CH 11

Hannah

I shook my head several times.

“Her heart was weak since birth, so she needed a heart transplant. Before moving to this apartment, Emma already had a new heart. Bella said an angel helped them,” one of the community members replied.

An angel? Not an angel, but my husband.

Before they moved to their current apartment? That means it happened about two years ago. And that means Jason had been in contact with her long before that.

Oh, God.

If he didn’t love me, why did he ask me to marry him?

“She’s really lucky to have met her guardian angel. But strangely, Mike gave a different answer,” another community member said. Suddenly, all eyes were on her. We were all waiting for her explanation.

“Did you ask Mike?” Jennifer asked to confirm. The woman who made the statement nodded. She looked confident.

“What did Mike say?” I asked curiously.

“Mike said that Bella’s parents paid for Emma’s heart surgery. Those are two conflicting answers, right?” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“He’s pretty strange. I mean, his family is mysterious,” one of the community members remarked.

“Maybe we should stop talking about his family. How about we go shopping at the mall after this?” Jennifer suggested. All the women present immediately agreed, except me, who remained silent and drifted back into my thoughts.

Why did Mike give different answers? Could it be that Mike knew nothing, or did he know but choose to ignore it? But what kind of man would willingly share his wife with another man? I couldn’t think anymore. However, at least I already knew the answer to the insurance question.

That night, it was already nine o’clock, but Jason still hadn’t come home. I tried to call him, but he rejected my call. I tried to be patient. Suddenly, a message from Jason came in.

“I am still at the office. I have a lot of work to do,” he wrote.

I read the message repeatedly. It was a cold message. He didn’t know how worried Jensen and I were about him.

A few days ago, I saved the cell phone numbers of some of his coworkers. After considering several things, I sent a message to a woman named Kimmy. I had met her several times at company parties. However, before I sent the message to Kimmy, I replied to Jason’s message first.

“Don’t forget to eat. I’m waiting for you to come home,” I replied.

Then, I hurriedly sent a message to Kimmy asking about Jason’s condition since he was working overtime that night. I couldn’t ask her directly because I was worried she would tell Jason.

However, Kimmy’s answer was completely different. She said that her company had not required overtime for a long time because they had hired additional staff.

Once again, I faced a harsh reality. My suspicions were correct. Jason must be with Bella somewhere.

The rain fell heavily that night, accompanied by strong winds that rattled the windows of my living room. Time kept passing, but Jason still hadn’t come home.

What should I do?

Suddenly, a crazy idea popped into my head. Maybe I could go down to the fifth floor and check the situation around Bella’s apartment.

Something urged me to make this idea a reality. This curiosity was killing me. I rushed into my room, changed clothes, and put on a thick sweater to protect myself from the cold.

Before leaving, I checked on Jensen first. I saw he was still fast asleep. Before leaving his bedroom, I tidied up the blanket that was scattered around so Jensen wouldn’t get cold.

Seeing Jensen’s innocent face made me feel guilty. After all, he deserved a perfect family.

But I couldn’t make that happen for him because this marriage was becoming increasingly meaningless.

After closing Jensen’s door, I hurried out and locked the door behind me. Bella’s apartment was close to the elevator, so I went down to the fifth floor via the emergency staircase even though I didn’t feel very comfortable using it because it was silent and the lights weren’t dazzling.

However, something different happened in the emergency stairwell. The lights were brighter, and there were several evacuation warning signs for earthquakes, etc., so it didn’t look scary.

I slowly descended the stairs and hid behind the wall separating the stairwell from the residential units. The area in front of Bella’s apartment looked deserted, but the lights inside were on.

I couldn’t get any closer. If Bella or Mike suddenly came out, all my efforts would be in vain. But it seemed like fate was on my side, opening my eyes wider and clearing my mind to see the truth.

Jason and Bella came out of the door, kissing passionately. Even Bella’s top was half-open. But that wasn’t the worst part.

Our apartment was exclusive, and amid such heavy rain, all the residents would certainly prefer to stay indoors rather than spend time outside.

So, the night was quiet. Even mosquitoes weren’t visible flying around us.

With my eyes wide open, I saw Jason kissing Bella’s upper body with passion. Then, his hand slipped inside her skirt, and a moment later, he pulled off Bella’s white underwear and let it lie on the floor.

Oh, God.

However, what was about to happen was far worse than the worst. Jason slipped inside Bella’s wide skirt. Bella’s legs were spread wide open. Soon after, Bella let out a long moan while closing her eyes. Occasionally, her hands squeezed her breasts.

Jason preferred spending time with Bella rather than with me or Jensen.

I couldn’t bear to watch that hot and disgusting scene any longer. We hadn’t had sex for almost two weeks. I was sure he was having an amazing sexual experience with Bella compared to me, a fat and unattractive woman.

Finally, I left them and go back to my apartment. But the tears wouldn’t stop falling. I had to wipe them away before Jason or Jensen saw them.

However, the longer I tried to hold back my tears, the more they flowed. My heart ached so much that I couldn’t walk up the stairs.

Jason, you’re evil! How could you destroy me like this, making my life seem meaningless?

Just as I was trying to muster the strength to go up to the sixth floor, Mike appeared and stepped out of the elevator. He looked shocked to see me sitting on the floor in a position as if I had fallen.

“Mrs. Howard, are you okay?” he called out. At that moment, he was carrying two large packages. As soon as he saw me, he placed the packages on the floor and ran toward me.