Chapter One: Carol's POV

I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside. At first, I thought I had the wrong apartment. The lights were off and the atmosphere felt unwelcoming, then I heard it.

The sounds of pleasure, soft and low moans, soon I also began to hear the sound of the bed thudding gently against the wall.

I froze and my hand tightened around the doorknob. The grocery bags in my other hand felt too heavy all of a sudden. My heart beat fast in my chest. I didn’t want to believe what I was hearing but the sounds kept coming. Wet skin against skin. Another moan. A loud gasp. A voice I didn’t recognize.

Then I heard his voice. Antonio.

I let the bags slip from my fingers. They hit the floor with a loud thud, and fruits rolled out across the tiles. I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. I just stood there like a statue, hoping this was some terrible dream.

I took one small step forward and saw the bedroom door half open.

My heart dropped.

I walked closer, take quiet and careful steps, with hopes that I was wrong. Still praying I was being crazy.

But my eyes landed on my husband, Antonio, who was in bed with another woman. 

They were both naked and his body moved roughly against hers. He held her hips, driving into her like he was hungry. Her arms were wrapped around his back, nails scratching down his skin. She moaned his name, over and over again.

I stood there, staring, with my legs frozen.

The man I married. The man I cooked for, worked for, loved more than anything, was right there fucking another woman in our matrimonial bed.

He didn’t even notice me at first. He was too busy, too deep into her that he failed to hear my heartbeats. Their bodies slapped together. The sheets were tangled under them. My sheets. My home.

He finally looked up and out eyes met, but to my shock, he didn’t stop.

He didn’t even look surprised to see me.

When he was about to cum, he slowed down and pulled out of her like it was nothing, pouring his cum on her.

This was when he decided to give me attention. He sat back on the bed, looking so calm like I hadn’t just caught him cheating and soon his eyes turned cold, like I was the one who had done something wrong.

The woman grabbed the sheet and covered her chest, smirking at me, like this was some funny joke.

“What are you doing here?” Antonio asked, with a flat and cold tone.

I blinked. “I live here.”

He gave a short, sharp laugh. “I know but you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”

“I finished my business trip early,” I said quietly, my throat feeling tight. “I wanted to surprise you, so I came back today but I ended up being surprised instead.”

I said with a bitter scoff and he stood up slowly, not even bothering to cover himself. He pulled his jeans from the floor and slid them on.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said, buttoning his pants. “Now look at what you came home to see. I have always told you that surprise visits are off the table.”

My hands shook. “This is unbelievable! How can you say this? You’re my husband, Antonio.”

He looked at me and shrugged. “And?”

That word hit me hard.

“And?” I repeated, tears filling my eyes. “You’re cheating on me and sounding so casual about it.”

“Of course, it’s not a big deal,” he said.

“Not a big deal?” I said louder. “You were having sex with another woman in our bed!”

The woman on the bed looked like she wanted to speak, but Antonio held up his hand. She stayed quiet.

He stepped closer to me. His eyes were cold, dead.

“Stop being dramatic, Carol. You always overreact about everything. You blow up over little things that don’t matter.”

I stepped back until my back hit the wall. “What the? You call walking in on you screwing someone else, little!”

“If you didn’t think to surprise me, you would never have seen it, do not blame me for your own stupidity.”

“Now you are calling me stupid, huh?” I shook my head. “You told me you missed me. You texted me just this morning saying just how bad you wanted to see me.”

“I do love you and I really missed you,” he said. “But they are not enough reasons for you to return without informing me.”

My voice cracked. “You have got to be kidding me?”

He sighed. “I am not. Gosh, you have become a total pushover and you fail to understand how things work.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am a man with strong hunger for pleasure, but you’re always working and never around to satisfy me. You do not expect me to just sit around and wait for you. Besides, men are polygamous in nature.”

I stared at him, my heart breaking. “I can’t believe you are actually saying this. I was working for us, Antonio. For our future. You knew I was doing my best.”

He snorted. “Your little business is falling apart, Carol. You’re wasting your time trying to act like some perfect wife and perfect boss. You forgot how to be a woman. You forgot how to be mine.”

“I never stopped being yours!” I cried. “You stopped being mine!”

He moved even closer. His face was inches from mine. “Maybe if you were a better wife, I wouldn’t have needed someone else.”

I slapped him.

I didn’t think. I just did it.

He flinched, then slowly turned his head back to me and his face darkened.

“Be careful what you say to me,” he said softly, but there was a threat in his voice. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

I stared at him, confused. “What does that mean?”

He let out a dark smile.

“Enough of this,” he said. “You must have had a long day, go freshen up.”

I looked past him to the woman still sitting in bed. She looked bored now, like none of this mattered.

I looked back at Antonio.

This man who once held me at night. Who kissed me on the forehead every morning. Who said he wanted forever.

I didn’t know him anymore.

“You know what? I’m done, I want a divorce,” I said, with a low but firm voice.

He raised an eyebrow, then he laughed like I had just cracked a joke. 

“You think it’s that easy?” he said.

“It is,” I said. “I’ll get a lawyer. You’ll never see me again.”

He stepped closer to me. Too close.

“You dare to leave me,” he said, voice quiet, “and you’ll regret it.”

“Are you threatening me now?”

“I’m warning you,” he said. “For your own good.”

I stared at him for a long moment. Then I turned around and walked out of the room, without looking back.

****

I didn’t go home. I couldn’t.

I checked into a hotel. It wasn’t fancy. The room smelled like old smoke and damp carpet but I didn’t care. It was just for the night.

I dropped my bag on the bed and walked into the small bathroom. No tub. Just a tiny shower with low water pressure. But I still turned on the hot water and stood under it until my skin turned red.

Tears flowed down my cheeks, no matter how hard I tried to hold them in. I didn’t want to cry again, Antonio didn’t deserve me. I was just stupidly in love.

I dried off, changed into an old T-shirt, and climbed into the bed. I lay there with open eyes, staring at the ceiling because every time I closed them, all I could see were images of Antonio and the woman, he was happily fucking in our room. 

I rolled over, pulling the blanket up to my chin. I wanted to scream. I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to stop loving him.

Suddenly, my phone rang pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked at the screen and saw it was from Antonio.

I didn’t answer. I let it go to voicemail.

A few minutes later, a text came through.

“Stop overreacting and just come home. We need to talk.”