CH 1

Hannah

I thought my life was perfect, and my marriage was happy. Every woman must be happy when they have a good, caring, and handsome husband. And our marriage was blessed with an intelligent and handsome son. I felt proud and blessed to be his mother. Without realizing it, small cracks had appeared in our marriage long ago.

One day, an event tickled my intuition as a wife who had been dulled because I thought everything was fine and perfect. Afterward, lie after lie opened my eyes wider until I felt that true love was just a brag and no longer existed in this world.  

The saying goes one lie will be followed by another lie.

I witnessed with my own eyes the disgusting things they did repeatedly and not only that, another fact that was no less shocking almost killed me. I couldn't figure out how a man I had known for ten years could commit such a heinous act.

Was love easy to fade and disappear as pollen in the wind?

I felt like my world had been turned upside down a hundred and eighty degrees. The man I love had the heart to destroy a world that was perfectly intertwined.

I have been married to Jason Howard for seven years. We have a handsome son named Jensen Howard. Since becoming pregnant with Jensen, I stopped working for a well-known jewelry company in Riverford.

Jason was delighted with my decision because he was promoted to General Manager of a well-known car company in Riverford. He assured me that everything would be fine because we lacked nothing financially. Plus, before getting married, Jason had bought a spacious apartment for us to live in as a small family.

We were indeed a happy family at first.

Since Jensen was born, I have devoted my attention only to my husband and child, to where I forgot to take care of myself. I realized this when our family was invited to dinner by a community member in the apartment’s neighborhood where we lived.

“Hannah, are you ready?” Jason called out from the living room.

“Give me a few more minutes.” He made me panic.

I have finished putting on my makeup. It’s just that I was not sure what to wear that night. I chose and tried on many dresses, but none of them felt right. All the dresses were old models. When I looked at my collection of handbags, which are few, it turned out that all the models were outdated, and some were even worn out and damaged.

From there, I realized I was too focused on my family, to the point of forgetting my own needs.

Because time was running out, I chose a black-collared midi gown. The collar was encrusted with Swarovski. Then, I chose a handbag and matching high heels that were also encrusted with Swarovski.

I looked at myself in the mirror and thought my appearance wasn’t too bad.

“I am ready,” I said to Jason and Jensen, smiling sweetly at both of them.

Arriving in front of them, I tried to ask their opinion about my appearance. “How do I look? Good or bad?”

“You are so beautiful, Mom,” Jensen hugged me, and his blue eyes, as beautiful as the ocean, stared into my face until my confidence increased significantly.

“Jensen is right. You are beautiful.” Jason planted a kiss on my lips. I cannot describe in words how much I love and adore him. Before Jason declared his love for me, we had been friends for two years. I met him in the economy class. Only the two of us always went out every time the class ended. From there, we got to know each other and became close.

We lived on the fifth floor, while the Turner family, who invited us to dinner at their house, lived on the sixth floor.

After the elevator door opened, we hurried to their apartment. When we got there, Jason pressed the bell twice. Bella Turner’s voice was heard from inside, asking us to wait a moment.

A moment later, the door opened. Bella greeted and invited us in. That night was the first time I entered her apartment. I realized it sounded strange considering that we were members of the community who regularly came to every meeting. It’s just that I prefer to spend my time at home.

In the dining room, Jason and I sat opposite Bella and Mike Turner, her husband. Meanwhile, Jensen sat opposite Emma. They were both six years old.

I must admit that Bella’s cooking was very good, so I was lulled into enjoying all the food on the table until, at one point, something tickled my intuition and feelings. Throughout the dinner, I noticed that Jason often complimented Bella and his eyes kept looking at her. Even though I felt uncomfortable, I still tried to think positively, considering that Jason has a gentle heart and likes to be kind to everyone. However, in the compliments that came out of his mouth, Jason also unconsciously complimented Bella’s appearance.

His compliment to Bella’s appearance made me realize that all this time I had been too focused on my little family and all the household affairs, to where I had forgotten to pay attention to my body and appearance. Bella’s appearance that night looked exquisite. Her body was sexy and her face was radiant, unlike me, who looked unattractive.

After dinner, Jason offered to help bring the dishes to the kitchen and wash them. A few minutes later, Bella went to the kitchen to help Jason. Meanwhile, me, the children and Mike were waiting in the living room.

That night, something urged me to follow her to the kitchen and as my feet stepped on the kitchen, I saw Jason kissing Bella’s lips.