CHAPTER TWO: The Betrayed Wife

CHAPTER 2:

The man who says he loves me in the morning is now making love with my best friend.

Carter's hands roam over Lillian's naked body, his lips trailing feverish kisses along her neck, while Lillian's laughter echoes in the room like a cruel taunt.

My throat constricts. I want to curse, to scream, to lash out at them with every ounce of fury burning inside me. But my voice fails me, lost in a desert of despair.

Finally, Carter and Lillian notice my presence, their passion abruptly extinguished like a candle snuffed out by a gust of wind. My tears fall unchecked now, hot and bitter against my cheeks. Carter scrambles to his feet, hastily pulling on his clothes.

“Why are you here?” he asks.

Lillian remains on the bed, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips, her gaze cold and calculating. She revels in my agony, relishing the destruction she has wrought.

“It’s not what you think it is,” Carter says.

My heart shatters into a million jagged pieces. I need to get out of here! I clutch at my chest, willing my heart to keep beating.

Carter catches up to me, his hand reaching out to touch my arm, but I recoil from his touch as if burned. 

"Hazel, let’s talk," he demands, his voice raw with emotion.

But I shake my head, my resolve hardening with each passing moment. 

“Talk about what?” My voice is a mere ghost of its former strength. “About how you slept with my best friend behind my back?”

Now, I'm left shattered, questioning every moment of intimacy with Carter, every laugh shared with Lillian. Was it all a facade, a cruel illusion of love and friendship? The pain is unbearable, the disbelief suffocating!

I make it back to our house after a hazy drive. I ascend to the master bedroom, my movements fueled by a desperate need to escape.

With trembling hands, I begin to pull out my clothes and belongings from the cabinets and drawers, stuffing them haphazardly into a suitcase. 

I don’t care how messy it looks, don’t care about anything except getting away from all of it!

"What’s gotten into you this time?" Elmyra calls out, breaking through the haze of my grief.

I turn to her, standing in the doorway, her eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched. Her aura exudes mockery and arrogance.

I manage to choke out, "I’m leaving." 

Elmyra hisses, as if wanting to curse at me. But before she can speak again, I brush past her, down the stairs and flee from the house, my suitcase clutched tightly in my numbing hands.

I steady my breath, then climb into my car and start the engine, the roar of the motor drowning out the tumultuous thoughts swirling in my mind.

I drive without direction; my subconscious takes control of the steering wheel and leads me to the only place I may feel safe - my parents' house.

Mama is actually waiting for me at the threshold, I’m overwhelmed that I ignore the fact why she knows I’m coming. 

I enter the doorway and papa, who’s reading a paper, frowns and asks, "Why do you look like that?”  

I sink onto the sofa, struggling to hold back my sobs.

"What happened?" Mama perches on the edge of the sofa, her hand reaching out to brush away the tears that are staining my cheeks.

I take a shaky breath, my chest constricting with pain. "I caught Carter and Lillian...together." 

I thought I'd have my parents’ support. But then, to my horror, their expressions darken, a look of apprehension crossing their faces.

"Hazel," mama begins, her tone accusatory. "What have you done wrong?"

Mama’s words suffocate me with its cruelty.  

“He is cheating on me–!That assho–”

Slap! My head rears back from pain and shock. Papa just slaps me across the face! I hold my hand to my cheek.

“Go back to Carter now, apologize for leaving, promise him that you won't do it again and that you'll stay by his side.” 

From the looks on their faces, I realize that they don't care about Carter's cheating. Only that I have brought disgrace upon them.

Mama’s eyes are cold as she adds, "You must have done something wrong to cause Carter to cheat on you. Have you thought about what it would do to our family? Your brother's scholarship is still on Carter's dime. Your sister is about to enter the society and can't be dragged down by you. Now, do everything you can to not let Carter leave you.”

This is my parents, my adoptive parents. I grew up pleasing them and being the best student in school, but they never look at me. 

Being adopted at a young age will do that. You are so grateful to the people who have taken you in. You are terrified of making a mistake that they may send you back to the orphanage and decide to adopt another child. 

A child that’s more obedient, smarter, better. So you kill yourself trying to make them proud of you. You stifle any part of yourself that may talk back or speak up. 

It wasn't until I married Carter that papa accepted me. The day we got married was the happiest day of my life. I thought mama and papa have considered me family all these years, now it turns out I was wrong.

They don't care about me, at all.

Papa says, "Have you had enough, I'm going to call Carter and have him bring you home. "

I can’t take this anymore, this isn’t what I’m here for! This place can't provide the safety or even the comfort I desperately need!

I turn on my heels and storm out of the house with my suitcase in hands before they can react.  

Humiliated, despised, and helpless… as I begin to acknowledge that I lost my husband and my family on the same day.