“You didn’t come home tonight. After passing by your office earlier, I could obviously tell why.”
I stared at him in utter shock and disbelief. This was not how I imagined him finding out.
I actively tried to get him not to see this. I was thinking of other ways to break the news to him, other ways that wouldn’t involve us standing on the sex painting or, rather, the “masterpiece” Beckham and I created, surrounded by portraits, sculptures, and photos of his wife made by another man.
“Gavin…” I whispered.
A humorless chuckle surfaced from him. “How long has it been going on?” he asked, moving to the wall of photographs.
I swallowed. “W-what?”
Gavin rolled his eyes as he looked over his shoulder to me. “Not a difficult question, Rosenna. How long has he been fucking my wife and lying to my face?”
I was completely speechless, in the midst of what seemed like a panic attack. My head was starting to spin.
“Can’t tell me? It must’ve been a while, then. Not surprised. I should have noticed, you know? Your hips seemed wider, your smile not as tense, your blush deeper… It was almost too obvious.”
Anger radiated off of him in waves, but he didn’t let it show. Though, despite his efforts, I knew better. After being with him for so long, I would always know better. His eyes held so much hatred that I could barely look into them, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away.This was not how I wanted things to go.
Then how did you want things to play out, Rosenna? Did you want to keep fucking your client behind your husband’s back despite the fact that you had fallen in love with him? Act like everything was normal? Keep the same cycle of fighting with Gavin and running to Beckham for comfort?
This was not how I wanted things to go.
Reaching into his back pocket, tears sprung to my eyes as Gavin held up my wedding ring. “After everything I’ve done for you… you really threw away our marriage… threw awayusforhim?”
I still felt frozen. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but they wouldn’t come out.
As my silence angered him further, I flinched as he threw the ring to the ground, seething angrily.
“Fucking answer me, dammit!” he yelled. “Say something!”
“What did you expect me to do, Gavin?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, and he almost flinched as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I didn’t even recognize my own voice.
Sure, we’ve had our fights. Sure, we’ve argued. Sure, I’ve screamed and cried when he wouldn’t understand me, but this time, it felt different. I believe it did for both of us.
“What the hell did you expect your wife of almost six years to do when she has done nothing but try to please you, when she has endured the belittling from your parents for all of our time together, when she demeans herself to make her fucking shitty husband feel like he’s worth more than he actually is?! Huh?! What the hell did you expect me to do? All you’ve done is neglect me our entire marriage. You don’t appreciate me, you don’t respect me—sometimes I wonder if you even loved me.”
He shook his head in a mix of disgust and shock. “Well, that’s rich coming from a woman who fucking cheated on her husband.”
“You aren’t the saint you and your parents think you are, Gavin. So what, I wasn’t the perfect wife? You are possibly the farthest from a perfect husband as a person can get.”
“I’m not the one who ruined our marriage.”
“Our marriage was dying long before Beckham came into the picture.”
“And that makes it okay to spread your legs for the first guy that shows you affection, I bet.”
“If that’s the case, then I only have you to blame for all of this. He understands me. He listens to me. He cherishes me, and he loves me, okay?”
“Oh sure, sure, he fucking loves you, all right. Take a look around.” He threw his arms wide, gesturing at the art space. “A man that loves you would definitely take the time to display the woman he loves like some trophy. If you had any sense of self-worth, you’d understand that nothing about what he feels for you is natural or healthy.”
“Heseesme. He values me. That’s something you never did.”
“Put the blame of all this on me and paint me as the bad guy like always… yeah, that’s convenient for you, isn’t it?” He shook his head, then looked over my shoulder as footsteps entered the showroom. “The man of the hour. Finally, he decides to make his appearance. What a fucking reunion this is.”
I crossed my arms in defeat as I watched him sadly. He was angry, and part of my heart was crushed as behind the empty and angry void in his eyes, there was hurt and betrayal.
“Gavin, please just stop,” I whispered.
