Chapter 04 - Aftermath

It has become common knowledge that the charming Mr. Mark and me are no longer together. However, there are no rumors of the reason. No reputation damage on Hilda as well.

All I know is that Mark is reaching out to me to fix our relationship. I said that we were off the instant I caught him cheating. All he said was that Hilda was already his secret lover even before I came into his life. It’s supposed to be their last sex, their last goodbye, because… according to him, he plans to live his life with me. The idiot! Who would f*ucking believe him?!

I snort. I may, or may not, destroy Hilda, or my ex-boyfriend. I am still thinking about it, especially after that recent misstep at the police station and the hotel afterward. Who, in their right mind, would think that a man wearing really expensive casual clothes is a police officer? He also smells of fancy perfumes! Something that a provincial salary will not be able to cover!

I groan. That’s exactly because I am not in the right mind! Seriously, I should stop acting recklessly. I am too old for this! But that Mrs. Hilda, she gets away from my form of revenge! I still need to find Mr. Ellis. This time, I need to be careful.

“Come, Mrs. Hilda is with her husband,” another co-teacher calls me. “They are arguing about Mr. Ellis’ mistress.”

I raise my brow at that. It should be the other way around, right? Still curious, I go with her. I see the bitch Hilda acting all hurt. She is talking to a… damn… a short, pudgy man with 35 inches waist. His hair is also thinning and gray.

“Is that Mr. Ellis?” I ask.

“Yes, that’s her husband.”

I wince. Instead of trying to have sex with her husband again, I think the more logical choice is to show everyone the picture of bitch-Hilda and asshole-Mark while screwing. Right. That’s a more logical choice. I won’t be able to stand an old man like that, even if it’s for revenge.

“Hilda is saying that a woman came to the police station to meet her husband three days ago.”

That’s me, but looking at the real Mr. Ellis, even if I am so hurt, I doubt I will ever be able to have sex with him. And besides, why are they bringing this fight here?

When Hilda meets my eyes, I understand. The bitch is not afraid at all! She wants to be out of the marriage! And if she accuses me of being her husband’s mistress and I show them the proof, that will give everyone the idea that I come there to take revenge on her. Then, she will tell everyone that she’s tired of her husband’s womanizing! Mark will be in the picture, and if he doesn’t accept her, he will be the bad guy instead.

Hilda glares at me. The fucked-up bitch-woman. She is gambling on Mark’s importance in my life!

“You!” she points at me. “Someone saw you at the police station. What were you doing there?!”

Everyone looks at me. Even Mr. Ellis. His eyes scour my body and a smirk appears on his face. Ugh! The husband and wife are both nasty. Aren’t they a perfect match? And this bitch-stupid-woman, is she expecting me to make a mistake? For something as simple as this?

“I went there to tell your husband that you are cheating on my boyfriend,” I say.

“You didn’t meet my husband. You meet another man and pull him into a hotel. You mistook him for my husband!”

I smirk. This woman is pretty good. Is this the reason why she can go ahead and cheat on her husband with multiple men? I can’t tell her how ugly her husband is because I will look the evil one instead–judging based on appearance. I can’t tell her that she’s lying, too. And I definitely can’t tell her that it didn’t happen.

“I wonder, Teacher Hilda,” I start. “How many lovers do you have on the side other than Teacher Mark?”

The people go quiet. Does she really think I won’t drag asshole-Mark’s name in this?

“How many times have you done this enactment? What does your husband gain from this?”

She didn’t respond. She just glares at me.

“Mark!” I call. He wants my forgiveness, so right now, he will be on my side. “Tell everyone the truth about you cheating on me and being Teacher Hilda’s lover.”

“She has seduced me, but there are a couple more. I am just one of the five lovers that she has.”

People gasps and I groan. Five lovers?! Seriously now? Students murmur to each other. We should not reveal this among high school students, but I had no choice.

“Teacher Hilda!” the principal calls. “To my office!”

“Then who is that man with you on the police stations!? I am not the only salacious person here!” bitch-Hilda insists.

“He is my previous lover. He is the reason I left my job in the city. He is asking for forgiveness. Mark had just hurt me. I’m only human. Even if our relationship ended when I returned here, if he offers comfort, I will take it.”

