Honey had tried to insist that I go home with her instead of heading back to the house – well, at least until this evening when I had a date scheduled with my so-called husband – but I needed to be alone with my thoughts and was glad that all of my friends were very understanding.

After that, the rest of brunch had been somewhat pleasant and I really enjoyed catching up with everyone, especially since I had been away for two weeks to visit my father after having suffered from a heart attack but thankfully, he was on the straight road to recovery now.

Unfortunately, once it was all over and time to return back to real life, everything came rushing back to me, and as I drove home, I couldn't help but dread having to walk through the front door again, almost as if scared of what I would walk into this time now even though Sung would most probably be at work this time of day.

Well, that was what I had thought yesterday, too, but look where that had gotten me.

Despite how absurd Rashmi's suggestion had been and her mentioning that she had only been joking in hopes of lightening the mood, her words played on my mind the entire ride home after we had finished up with brunch and by the time I had parked up in the driveway, I couldn't help but wonder if it would work.

Sighing, I shook my head and slipped out of the car, trying to banish the thought from my mind as I walked up the steps to the house, already aware that Sung wasn't home as his car wasn't parked up in the driveway.

Stepping through the door for the second time today, I couldn't help but hold my breath. Just like before, it hit me like a wave and it felt like I was being forced to watch Sung drill into Roxy from behind all over again.

Even though I hadn't been able to talk about it earlier, now that I was alone and at home, I didn't need to hold back my feelings anymore. I didn't have to worry about crying in public and people feeling sorry for me, judging me for something they knew virtually nothing about. I didn't have to continue lying to myself that all of this wasn't such a big deal when in reality, I truly felt like it had shaken my whole world and right now, I was struggling to set myself upright.

This was the one place that I could truly be myself and not have to put up an act for anyone, but he had taken that away from me now as well by bringing her into our home.

Stepping into the living room, my eyes immediately zoned in on the armchair that they had both been bent over and when I felt the bile rise in my throat, I rushed into the kitchen for a tall glass of water before I was truly sick. After I had gulped it all down, I topped up the glass again before moving to head back into the living room, needing to face this head-on instead of running away in denial.

This was my house and I refused to feel uncomfortable, especially since I had worked so hard to make this house a home for the both of us, but clearly one of us had become far too comfortable.

Unable to handle all of these conflicting emotions anymore, I screamed as loud as I could and reached for the first thing that I could land my hands on. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on which way you chose to look at it– it just happened to be a photo frame from our wedding day.

To be more specific, their our photo together of a married couple. Too bad he had decided to shit all over his vows and turn his back on the sanctity of marriage. Of course, there was also the fact that I had acted out in a mixture of rage and spite when I had slept with Randy, but I could only deal with one issue at a time.

As much as I wanted to believe that it was a one-time thing and this was the first time that this had occurred, the more I thought about it, the more everything started to fall into place.

It was evident to me now that Sung had been lying about the frequent weekend business trips that he had been taking. He was lying about having to work overtime at the office. He was lying about being too tired to spend much time with me, both inside and outside of the bedroom. He was lying to me about those business dinners he had been attending with clients and I couldn't begin to imagine what else he had lied to me about, not to mention how long all of this had been going on.

The one evident thing he had hadn't lied about was Roxy being the best assistant he had ever had, something which I had witnessed first-hand as I had all but walked into the middle of her servicing my husband.

When the thought caused my anger to bubble to the surface this time instead of bile, I reached out for the next closest thing which unfortunately for him, just happened to be a vase his parents had gifted the both of us. Frankly, it was ugly and didn't match the décor of the house but I was nice enough to respect his wishes and keep it on display, but clearly, I shouldn't have expected respect to be reciprocated.

A loud scream escaped me as I swung my arm and knocked it off the table, my lips curling up as it smashed into pieces.

This destruction continued into the kitchen where I was able to get my hands on more things that Sung liked but I didn't, only putting up with them because I loved and appreciated him.

Too bad he had fallen out of love with me and no longer returned the sentiment, something which he had conveniently failed to mention to me.

It was only when I was sat on the kitchen floor with shards of Sung's favourite mug I had gifted him last Christmas surrounding me that I acknowledged the fact that I couldn't continue like this if I wanted to stay sane. I couldn't act like nothing had happened but I also wasn't ready to face the truth just yet.

Surely there had to be some middle ground that would be able to keep me going until I was finally able to address the truth but right now, all I needed was a tall glass of denial to keep me going.

When I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, I paused to check who dared to message me when I was having such a crisis.

Table booked for tonight

I can't wait to see you. I've missed you so much!

Love you, baby

Not the least bit interested in replying, I screamed again and flung my phone across the room. As I watched it hit the wall and slide down to the floor, I knew that I would come to regret the smashed screen later but right now, I needed to let all of this out before I started self-destructing.

Reaching out for a bottle of special Dolce that was straight from the Dolce vineyards and specifically manufactured for family only, I forwent a glass as I started on the day drinking, completely disregarding the glass of bubbly that I had indulged in during brunch.

As much as I knew it was a bad idea, I couldn't bring myself to care.

Not anymore. Not after what he had done. Not after he had destroyed us.

-

The story is COMPLETE on my PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/LaylaKnight

Layla Knight

25.12.2020