Chapter 2: Infidelity

She spent the longest night of her life, a night that was supposed to be the most beautiful, because after all, ten years of marriage do not happen every day. However, Humberto had chosen that very day to show her how little he cared for her and how ugly she seemed to him.

Adeline woke up with swollen eyes and an unbearable pain in her heart, like a stabbing pain that never stopped, incessantly.

"Pig"

"Pig"

"Pig"

She felt the word being repeated like a mantra, over and over again...

"Gustavo," Adeline murmured suddenly. Her brother had just called her.

"Adeline, what's wrong? I can't hear you well this morning," he immediately worried.

"I knew him so well," the woman thought and sighed

"It's nothing, Gustavo." She was grateful that he could not see her, because otherwise he would get the truth out of her, even if she did not want to. "I just had a little bit of the flu. You know."

"Adeline, are you sure?" His tone was gentle.

"Yes," she tried to make her voice sound more convincing. "Tell me how the rehab is going?".

"This is bullshit," he blurted out and changed the subject. "I doubt I'll ever walk again, Adeline. I'll be a damn paraplegic forever."

"Don't say that, Gustavo," she scolded him.

"It's the truth," his resignation was evident in every word. "Our parents died, and I can't even take over the company because I'm confined to this damn chair. I don't know what would become of our family business without Humberto."

"Ah," her voice cracked, but Gustavo did not notice. "I know you'll get better, brother. You'll get through this."

"Thank you for keeping faith with me, Adeline," he sighed, "but it's time to accept things as they are."

After those words, Gustavo said goodbye, while Adeline remained immersed in that last thing he had said.

"Accept things as they are," she thought and tried to analyze each word.

Should she then accept that her marriage had reached an irreparable point?

Should she accept that divorce was the only alternative left to her?

The thought was painful in itself; no one married with the desire for a divorce. She did not. She married in love. Humberto was a man ten years her senior, but he knew how to enter her heart and gain her trust. They had been happily married just twenty-four hours before. She should not give up so easily.

With that in mind, Adeline took her children to school and then made a detour to the corporate buildings of her family's company. She needed to talk to her husband.

"Good morning, Mrs. Carson," the receptionist greeted her.

"Good morning, Sofia," she replied with a smile.

She did not need to be announced; she was a partner in that company, a majority partner, if not its owner. Her parents had inherited the shares equally between her and her brother. However, her grandfather had always shown special favoritism toward her, so he left her five percent more shares than Gustavo.

With her head held high, she walked through the company's halls until she reached the president's office.

"Executive President: Humberto Carson," she read on her husband's office door, an instant before hearing a strange series of sounds. They were like... gasps.

"Humberto!" she shrieked when she opened the door and saw the scene unfolding inside.

A woman was lying on the desk, without a skirt or underwear, while her husband was nestled between her legs.

"Adeline," he said in astonishment, turning around after buttoning his pants.

"What does this mean?" She asked in stupefaction. Although everything was clear enough.

"Nothing, darling," he denied and gestured for the aforementioned woman to leave. The woman stumbled as she straightened her skirt, gathered her underwear, and put it in her purse.

"Excuse me," she said as she left, clearly embarrassed.

"It's not what you think," she heard from her husband's voice.

"And what do you think I'm thinking?" she asked, unable to believe her audacity.

"I was very upset about our argument yesterday, Adeline. I couldn't sleep, so I came to work," he explained hurriedly. "Eloise came home early this morning and found me asleep. She's always had an employee-boss fantasy, so she provoked me in my dreams. I'm a man, Adeline. I couldn't resist the temptation, and this is the result. But I guarantee you, it means nothing to me; the only one who matters is you."

"I can't believe it, Humberto!" "I can't believe this!" she cried and buried her face in her hands.

It was not just his discouraging words from yesterday, but infidelity was added to the mix.

"Come on, darling. You're the only one I want." He leaned closer and tried to grab her face, just after he would have his hands on that woman.

"Don't touch me!" She pushed him away roughly.

Humberto pulled away and stared at her. His expression changed for a moment; again, the evidence of disgust was there, as if he felt repulsion toward her.

"I'm making an effort for this marriage, Adeline. Don't ruin it." His words sounded like threats.

"Is this your definition of making an effort by being unfaithful?"

"Yes!" He exploded. "You don't know how hard it is to put up with you every day!" Please, just look at yourself in a mirror," he pointed at her disdainfully. "You don't even provoke a bad thought in me anymore. Your body, your face, you... you're unpleasant to look at."

The sound of a loud thud echoed through the office. Adeline did not know where she got the courage, but she had just slapped her husband.

"You're a trash, you disgust me," she said.

"I can be a trash and all that, love, but you're married to me." He grabbed her arm tightly and started hurting her.

“But not for much longer” she slipped from his grasp. “Needless to say, I want a divorce, Humberto,” she said before turning around.

“Oh, you want a divorce?” he mocked. “And then what will become of your beloved business, Adeline? Because I don't think you or your invalid brother can pull it off. So think about it.”

His words rattled in her mind for a moment, but she quickly pushed them away. While Gustavo could not take the lead because of his disability, she could find another solution; after all, she would have studied finance. Her parents had always wanted them to stay in the family business, but then she simply got married and discarded the idea. Terrible mistake, by the way.

“Let me worry about that,” she said, in that moment, before closing the door.