Chapter 2

My head spinned as I saw and heard his reaction to the news I told him. I had been expecting him to be as surprised as I was but this new coldness was surprising. He knew what was going on.

“Babe, what do you mean by that,” I asked with a straight face but inwardly I was scared of the answer I was going to get because I had a vague idea of what he was going to say.

“There’s this new business idea…,” He started to say but I cut him off before he could continue.

“Oh no, not again. I thought we were over this. You promised it would never happen again without you consulting me first.”

The hiccups in our marriage so far had been arguments about finances. Marcus had a small investment company which he had started shortly before we got married. Though he was very secretive about the details of how it ran, it was clear that it wasn't fetching much. It wasn't the only business he had, there were several other things he began and left halfway. Since he had access to my accounts, thousands of dollars went down the drain in these attempts and all done without consulting me first.

It was ironic because I ran a consultancy firm specializing in strategic development for businesses looking to scale. I look at financials, operations and market trends then decide where to cut, where to invest and where to innovate. It's not glamorous but it fetches quite a lot.

I offered to help Marcus severally since I had a head for numbers but he always pointed out that he didn't interfere in my business so I shouldnt interfere in his either. It was maddening to say the least but there was very little I could do.

The sums were not too large to be worrisome and he always apologized and promised to talk to me about it the next time he had an idea but he never did.

“Could you hear me out first before you conclude that I spent it recklessly without having a plan. I didn't want to tell you before now because I knew you would react like this. I will fix the mortgage issue soon, I just need more time.”

“I don't know how else you want me to react, what exactly did you use the money to do and how do you want to go about repaying it? We have little time left until this house is no longer ours.”

I waited for him to respond but he was mute and was even avoiding my gaze. It dawned on me that he probably didn't know what to do either and he had just said that to make me feel better.

“Babe…?” I said softly, reaching out to touch him on his shoulder so he could respond to me.

“Let go of me. You've never trusted me with money before now. You think im dumb,” He said, removing my hand off his shoulder as soon as it touched him as he pushed me to the side.

“What's that on your hand?” I said, catching his left hand to inspect it after he pushed me. I had seen something briefly on the back of his palm when he had touched me.

“It's nothing, let go,” He snapped at me as he hurriedly pulled his hand away from mine and wiped it on his pants. It was of no use since I had already confirmed my suspicions.

“Why is there lipstick at the back of your hand? You’ve been with another woman right on the day of our anniversary.”

I was boiling in indignation as I confronted him. I didnt know which one was worse, the pending mortgage issue or the new problem that had just come up.

He had kissed some other lady then used his hand to wipe off the imprint of her lipstick from his lips. Clearly, he hadn't seen the red smear it left on his pale hands. All this done while I was thinking of how to make our anniversary night special.

“Can you hear what you are saying? You are running wild with your imagination now. You are accusing me of cheating while we are still talking about the mortgage. I can’t believe you will stoop so low. I’m done with this conversation.”

Before I could utter another word, he stormed out of the place and was soon out of sight.

“We are not done talking, come back,” I said to his retreating back but got no response. A few seconds later, I heard the loud bang of the door as he kicked it open. I stood in shock, surprised by his display of anger. If anyone was supposed to get angry, it should be me. I had been cool and considerate in how I had handled the matter so far.

I stood there, frozen in the hallway, my mind racing as I wondered how everything had crumbled so quickly in a short amount of time. I was at a loss. What had I done to deserve this?

For years, I had tried to be patient with Marcus, to support him through his endless business ventures and failed ideas. But this was different. This was about more than money; it was about trust. He had shut me out, lied to me, and now… the lipstick. I couldn’t even process that. Had I really been blind to his excesses all this while?

I forced my mind back to the mortgage—that was the immediate threat. I couldn’t let us lose the house. As much as I was hurting, I needed to focus. There would be time later to confront Marcus on the mystery woman and the business he had been using the money on.

My inheritance. That was my lifeline.

Fortunately I was the only one that had access to the account. After I inherited my father’s wealth, I had sworn never to touch it, but at this point, it was the only option. I had set the money aside for when we had kids, to create a future for them. It was supposed to be my safety net, but what good was that future if we didn’t have a roof over our heads?

I walked briskly to my room, my mind buzzing. I logged into the bank’s website, my fingers trembling as I entered the details. I still had enough in my inheritance account to cover the mortgage and keep us afloat until things stabilized. This would hurt, but it was necessary. I had no other choice.

When the page finally loaded, I froze. My heart skipped a beat, and I stared at the screen, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.

For a moment, I thought I had made a mistake. Maybe I had clicked the wrong account, maybe the page hadn’t loaded correctly. But no matter how many times I refreshed the page, the same cold, hard number glared back at me.

Zero. It was completely empty.

I couldn’t breathe. My vision blurred, and I stumbled backward as my hand gripped the edge of the bed for support. My knees buckled, and before I knew it, the world around me tilted and everything went black.