George had never known that betrayal could hurt so much. But coming from his wife, the woman he loved, the woman he'd spent more than four years of his life with, the one he could've least expected it from, the pain was much more than anything his mind could've conjured.

It'd been three days. He'd spent three days away from Emma and his daughter for a reason other than business - a very drastic reason at that. That night, Emma had revealed so many things, and his mind was still a chaotic mess, unable to decide what to believe.

He'd never known Emma to be of a deceptive deposition, and so it'd been hard coming to terms with the lies she suddenly unearthed. And on the night of her revelation, the emotions had been too much—the anger, disillusionment, and the fear—that he wasn't sure how he would've reacted had he not left.

He certainly hadn't trusted himself to keep from exposing the vulnerabilities he'd swore to himself he'd kept locked away tight and buried. And he certainly wouldn't have held back from lashing out the questions that'd run a petrifying marathon through his head.

Wasn't he enough for her? Hadn't he loved her enough? What was it about Zain that wasn't it with him? How could her feelings for the guy survive four years of separation? Had she ever really loved him or had he just been some kind of rebound?

He had just been too terrified to learn the answers to those haunting questions.

And he'd practically skedaddled, which had been a wise move; barely had he been in his car did he break down in a way he wouldn't have wanted Emma to see.

Sighing helplessly, George gave up trying to concentrate on the file in front of him, which was the same thing which had happened yesterday. Ruffling a hand through the hair he'd barely taken time to comb today, he thought of how Emma had tried to reach him after he left that day, how her calls rang through the night.

Every time he would look at the screen and his endearing name for her appeared, a jolt of pain would zap through his heart. He tortured himself with looking each time until it'd become too much to bear and he'd turned off the phone.

She didn't try reaching him the day after, still hadn't called today.  And he missed her, missed her badly despite how hurt and betrayed he felt.

The telephone rang, distracting him from his plague of thoughts. “What's it, Alice?” That was the name of his new secretary. Guilt seared his conscience whenever he thought of why he'd had to assign his old one to the assistant manager.

“Zain's here.”

George tensed as his secretary's words came through, red fury tearing through his veins. “Let him in.”

Tying for a semblance of control as the coward who hadn't had enough guts to come to his company yesterday to face him entered his office, George gave him a cool look. He'd thought of so many ways he would react on seeing Zain and now that the man was finally here, he found the options jumbled in uncertainties.

“Partner.” Zain greeted, his stance wary and uncertain, his shoulders squared, and the aura of belligerence around him had George clenching his fist on the desk and gritting his teeth so hard he feared they would shatter.

From the way Zain quirked his brows, George knew he'd so quickly shattered the facade he'd decided to put up. Damn his sensitivity! “Not holding back the hostility, I see.” Zain mused as he stepped forward.

The taunt had George jolting to his feet as he glared at the man who'd managed to fool him for so long with his pretences. He felt his nostrils flaring, suddenly wishing his eyes were knives. Zain would be dead in less than 5 seconds.

Zain put out his two hands persuasively. “Calm down George. A man like you should know that violence isn't the answer.”

His heavy breaths betraying the rage he felt, George sunk back into his chair. “Just how many times did you laugh at me because you thought I was so stupid for not realizing you were stabbing me in the back, huh?”

“I never betrayed you, George.” Zain replied with a nonchalance and calmness George wanted to beat away, sitting down in the chair opposite his. “If I must remind you, the only relation we have is business. And I don't remember violating the contract we have.”

George tried for a forced smile, but even a bitter one was a luxury  “That's why you never wanted us to be friends or anything remotely personal. You made me think you only see my wife as a friend when in fact all you wanted to do was steal her from me.” Why was he giving the man so much room to rub in his face?

Zain sighed, seemingly frustrated. “I came so we could discuss business, George. That's what we partnered for, not to discuss your life.”

“Well then fuck business!” George jerked to his feet, unable to contain the incense tearing through him any longer. Zain scooted back in his chair before George could grab him by the collar from across the desk. “You want me to discuss business with you when you're the reason my marriage is on the rocks?”

Zain stood up and returned George's glare with a hot one of his own. “I thought you don't mix business with your personal life.”

George opened his mouth to talk, but he couldn't conjure any suitable comeback. His strength had turned to a weakness, and the man was using it against him. “Sell me your shares.”

Zain froze for a bit, then blinked. “I'm sorry, I don't see any reason why i have to do that. But don't worry, I know the two of us will have a hard time working together from now on, and that's why from now on, you will be dealing with my most trusted employee who will be reporting to me. I just came to inform you of that. Fair enough."

