Chapter 2 Abusive Wife

I was going to wipe that smug look in his eyes, so I swung my arm as hard as I could and landed a big, fat slap on his face. The crisp ring of that slap echoed in the air, and following that ringing was the painful gasp of Samuel.

"What is wrong with you, Timothy?" A concerned Rochelle darted over and shoved me away.

The trek through the night exhausted me. I stumbled backward, missed a step, and everything around me spun as I fell to the ground. I felt the back of my head smash into something hard. Pain took over my head, and blood spilled to the ground.

Someone screamed, "He's bleeding!"

I felt the strength leave my hands, and before my consciousness left me, I noticed the look in Rochelle's eyes. There was horror in her gaze.

A year ago, in a drunken episode, Rochelle mistook me for Samuel. We went at it without protection that night, and it was a hole-in-one. She gave me the same look of horror back then, when she found out about her pregnancy.

Agitated, she grabbed my arms, her nails threatening to dig into my flesh. She hissed, "You did it on purpose, didn't you? I was drunk! You want to bind me to you with this baby? I'm rising through the ranks right now! I need a lot of time and effort to get what I want, but you're making me give up? Why? Because you don't like it? You're despicable!"

Then, her hands went to my throat. My face went purple as I felt the oxygen getting cut off, and I struggled hard to get away from her.

…

Then, a voice woke me from my nightmare. "Sir, wake up!"

My eyes snapped open.

"You passed out just now, sir." The nurse hung the IV, still shuddering from what she saw. "It was terrifying. For a minute there, I thought you were gone."

I rubbed the back of my head. It still throbbed. "Where's Rochelle?"

"Oh, the woman who sent you here? Her boyfriend took her home. He said she's pregnant, so she shouldn't work herself to the bone."

Though I knew that might be the case, hearing it still hit me hard, and I closed my eyes. I could feel my entire being twisting in agony. I was taken back to the day of our wedding, where she promised she would stay loyal to me forever.

Ten years was all it took for that promise to be burned into nothingness. And then my phone rang—it was Rochelle.

"Are you alright, honey? I have work to do, and they need me here," she said quietly. She tried to keep her voice low and make herself sound tired, but I heard it.

I heard Samuel's laughter in the background.

I laughed in sorrow and gave her short, random answers as I opened up her social media. Rochelle never posted anything on her wall, but for once in her life, she made an exception.

'Fifteen years have gone by since we met. I want you in my life forever, my love.'

There was a picture with that caption. A sturdy figure was holding a bouquet of roses and standing beside a window.

I noticed the diamond watch on his wrist. Samuel's watch. When I saw that watch for the first time, I thought it was a surprise present from Rochelle, since I shared his birthday.

Yep, once again, I was being delusional. I hung up on Rochelle. When I refreshed the app, her friends were already commenting on the post, and the happiest among them? Queenie Lawson.

'You're finally getting rid of that swine? Congrats. I'm finally free. Hey, dinner's on you, okay?'

Queenie was a childhood friend of Rochelle, and she hated me. She thought Rochelle was out of my league, and every time we had a meetup, she would do her best to belittle me.

After Samuel came back and started the affair with my soon-to-be ex-wife, Queenie would cover for them so they could enjoy their alone time. I exposed her in front of everyone one time, and she just shrugged it off.

The old me tried to get into her good graces and took a lot of her insults lying down, but now? Now I was going to hit back.

'Yeah. Buzzing around like a fly must've been hard on you. Congratulations, now I don't have to suffer the thought of living as your species.'

Then, I sent the draft of the divorce papers to Rochelle.