AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rosa had changed the sheets. Now even his smell was fading. The clock told me it was six in the morning. Frustration ebbed at me as I sat up on the bed. Too early to get up. But I didn’t want to be pulled back to my dreams. I grabbed my phone, ready to scroll aimlessly through social media when a new message chimed in.
It wasn’t a number in my contacts. I saw it was a video. I wouldn’t have clicked on it, except the frozen image was of Antonio in our bedroom.
Even though dread infiltrated my body, I clicked mindlessly on a video that my head screamed not to watch.
He was in our room. Antonio stood at the dressing table, removing his cufflinks just like he did every night. His shirt hung loose and unbuttoned.
A woman came into the picture, approaching him from behind. My breath hitched, dread lodging in my throat. His ex-wife. The reflection of the mirror showed the face that matched my crazy Google image searches.
No. This had to be an old video.
But the date on the bottom right corner was recent. This was from six weeks ago.
Where had I been?
I couldn’t think above the pounding in my skull.
She was whispering in his ears, and he was allowing it. He turned around, watching her the whole time while she spoke. Then she took a step back and started removing her clothes. She was like some kind of professional stripper when she did a beautiful, exquisite striptease for him. She had so much confidence in her body. A jolt of jealousy rushed through me.
Look away.
He watched her the whole time, unmoving but not averting his gaze either. Butt naked, she slithered over to him and touched him. Unbuttoned his trousers, dragging his pants and boxers down in one go. She was amazing. A woman born to seduce a man. Going down on her knees, she took his erection in her mouth, sucking him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Bile shot up my throat out of nowhere.
Walk away.
He did anything but that. His expression was one I’d seen so many times on him when he was inside me and about to explode.
Except now he was balls deep in his ex-wife. He was married to me. Why would he do this?
My throat constricted.
Stop.
He pulled her away. Only to put on a condom and drag her onto him, pumping into her.
The sounds of moaning grated on my teeth. It was louder than the pounding of my heart. I couldn’t see her face anymore, but I could fucking see him as he jerked inside her just before the video stopped.
The guttural sound of my anger spilt out of my lungs in a scream in the quiet room.
My lungs hurt from the fist that had slammed into me, and the wheezing sound in the room must have been the air being pulled in. I rocked my shaking body back and forth, back and forth, clutching my phone to my chest.
The bile in my mouth left an aftertaste enough for a lifetime.
I tasted salt on my lips. How could I be crying when my eyes hurt from being dry?
“Mum.” Just a whisper in the room. An ache for someone who wasn’t there so I could creep onto her lap and seek solace.
I didn’t know for how long I sat like that, but it must have been a long time because Rosa came looking for me. Detached, I watched a scene unfold before my eyes. I saw Rosa come over, worry lining her forehead, her words, which I had no understanding of, falling out of her mouth.
She must have known. Armando must have known. When had she come in? When had I not been home? Countless times I had gone out with Lakshmi shopping or to the park. Where had I been six weeks ago?
I glanced around the room. When my eyes caught that dressing table, the bile in my stomach pumped up. Pushing past Rosa, I hurled to the bathroom, hugging the toilet as I emptied the contents inside me.
If only I could heave out the pain inside me. I want it gone. Gone out of my wretched body.
Commotion surrounded me when I came back to the room. Rosa running around like a headless chicken with Armando in tow. He avoided my gaze, embarrassed to see me in my nightdress. I couldn’t care less.
