The crash

Lucy’s POV

Somehow, I manage to get back home from the restaurant in one piece, but I’m a slobbering mess and a total nervous wreck.

It’s almost twelve in the morning, and usually, I’ll be fast asleep by this time of the night, but today, sleep eludes me because of my broken, heavy, and aching heart.

Austin isn’t at home when I get back there, and he doesn’t come back for several hours.

When he finally arrives, it’s almost three in the morning, and it becomes clear that I didn’t hallucinate the events of that evening.

“Here, take this and sign it.” He tells me without preamble, handing me some official-looking documents.

“What is that?”

“It’s divorce papers. I told you that I wanted a divorce when we were at the restaurant, didn’t I?” He asks me, glaring at me.

 “You can't be serious. Are you truly divorcing me? I should be the one divorcing you after what happened today.” I tell him, hating how shaky my voice is.

 “But you won’t do it, will you? You and I both know what you are … which is a weak, pathetic woman who has no life outside of her marriage to me. You’ve been nothing but a horrible wife since we’ve been married. I’ve been managing to tolerate you, but what happened today was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Just look at how you embarrassed me in public. I …”

“I embarrassed you in public? How would you react if you found me kissing and fondling the man you think is your best friend in the restaurant where we’re supposed to celebrate our anniversary?” I ask him.

He’s acting like a mean stranger whom I’ve never met in my life, not the man I spent the last year being married to and loving.

 I wish I could act as disinterested as he’s acting, but I can't just turn off my emotions or pretend that I'm not heartbroken by the situation.

“Look, I’m fed up with you. You have no class at all. Amy is ten thousand times classier than you are. She would never disgrace me the way you did today. Some idiots at the restaurant were even filming everything. Do you know what that would do to my reputation if people found out that I am the one in the videos? I’ve already signed the papers. Sign them as well before I get back. I want to be free of you, Lucy. I can't wait to be free of you.” He tells me harshly, and then he turns and leaves.

I’m too hurt and surprised to say anything, and after he leaves, I sink into bed and start to cry for the umpteenth time in the few hours since I found out about him and Amy.

Throughout that night, sleep eludes me as I keep replaying the events of the night in my head.

It all seems so surreal, and despite everything, I just can't accept the fact that the two of them betrayed me the way they did.

“He has to explain. He has to tell me for how long this has been going on, and why he married me when he knows that he doesn’t love me.” I think to myself when I wake up the next morning.

There are bags under my eyes because I could only sleep for a few hours, and even then, I kept waking up at intervals.

I freshen up as best as possible under the circumstances and prepare to make my way over to Austin’s office for some much-needed answers.

Even though Austin has already signed the papers, he has to explain everything I want to know to me in detail if he wants me to sign the papers without fuss.

As I drive down the familiar route to his office, tears blur my vision, even though I promised myself to be strong and stop crying.

I can't help but feel utterly alone. This feeling is worsened by the fact that I have no one to turn to or even ask for advice.

I’m an orphan who never met her birth parents, so I have no parents or siblings, and my other friend is far away on another continent.

Suddenly, my train of thought is interrupted as I make a sharp turn at an intersection, and terror grips me.

This is because right at that moment, a car deviates from its original lane and heads straight toward me at full speed.

On an impulse, I turn the steering in order to avoid being hit, but it’s too late, and the car hits me, but not as badly as it would have had I not turned the steering.

Unfortunately, however, I lose control of my car, and I watch in horror as it veers off the main road and careens along the shoulder of the road. I hit the brakes desperately and repeatedly, trying to stop the car.

But suddenly, this car that I’ve driven for almost five years seems to have developed a mind of its own, and nothing I do stops it.

The brakes fail to work … something that has never ever happened before, and as I continue to struggle, the car veers off the shoulder of the road and runs down a steep incline.

There’s nothing I can do other than try to avoid hitting one of the several trees on this terrain.

I’m terrified … more than I’ve ever been in my entire life, and I begin to chant prayers under my breath.

It’s only a matter of time before the car rams into a tree, and unfortunately, there are quite a number of them on this stretch of road.

“I can't die alone like this.” I think to myself.

Suddenly, I need to hear a familiar voice, and without thinking, I ask my phone assistant to call Austin, since he’s the only person I ever call during emergencies.

The panic and fear that I feel suddenly override the fact that we’re in a patchy spot right now.

“Austin, Austin! Oh, my God, I’m so scared! Someone hit me, and I lost control of the car. The brakes are not working. I don’t know what to do! I need help!” I cry aloud as soon as the phone connects.

There is no reply, but I can tell the line is still connected, and after a few seconds have passed, I realize my folly.

I should have dialed 911 instead, even though they won’t be able to help before I inevitably crash.

“Austin … are you there? I’m scared I'm going to die!” I exclaim again, and then I hear it … the sound of muffled feminine giggling, followed by a man’s murmur, but I can't make out what he’s saying.

Then comes a sound that I’ve heard so many times that I’ve lost count, which is the sound of Austin’s groan during sex, followed by a loud feminine moan and other sex sounds.

Before I can even fully process what is going on, not to talk of reacting, my car crashes head-on into a tree ahead of me, and then everything is silent.