“What if I don't want to work with you anymore?" George asked gruffly as they took their seats simultaneously.

“Then you would have to face me in court.” The man stated matter of factly. George wasn't worried about that, but in that moment he felt too weary to even consider it. 

“But seriously, we both know it would be beneficial to both of us if we decided not to mingle the two aspects of our lives.” Zain said, then sighed. “And about why I did what I did; I fell in love with Emma the moment I saw her for the first time 10 years ago. I...”

“There's no need to repeat what I already know.” The anger was digging beneath his skin.

Zain nodded, regarding him speculatively as he scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “Of course you know. But it's obvious you don't understand a damn thing. The five years separation with Emma, counter to my expectations, had done nothing to get rid of the love I felt for her. Not an ounce of it. She was the reason why I fought my cancer, and I'd had such high hopes on my return. Put yourself in my shoes, George. How I felt when I found out she is married.”

George snorted, trying hard to ignore Zain's words but finding himself doing the opposite. Imagining the prospect of being far away battling cancer daily just so you can be with the woman you love only to return to find her married, George realized he would've been heartbroken. “I would back off and leave her to be happy."

Zain had the guts to smile. “You're right, George. I should've done that. Rather, I convinced myself that Emma's love for me couldn't have disappeared when mine hadn't even dampened by a tad bit. And so I tried to force her into accepting she loved me. But I guess all along, deep down, I knew you are the one she truly loves.”

George felt his throat constrict at Zain's admission, but not wanting the other man to know his words affected him, he only scowled, watching as Zain stood and prepared to leave.

“So I'll be going. Expect Alec tomorrow, partner.” He said, turning as he made for the door. Opening the door, he was about to step out, but closed the door and turned to face George as if on a second thought.

Zain gazed so keenly at George that he had to hold back from squirming in his seat. “She loves you George. More than she's ever loved me. Yes, she did make a mistake, but we all do. None of us is perfect. Besides, she could've decided to just hide things from you after giving me her final decision on Saturday which was that you are the one she wants to be with, but she chose to tell you. That should tell you something. Don't let her go, George. I say you'd be making a big mistake."

After his words, Zain finally walked out of the office, leaving George to noodle. For the past three days, his wondering had been chaotic, but pondering on Zain's words with a clear head now, a positive side of this situation with his wife blossomed with a sweet clarity.

For all his image of her was worth it, Emma could've chosen not to tarnish that image of perfection. She could've chosen to keep him in the dark, and he would've forever lived in the delusion that they'd always been perfect.

And yet she'd chose to, and while he still didn't very much know what to think of it, it did teach him something; that he should be confessing his wrong to her as well.

And see how much of his marriage he could salvage.

***~***

It'd been three days since George left, and Emma hadn't seen or even heard a single thing from her husband. With every passing minute, she found herself breaking inside more and more.

She'd had to lie to her daughter that her father had gone on an impromptu business trip and she didn't know when he would return. But she knew George enough to be certain that he would never forfeit his responsibility for long, but she had a gut deep fear that he would be returning with divorce papers to shatter her completely.

Unable to struggle against the despair that begun to eat her whole, Emma slipped into her nightdress and sat on the bed where the printed photos she and Geoege had taken during their vacation which she'd been looking at before her shower, splayed out.

Rummaging through them with her eyes, she picked out one she'd taken on the sandy middle beach; a photo of George kissing their princess on the cheek while holding her by the thighs to his broad chest. A tear slipped free from her eyes as she scanned his face, the smile he wore so charmingly, and the happy look on her daughter's face.

She'd lost him, and it was all her fault. It was also all her fault her daughter would have to witness their once happy family getting shattered. Ironically, Emma realized she'd done similarly to her daughter what her father had done to her for which she'd resented him.

Like every other time, tears pricked her eyes as she thought of how times could change so quickly. That was when she heard a knock. “Aunt, is that you?” She asked as she made her way towards the door.

Hesitating when nobody responded, she opened the door after a while, and sucked in a breath. Her pulse quickened just as a frisson of both excitement and fear zapped through her when her eyes fell on her husband.

He didn't say anything as he walked past her into the room, and she followed, feeling happy for his return and yet fear that he was here to validate his decision to leave her.

“We need to talk.” He said as he finally glanced back at her, his expression stoic.

“Of course.” She swallowed hard. Of course, we need to talk about my sentence.

“But before anything else, I need to tell you something."

Something about the way he said it made a knot of dread gnarl in her stomach. Unable to say anything, she just nodded.

Turning to fully face her, his eyes still unreadable, he said, “Last week, I nearly slept with another woman.”