I had underestimated how vindictive James had gotten.

A hand— his hand, pushed me from behind. I lurched, losing my breath and balance as I fell.

I lost the baby. Patrick never truly forgave me for my carelessness on the stairs. He had no idea it was his own son's fault.

***

"Ronica!" Mona calling me with her fake sweetness brought me out of my reminisce. I watched James' face contort upon seeing me.

"Did you follow us?" he snapped.

I scoffed. "You are not that important."

"Wait," James said before I could turn on my heels and leave. A flicker of jealousy flashed through Mona's eyes, her grip on his arm tightened. She was a viper protecting her territory. I could sense the warning for me to back off in her eyes. "Since you are already here somehow, ride home with us. You claim I'm not that important but you got discharged seven days ago. What else would you be doing here if not following us?"

"I truly wasn't following you," I said with a firm voice of steel.

"Quit your petty lies already," James mocked me.

"Jimmy darling, I'm sure she can find her own way home," Mona suggested.

"It's a limousine Mona bunny. We will have the back to ourselves. She can wedge herself in the front with the driver and bodyguard."

All the way to the villa which I no longer considered home, cramped up in front of the spacious car, Mona would not stop moaning as she fucked my husband in the backseat. Only a black thin layer of curtain blocked them from view.