Later that day....
Joe was on his way home from his appointment with his therapist feeling much better. He had been able to get his frustrations off of his chest. He felt that he could finally could express his emotions. Now, he was going to disclose to his wife the reason for his behavior. On his way home, he began to have a mental reflection.....

Joe's POV
Well, I finally did it. I went to my therapist and got this anger off of my chest. I must say that Dr. Moore is a great therapist. She's non-judgmental and I feel like she truly understands me. She has given me the motivation to open up completely to Shantelle, letting her know my deepest and darkest thoughts and feelings. I feel that if our marriage is gonna be successful, I have to do it. I just hope that she will understand and won't love me any less.

As I pulled into my circular driveway and drove into my six car garage, my palms began to sweat and my heart began to race....

"Aight Joe, calm down, get a hold of yourself." I say, giving myself a pep talk before I got out of the car.

I then took a couple of deep breaths, and then went into the house...

"Hey baby girl, I'm home!" I call out.

"Hey there big daddy!" Shantelle says as she runs up to me giving me a big hug and kiss as always. "How did your appointment go?"

"It went well, I got a lot off my chest." I say, as we walk into the kitchen and I take a seat at the breakfast nook.

"Are you hungry baby? I could whip up something real quick." She says as she goes into the refrigerator.

"No baby." I say. "Come over here and sit down, there's some things that I need to tell you about myself that I feel that, as my wife, you need to know about that happened in the past."

"Oh...ok baby." She says, looking concerned.

"Well, it's like this." I begin. "When I was 12, my father was killed in a car accident. My mother raised me and my younger sister alone after my father's death, so I had to kinda be the man of the house. As being the man of the house, I went to school and took care of my sister while my mother worked. As I got older, not only did I go to school and take care of my sister, but I also got a part time job and excelled in football."

"Wow!" She says, looking impressed with what I had to do.

"Anyway" I continue. "My mother, sister and I were very close. Whenever a new man came around, I was fiercely protective of her. In my mind, it was my duty to protect her and my sister. So as time went on, I made sure that my mom had help with whatever she needed because when my father died, he didn't have any life insurance or a will, so we struggled for a bit. So after I graduated from high school, I was able to go to college on a scholarship but instead of staying on campus, I was able to commute and I came home everyday. But don't get me wrong, I was still able to enjoy what college life had to offer, even joining a fraternity."

"So that's how you were able to meet Daniel, right?" She asked.

"Yep, and let me tell you he was, and still is an amazing frat brother and friend." I say.

Shantelle nodded her head for me to continue.....

"Well anyway, we kept in contact after we graduated from college and since I was also close with Daniel's family, his father hooked me up with a job with a construction company. I started out doing manual labor and due to my hard work, I quickly rose up in the company. After a few years, I started working independently on the side and slowly built my own company. Then..a few years after that, I was able to quit my job and run my own company and not long after that, I became a millionaire." Joe said. "So as I said, Daniel and I remained very close—he started working for Merrill Lynch and got promoted. During this time, I was able to retire my mother and I even bought a new house in a great neighborhood and moved her in with me. I was also able to send my baby sister to Harvard University, completely paid for."

"You're such a good man Joe and that's why I love you so much." Shantelle said.

Joe smiled brightly at his wife and then continued his story....

"So anyway, after mom moved in with me, she stayed at home while I worked. While I was working, she would cook and clean. I always a nice hot meal when I came home from work. In her mind, she was taking care of her baby boy, as she always had, until the very end." Joe continued.

Just then, Joe's eyes began to well up with tears....

"On the morning of my birthday, mom made me a wonderful breakfast. She had made all my favorites eggs, pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, turkey sausage and grits with American cheese. After she sang happy birthday to me in Italian, she told me that she had a surprise gift for me and she would give it to me with my birthday dinner that evening, which was gonna be my favorite baked ziti. So, I was looking forward to having a nice dinner with my mom and my sister was coming home for the weekend." Joe said sadly.

Shantelle noticed that her husband was about to tell her something very heartbreaking, by the way his nose and eyes started to turn red and his lips began to quiver......

"B-before I came home, I called mom to let her know how much I appreciated everything she had done for me and that I was gonna bring a bottle of her favorite wine home, b-but she didn't answer." Joe said, his voice starting to quiver. "It wasn't like mom not to answer my phone calls, I knew then something was wrong."

Shantelle became very concerned and grabbed her husband's hand as he took as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing....

"I waited about 10 minutes and then called again, but this time, her phone answered but nobody said anything. I kept saying hello but there was no answer, it just hung up. I really got worried then, so when I called again, it went straight to voicemail. I called about five more times after that, it kept going to voicemail. So now, by this time, I'm really freaking out." Joe said.

Shantelle nodded her head for him to continue....

"So I raced home, doing like 60 mph and my palms are sweating and my heart is racing. I was praying that everything was ok and that my mom's phone had just simply died. When I got home, I jumped out of the car and ran to the door. When I got there, I saw it was cracked and when I opened it.....oh my god!" Joe said as he broke down, covered his mouth with his hand and started bawling.

Shantelle immediately grabbed her husband and held him as he cried as if his heart would break into a million pieces.

"My house was trashed, and there was blood everywhere! My mother was lying dead on the floor...she had been stabbed to death and her throat was cut!!! It's all my fault, I should have just took the day off!!! If I had been there she'd still be alive!!!" Joe sobbed.

"Baby it's not your fault!" Shantelle said, trying to console her heartbroken husband.

"Yes it is, I failed to protect her." Joe said, as he calmed down and wiped his eyes.

"You can't blame yourself for such a horrible tragedy." She said.

Joe then grabbed his wife tightly to him and looked deeply into her eyes...

"So baby that's why I got so upset when Nick came on to you. I felt I had to protect you. But I don't want to scare you away, so that's why I resumed my therapy sessions. Because after my mom died, I went through a hard time, so much that I contemplated suicide and had nightmares. So I was referred to Dr. Moore and she's been helpful." Joe said.

"So why did you stop seeing her?" She asked.

"Because I met you and fell in love and thought I didn't need it. When I got angry, I knew I had to start back with treatment because I refuse to lose you!" He said.

"I'm yours forever, you'll never lose me." She said.

"Oh I know, I have no intention of losing you, because if I can't have you, nobody will." Joe said firmly.

TBC
What do you all think of Joe's revelation?
Please comment and vote.