The Nigerian moon in the sky lightened up the road, almost competing with the tall streetlines at the sides of the road, if one should look closely at the moon, an image of a girl sweeping the floor could be seen.

Dennis laughed out loud at the commentary and jokes that emanated from the FM radio, station 102.7 as he drove home, he has this happy facial expression. One would think he just got a contract, whereas he was only feeling ecstatic to be finally home, with his dear lovely wife.

Dennis car came to a stop in the garage of his house with a huge smile plastered on his face. His heart thumped, the smile on his face grew wider, he was ecstatic to be home. Having spent all day on his toes: reading contracts and supervising interviews, he was finally happy to see the face of his lovely wife.

He walked to the porch of his two story building located in Lekki and knocked, expecting his wife to open the door like every other day but that didn't happen. Thinking nothing of this, he opened the door with his own set of keys and stepped into his home.

He dropped his briefcase, keys on the centre table and a smile lifted up his lips as his eyes wandered to the furniture in the room. They were tastefully furnished, the decorations were also beautiful, all thanks to his wife.

"Honey I'm home," he shouted but received no response.

Shrugging continuously to ease some of the knots in his joints, he tried again, "Pat! … Baby?"

An aroma teased his nostrils, he licked his lips. With a huge grin, he climbed up the twirling stairs, his hands tapping lightly on the banisters. On reaching the kitchen, emptiness and silence greeted him. He shrugged again, retracting his steps back.

He passed various rooms, finally stopping in front of a black wooden door with carved designs. His hands were raised to knock but it never happened, the gruff, manly voice that accompanied his wife's laughter made sure of that.

His smile vanished, every sane thought flew out of his head. He couldn't think, he didn't want to think about it in that way. He barged into the room but the sight before him made him stagger, causing him to suck in a sharp breath.

He left his office today, expecting to come home to a romantic candle lit dinner prepared by his lovely wife. A dinner for both of them to enjoy and later on make love.

But here she was, sprawled naked on their matrimonial bed, smiling and ogling at a young man Dennis was sure would pass for his younger brother. None of them noticed him. Her eyes were glued to the young man standing at the foot of the bed with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"That was so fun baby, I want to go for round two," the young man looked her up and down, licking his lips.

"I also want to feel your masculine body on top of mine with mister junior inside of me but I can't," she paused and pouted. "Mr D is coming back soon."

The more they spoke to each other, the more broken Dennis felt. He could hear his heart breaking into a thousand pieces, it hurt. Men don't cry was a saying he was familiar with but as he watched his wife, big, fat tears rolled effortlessly down his cheeks.

His shoulders shook, no words left his mouth. There was no word to describe the pain he was feeling at the moment. The last time he cried this much was when his mom passed away but the hurt he felt now was more.

"Why are you still with that man? I mean, with all the money we have saved up, you can finally get rid of him," the young man said with slight hurt on his face.

"You are right, love but you should also know that there is no such thing as too much money, I'll keep him around for two more months and when he least expects it …" She made a flying motion with her hands then laughed, "I'll be gone with all his money."

The young man laughed along with her, seductively walking towards her. He straddled her, placing his hands on each side of her head.

They stared into each other's eyes with so much adoration that made Dennis want to throw up. But he couldn't. He was motionless.

Slowly the young man leaned forward and Dennis's wife met him halfway. They engaged in a lip lock and Dennis finally got the strength to step forward. He wiped his tears with the back of his hands, making a silent resolve in his heart: he would rather die than let that disgusting woman see him crying over her.

Like a helpless drunk he stumbled and hit the edge of the bed, making his wife and her lover to immediately break away from each other.

"Dennis!" Patricia shouted, she pushed her lover and used the blanket to cover her nakedness.

Dennis chuckled darkly, all his previous hurt gone, replaced with anger.

"What is there to cover sweetheart?" He asked Patricia in a voice that shook both her and her lover to their core.

Patricia had never seen her husband like this before, her lips trembled and her hands clutched the bedsheet tightly to her chest.

"Dennis, I … I … It''s n-not what you t-t-think?" She said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

He laughed and stared at her like he was truly seeing her for who she was, then his entire demeanor changed.

"What do I think, Patricia?" He spoke in a calm manner

Patricia's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She looked down at her arms, they were trembling, the change in his tone was terrifying.

That was not the reaction she had been expecting from him. Knowing Dennis she had counted on him having an emotional breakdown but none of that was happening. The man in front of her was her husband, they shared the same attributes and all but when he spoke, he sounded nothing like the man she knew.

"Sir please forgive me," her lover who was on the floor, sweating like a ram ready for slaughter pleaded.

He had watched the back and forth between Dennis and Patricia, waiting and watching to determine his next step but the Dennis that had been talking to his wife was not the same one he had always heard about. He was afraid.

"Forgive you? For what exactly?" Dennis asked.

All traces of the hurt he felt earlier was gone by the time he sat at the edge of the bed, eyeing a crying Patricia and her shaking lover.

"I don't care about what happened between you two, neither am I interested in knowing the reason why you did it," he paused and looked at both of them to make sure they understood him, "I'm going to take a shower now, before I get back, I want both of you gone."

He made his way to the bedroom door but stopped before his hand could reach the door knob, he had one more thing to say to them.

"If I find out … that a single thing is missing, you will both be held responsible for it. And believe me, I will not hesitate to call the police."

Without a response from them, he walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

The shower like the rest of the house was luxurious. He looked around the bathroom and his eyes fell on the cabinets that contained all his wife's skin care products. Seeing them made his blood boil. He walked to the cabinet, angrily pulling it open and the contents rolled to the floor.

Like an angry tiger, he stomped on them, causing the liquid products to squirt and cover the entire length of the tiled floor. The floor was slippery as he tried to move but he didn't care about that. Though his anger had eased a bit, his hurt doubled.

Why were emotions so confusing?

He walked into the stall, turned the knob without bothering to adjust the temperature. He tore his clothes, threw them on the floor. Standing directly under the spray with his hand pressed against the wall, he let the water mix with his tears, flowing down his cheeks.

Dennis didn't understand how he got the strength to handle what just happened the way he did. How he managed to control his feelings without hurting anyone but he knew what he did, the way he acted was for the best.

The only thing he regretted was believing that deceitful woman all those years and letting her lover go without receiving even a slap.

But then, he was never a violent person and he was not going to become one just because of that woman. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him and now she had given him the type of pain he had never experienced.

He stood under the shower until his tears dried up and he lost the ability to feel. He was numb. His brain was completely blank, his heart was no longer in severe pain, just a dull ache.

Dennis was emotionally drained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What just happened?

Why would Patricia do that?

Was it really all about the money for her?

Dedicated to maramartha Thank you! ❤❤

Thank you all for Reading, voting, commenting and adding my book to your reading lists. I really appreciate the support.