5

Chapter 5

Patrick Banks

~•~

Valerie seemed shocked as I told her about it.

“You are really a good actor.” I shook my head as I saw her stunned reaction. “I mean, that’s your line of work. Why am I surprised?” I added with a scoff.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “Can you hear yourself? Who did I cheat on you with?”

“Oh, please! Drop the act already.”

My patience was wearing thin, and I was sick of her pretense. The pain of her betrayal pierced through my heart, and it felt like I was stabbed with a knife.

Valerie’s expression turned serious. “Stop playing games with me. Who did I cheat on you with?” She didn’t hide the frustration in her voice.

“Jamal.” His name burned on my lips.

I made a mistake by trusting Valerie.

I had made my concerns about Jamal known to her. Even though she assured me that nothing was going on with them, I always had this tiny voice in the back of my mind telling me that it would eventually happen.

I saw Jamal as a ticking time bomb.

And I was right.

She convinced me that he was family and she had known him for a long time. But she ended up cheating on me with him.

The thought of her infidelity with him made my stomach churn. My mind raced with so many unanswered questions.

Wasn’t I good enough for her? What could he offer that I didn’t have? I felt so devastated and betrayed. I had been nothing but loyal to Valerie for the past three years.

Our marriage was perfect.

We were role models to a lot of people. But she ruined everything just because of her co-star? It didn’t come as a surprise to me because they spent a lot of time together.

I even asked her to quit. I wanted to pay her twice what she made every year from her acting career. But she refused. Valerie didn’t want to depend on me.

She practically chose her career over our marriage.

“Jamal?” Valerie laughed. “You want a divorce because I cheated on you with Jamal?” She looked at me like I had just said the most outrageous thing in the world.

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

“Where did you get that information from?” She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. “Oh my goodness.”

My jaw hardened. “You’re not even going to try to deny it?” I narrowed my eyes on her, letting out a deep breath.

“I didn’t cheat on you with Jamal.” Her tone turned defensive. “I didn’t cheat on you with anybody!” She added, her voice firm.

Valerie was looking at me and lying straight to my face. If I didn’t have all the evidence I needed, I could have easily believed her lies.

“Oh, please.”

“Who told you about it? Where did you get the information from?” Her eyes flashed with curiosity. “I can’t even believe you would accuse me of something like this.”

“It’s not an accusation, Valerie.” I countered. “You were caught red-handed. Just stop lying to me and admit it.”

Valerie responded with a disappointed scoff, shaking her head. “Show me the proof then. You can’t just accuse me of doing something without having any evidence to back it up.”

My goodness! She was such a good actor.

I couldn’t even look at those photos and text messages anymore. I certainly didn’t need to show them to her.

She was already aware of what she did.

I felt so insulted and would feel more miserable if I showed my evidence to her. I loved Valerie. God, I loved her more than anything. Maybe that was why it hurt me so damn much.

But I wasn’t even interested in talking about it anymore.

I had put so much effort into our marriage, and I knew it was time to walk away. Staying with her would mean that I was disrespecting myself.

It was a good thing that I had finally told her about it. I had been carrying this burden alone for days, and it was messing with my mental health.

I didn’t want to believe it at first. I kept wishing it wasn’t true. I wanted to be wrong.

But after thinking about it for a while and connecting the dots, I realized that everything was true. Who knows how long they have even been sleeping together?

“Just sign the papers, Valerie.” I continued, trying hard to mask the pain in my voice. “You will be free to do whatever you want.”

The worst part about everything was that she wasn’t even remorseful about anything. She didn’t even apologize or try to fix things.

She was just focused on defending herself.

I couldn’t just stand there and watch her lie to me anymore. “I’ve already signed my part, I hope you do the same before I return.”

Valerie was quiet.

I wondered what was going through her mind.

She finally got what she wanted. Now she could be with Jamal. I always watched their show even though my friends advised me not to.

I saw how good their chemistry was on screen. I should’ve known better. The image of their infidelity replayed in my head, and I closed my eyes briefly to push it away.

Our conversation was over, so I grabbed my keys and headed out of the house. “Aren’t you staying for dinner with Valerie?” The maid asked as she saw me walking past the living room.

We hadn’t had dinner together in a while.

So many things had changed in such a short period.

“I'm not staying for dinner.” My voice was cold.

The maid knew better than to ask any further questions.

As I settled down in my car, I couldn’t believe that my marriage was over. I never imagined something like this could happen.

I always thought Valerie was the endgame. I pictured us growing old together. But it wasn’t going to happen anymore.

Cheating was one thing I couldn’t move past.

Just as I was about to turn on the engine of the car, my phone buzzed with a text from Jessica. [ Have you done it yet? I’m already waiting for you at the hotel.]

[ Yes, I’m on my way. ]

I stared at my screen for a long second before tossing my phone onto the passenger seat. My hands trembled as I gripped the steering wheel.

I wasn’t proud of what I was about to do. But I wanted Valerie to feel the heartbreak and betrayal too. I wanted her to hurt just like I did.