Chapter 4: Pain

Marco and Natasha's bodies glistened with sweats as they immediately stopped their unholy act when they saw Marisa standing by the doorway.

"Fuck!" Marco cursed and he immediately got down from the bed to put on his pants.

Natasha sat up on the bed and hurriedly covered her nakedness a white duvet.

"Darling, it’s not what you think. I swear." Marco said as he slowly approached Marisa who had tears welled up in her eyes.

Marisa slowly moved her gaze from Marco to Natasha, who was sitting the bed with a frown on her face. She was inaudibly cursing Marisa for interrupting the blissful moment she was having with Marco.

Marisa shook her head in disbelief, then she turned around. She quietly made her way out of his apartment with tears flowing out of her eyes badly.

“Marisa!! Babe wait…. Marisa!!!" Marco called out loudly as chased after Marisa.

Marisa quickened her pace, wiping the tears on her face with the back of hand as she continued walking without looking back.

Marco caught up with her and he held her right hand, stopping her on her tracks.

"Don't... don't you dare touch me! Leave my hand alone. Let go of my hand!!" Marisa's voice trembled with each word, her anger palpable as she wrenched her hand from Marco's grip.

"I'm sorry, babe. Please just hear me out," Marco's voice pleaded, a note of desperation underlying his words.

"How could you, Marco? Just why? Why did you cheat on me?" Marisa's cry echoed through the air, a mixture of pain and betrayal lacing her words.

“Marisa, I’m sorry... I swear, I'm truly sorry,” Marco's voice wavered, his hand reaching towards her only to be met with her flinch.

"Why did you cheat on me, Marco? Just tell me why!" Her voice shook with emotion, a mixture of hurt and anger.

“Marisa, I’m sorry, okay… I tried to stay faithful in our relationship, but you wouldn’t let me have you…” Marco trailed off, attempting to explain amidst the turmoil.

Marisa's laughter, bitter and laden with hurt, cut through his words like a knife. "I never knew you were such a... jerk. You're an ingrate, Marco. What haven’t I done for you? I work and pay our bills since you lost your job. I shared everything with you, gave you all of me... The only thing I wasn't ready for was sex yet…” Her voice cracked as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

“We've been dating for five years, Marisa. Five years, and you’re not ready for sex?!” Marco's shout echoed in the charged atmosphere.

Unable to contain her fury, Marisa's hand met Marco's face in an angry slap, her pain and outrage fueling her actions.

“You are the worst thing that happened to me, Marco. I feel so foolish right now. I had planned to give myself to you on our anniversary this year, but I’m grateful you revealed your true colors,” Marisa's voice held a mixture of anger and vulnerability, her gaze meeting his eyes briefly, catching a flicker of hurt.

“Don’t you dare put the blame on me, Marisa!" Marco's voice growled, his anger mirroring hers. "I was doing you a favor all along."

"A favor?" Marisa scoffed, disbelief tingeing her tone. 

"Yeah, right. Dating a single mother without sex is a huge sacrifice, I guess. I should be proud of myself." Marco 

"Yeah, it is. I could've walked away, but I didn't," Marco replied defensively. "Dating you, a single mom, without sex? I deserve credit for that."

"Come inside, baby. Let's continue," Natasha, still half-dressed, emerged from Marco's apartment, prompting Marisa's glare.

"Have fun with your stupid mistress," Marisa's tone dripped with disdain as she turned away from them, her emotions overwhelming her.

After getting fired from her only job, comfort was what she came to seek from him, but instead she got heartbroken.

She started regretting her decision of coming to his place. She didn't know whether she should be happy that she came to his place or sad that she did.

Well, she should feel happy and sad. She should feel happy because she wouldn't have found out about his unfaithfulness if she didn't come. And she should also feel sad because he betrayed her love and trust in him.

As Marisa walked away, her emotions spiraled, tears streaming unchecked down her face. She struggled to reconcile the reality of Marco's betrayal with the love and trust she'd placed in him.

Marisa loved him so to the extent of giving him everything she had. She gave him her trust, her love, her time, her affection and even her money. Yet, he chose to cheat on her just because she wasn't ready to have sex with him.

How dare him do that? 

How dare him cheat on her after everything she gave him?

Why are men so wicked and greedy?!

"Why is everything turning against me today?" Marisa muttered between sobs, her frustration mingling with her pain.

Kicking at objects in her path, Marisa released her pent-up anger. The pain was just too much for her to bear. First, she got fired from her job just because she defended herself, and now, she caught her boyfriend cheating on her. 

All these sad events happened to her in just a few hours. This caused more tears to stream out of her eyes as she continued walking home. 

Her phone's ring broke through her turmoil, and she wiped her tears with a shaky hand before retrieving it from her bag.

Seeing an unfamiliar number, she hesitated but decided to answer, hoping for a glimmer of good news amid the chaos.

"Hello?" Her voice cracked, still raw from her emotional outburst.

"Is this Mrs. Marisa?" The masculine voice on the other end was steady, but its gravity hit her like a punch.

"Yes, who's speaking?" Her voice trembled, a sense of foreboding settling over her.

"I'm the head teacher at your son's school. I'm afraid I have some bad news," the caller's words hung heavily in the air.

"What bad news?" Marisa asked, her heart beating fast in anticipation of whatever bad news the caller was about to tell her.

"The school bus which was conveying the kids to school this morning, had an accident on the way, and your son is part of the victims of the accident."

Dread tightened around Marisa's heart as she listened, the news of her son's involvement in a school bus accident shattering her already fragile world.

"You mean Jeffrey was in the bus... during the accident?" Marisa's voice quavered, her fear and anxiety spiking.

"Unfortunately, yes. He's in a critical condition," the caller's somber words added to Marisa's overwhelming turmoil.Marisa's world crumbled in an instant as the caller confirmed the devastating news. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, her phone slipping from her trembling grasp in shock. Her body quivered violently, and her legs gave way beneath her, causing her to collapse to her knees.

With her head bowed, Marisa sobbed, her tears falling to the ground as she choked out, "What's going on with my life, today?"

Marisa's pain was intense, a deep ache that came from her heart. As she knelt on the ground, she yelled loudly, "Why? Why is all of this happening to me?!" Her voice carried all the agony she felt, a desperate plea for answers, as if she wanted the world to understand the immense suffering she was going through.