I see heads and mouths move. Thankfully, I never mentioned the name of the guy from the city. At least, I will have something to use to pass up a lie as truth instead. Besides, I doubt I will still meet one of the directors of Champion Music. This place is not his world.

***********************

“No,” I repeat for the nth time that Mark is asking.

“Cassie, please… What do you need me to do so you will forgive me?”

I look around the small room. My other co-teachers are peering from the door and windows. Ugh, can I have a little privacy, please? But who would blame them? They are the ones who set this up so Mark and I can patch things up.

I sigh. “I am sure it will take time before I can forgive you.”

His face brightens. “Does that mean that we can—”

“It might take years before I can forgive you,” I cut him off.

He holds my hand, and my brows deepen. “Then I will do my best to show that I love you.”

He is about to place a kiss on my cheeks when I push at his face. “What are you doing?!” I ask.

“You said that you can forgive me…” he says, uncertainly.

“Well yes. I said I can forgive you AFTER a few years. Or maybe, decades!”

“And I will do everything to get your forgiveness as soon as possible.”

“Are you serious?” I ask. “Are you expecting me to be in a relationship with you while I am in the process of forgiving you?!”

He seems taken aback. He’s not only an asshole-Mark, but he is also stupid-Mark. Why am I so blind?! How can I delude myself that I love this man?!

Suddenly, he kneels before me. “Did your love fade for me already? Are you going back to your ex?”

“You are also my ex,” I point out. “And besides, I am not even sure if I loved you.”

I gaze at him, and my lips turn up in distaste. After cheating on me with a married woman, he is making a show of the pathetic ex-boyfriend who can’t be forgiven by his ex-girlfriend. Why the heck would I forgive him?! He’s been doing that behind my back. Last sex, he said. From the very start, he’s been cheating on me. I don’t call that love.

“Come on, Cassie. Forgive the pitiful boy!” someone whispers from the door.

I want to scream at them that this man is faking it, but I can’t. I am here to change. I want to be that docile woman that men will love. The kind who will say yes to everything. The kind that men will go gaga over. I am here to live the ‘To obey my husband’ thing. In that way, men will finally choose to wed me instead.

“Mark, please, don’t do this…”

But now, I am finding out that it’s harder than I thought. Now, how will I go through with this by still looking meek and docile?

“But I need you in my life. I want to marry you, Cassie.”

Cheers erupt from outside the door. “We are happy for you!”

What the heck?! What is so good about this man that they all think it’s beneficial for me to stay in a relationship with him?! Are they serious?!

“No, I can’t…” I whisper, even though all I want is to hit his head so he’d go unconscious already.

“Please, Cassie…”

He takes my hand and places a kiss on the back of it. Instead of desire, I shiver in disgust. Strange, isn’t it? Just one event and my desire for him had already vanished like a puff of smoke.

“I am afraid…” I whisper again.

Afraid that my mask will fall off and no one will ever want me in this secluded place. If they heard I was so cruel and I rejected a cheating man after he asks for forgiveness while kneeling… I am sure their nose will turn up. Not to mention that I am no longer a virgin, a no-no for unmarried women in this place.

That’s the only thing I hate about these old-fashioned men. It’s too important to them that they should be their woman’s first man. I’d say bollocks on that. But then again, the way they care, the way they give attention and play at romance, it was so… so positively different from the city men.

“Please!”

I jump when he suddenly hits his forehead on the floor. “I promise you that you will only be the only woman in my life!”

Oh goddamn, this man. What in seven hells is he doing?! Suddenly, I sense tension from the door. Chants become louder. The people outside look like some cult while they stomp their feet and hit the wall.

“Please!” he says again and hits his forehead on the tiled floor again. I can even see blood on it. I groan. I can’t believe that at my age, a mob will still push me to forgive a cheating man. “Cassie, please…”

I feel like I am being forced. What kind of docile woman won’t be affected by this?! And so inwardly, I say a couple of curses, in different languages!

I’ve mentioned thirty curses when, finally, I kneel before him and say, “Okay.”

He looks up at me. There really is blood on his forehead. Ain’t this a form of self-flagellation?

“You will accept me back?” he asks.

I nod, and suddenly, he rams himself on me. His embrace is tight while he whispers promises that I never care to listen. Because right now, I hate myself so much that half of the curses in my head are directed at myself.