THE REVELATION

EP 4

"What the hell?!" The words tore out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Henry's eyes shot wide open the instant he saw me standing in the doorway. Pure panic flashed across his face.

In a frantic panic, he shoved Valerie off him, snatched the duvet from the bed, and hastily wrapped his naked body up.

"Henry...?" I whispered, my voice shaking with disbelief.

This wasn't the first time someone I loved had betrayed me with her. But this time, it felt so unreal that for a second, I wondered if I was trapped in some kind of horrible nightmare.

"Babe... babe... Victoria..." he stammered, beads of sweat forming across his forehead.

He climbed off the bed, his legs wobbling so badly that he couldn't seem to decide whether to come toward me or retreat.

His face said everything. He hated that he'd been caught. He look so embarrassed, confused and stupid but Valerie, on the other hand... She wasn’t fazed.

When my eyes met hers, she glared back at me, calm and composed, not a shred of shame or remorse on her face.

If anything, she seemed more irritated that I'd interrupted her fun than guilty for sleeping with her stepdaughter's fiance.

She didn't need to say a word. Her eyes already said enough.

Slowly, she got out of bed, picked up her dress from the floor, and slipped it on with deliberate elegance. Then she crept toward me.

I stood frozen.

She stopped beside me, leaned close enough for her breath to brush against my ear, and whispered,

"He's the best of them all. I doubt he ever wanted you the way he wanted me." She chuckled.

A cold chill rippled down my spine as her words sank into my ears like poison. And when she intentionally bumped her shoulder against mine on the way out, something inside me snapped.

"Babe... Victoria... please," Henry pleaded. "I swear, I can explain—"

"GET OUT!"

My scream exploded through the room.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and swung it at him again and again.

He scrambled to pull on his pants while desperately trying to speak and I wasn't giving him the chance to.

He tried to speak, tried to explain, tried to apologize, but I didn’t want to hear a single damn word. The sight of his mouth moving only fueled my rage.

I wanted him out of my sight, out of my house so badly. But he was taking too long to leave, and every second he stayed ignited something darker in me.

My eyes darted around the room, searching for something heavier and they landed on the bedside lamp.

Without thinking, I snatched it up and hurled it at him. The lamp struck the side of his head with a dull crack.

He cried out as blood trickled down his forehead.

I didn't stop.

I shoved him toward the bedroom door over and over, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.

"Get out!" I screamed. "Get out of my house, you bastard! I hate you, Henry, I hate you so much!"

We stumbled into the living room. Valerie was already sitting comfortably on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, a cigarette burning between her fingers and a glass of wine in the other hand.

She didn't even bother looking at us.

She took a drag and exhaled slowly, the smoke curling through the room as though this was just another quiet Wednesday.

Even after noticing the blood running down Henry's face, her expression never changed.

I shoved him through the front door and slammed it shut with every ounce of strength I had left. My entire rage echoed in that door slam.

Then I turned to Valerie, my eyes blazing.

She puffed smoke into the air, tapping her long red nails against the wine glass, her attention fixed on the television.

And that’s what I hated most about her. That nerve. That cold, unreadable face. You could never tell what she was thinking or predict what she'd do next.

She could probably have a gun pointed at her head and still wear that same infuriating expression.

At that moment, something in me gave way.

This crazy bitch had tormented my life for years. I couldn't keep calm. I couldn't keep taking her shitty attitude anymore.

I stormed into the kitchen, yanked a knife from the rack, and marched back into the living room with it clutched tightly in my hand.

"How dare you, you crazy bitch?" I shouted, my entire body trembling. "How dare you!"

She ignored me. Another puff of smoke drifted lazily from her lips, her eyes still glued to the TV like everything else didn't exist.

"I warned you to stay away from Henry," I yelled. "I warned you, didn’t I? Yet you seduced him into sleeping with you, you whore!"

Only then did she turn to look at me. Her gaze drifted briefly to the knife before settling on my face. She studied me in silence for several long seconds and she smirked.

She looked back at the television as though I'd never entered the room.

That single smile drove me closer to madness than anything she'd ever done.

"Since you have decided to keep ruining my life and keep being the whore that you are, maybe it's time I put an end to this. I’ll kill you and feed your body to the vultures. And guess what? No one will come looking for you. Not even Henry!"

She let out a quiet laugh before taking another sip of wine.

"You think that scares me?" she asked in that calm, venom-laced voice.

I giggled, a pained one though.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said with a lazy smile. "You couldn't even kill a cockroach if it screams your name."

My grip tightened around the knife.

Guess she was right. The knife was just something to show how furious I was and to scare her but just as I expected, it didn't work.

"That’s what you think, right? Well, watch me," I mumbled.

I raised the knife, heart pounding, my hand trembling. I was ready. I was really going to do it. She had pushed me to the edge and I couldn’t take it anymore now that she’d gotten on my last nerve. I couldn't accept defeat.

I was going to stick that knife into her ribs for real. I didn’t mind getting caught and going to prison.

But just as I took a step forward, the knife froze midair when she dropped the bomb,

“Henry and I are getting married.”