Chapter 1: The Text Message

Cassandra’s POV

Ping.

A message came through on my husband’s phone. ‘Hey baby. Hope this gets you nice and hard. Can’t wait to see you tonight. Meet at my new place? 1215 Sherbrook Drive. Xoxo’.

What?

The message was quickly followed by a picture.

It was a woman in a skimpy red lace bra. The bra was so sheer you could see her nipples. She had red lipstick, her face in a sexy pout.

I recognized the woman. It was…

Ellie.

My husband’s first love.

But how was this possible? Ellie had been in a horrific car accident many years ago. A head-on collision with a semi-truck. She’d been lucky to survive, but the accident had left her in a coma. She was a vegetable, kept alive by machines, unable to talk or move.

Jordyn had been devastated. His heart belonged to Ellie; she was his first love. His only love. He had visited her for a long time after the accident, even though she couldn’t communicate.

I’d known how much he loved Ellie, but I thought that after several years of marriage, he’d grow to love me too.

This text message, however, suggested otherwise.

Her NEW place? Something about this told me it wasn’t the first time. How long had Ellie been out of the hospital?

And more importantly, how long had Jordyn been seeing her?  

A wave of nausea washed over me. My heart raced. I felt dizzy.

I stared at the erotic picture of Ellie, speechless. But then I heard Jordyn coming out of the bathroom. I quickly tossed the phone onto the bedside stand.

He was wrapped in a towel, bare-chested, and freshly showered. He didn’t even glance at me; he just went straight for his phone. He saw the message, ran his hand through his hair, and smiled. Then he went to his wardrobe and threw on some clothes.

“Where are you going?” I asked, innocently. I knew damned well where he was going. But he didn’t know that I knew.

He turned, exasperated. “None of your business, Cassandra.”

“When will you be home?” I did my best to sound nonchalant.

“Nevermind.” He shook his head. “God. You’re so controlling. Just back off, will you?”

Without another word, he left the bedroom, slamming the door behind him

I clenched my fists.

I sat alone in the bedroom, thinking about our marriage. I recalled why we’d been married in the first place.

I’d helped Jordyn’s grandfather while I was still in college. That’s actually how I’d met Jordyn. It was love at first sight for me. He was so handsome, so smart, so sexy. But I quickly found out that he was in love in someone else. So I figured my feelings would never be reciprocated. And I was just about to drop it and force myself to move on, when Jordyn suddenly had a change of heart. Out of the blue it seemed, he wanted to marry me.

Me!

I’d been over the over the moon! Our wedding day had been picture perfect. I was the happiest girl in the world.

Until…

It became clear pretty early on in the marriage that Jordyn hadn’t married me for love. For him it was just a marriage of convenience. He needed a wife to look after him, so that’s what I did. He became even more distant, though. Cold even. He was gone a lot. Always working late. Plus his mother hated me, so that didn’t help.

Still, though, I brushed it off and tried to be the perfect housewife.

Why?

I was naïve.

I thought that if was perfect, maybe he’d grow to love me. If I doted on him, took good care of him, made all his meals, kept a nice, clean home, maybe I’d earn his respect?

It hadn’t worked. He became even more absent. His mother became even more venomous. I became miserable.

So….I suggested a divorce. Several times. I was serious. Why stay in an unhappy marriage? But he was dismissive. He scoffed at me, said I was being ‘overly dramatic.’ ‘Unreasonable.’ ‘Ridiculous’.

Then he tossed more money at me, to placate me.

It was never about the money, though. I didn’t want his money. I only wanted the one thing he was never going to give me.

His love.

The image of Ellie, in her red, lacy bra, flashed through my mind.

This was the last straw. He was cheating on me? With his first love? This was unforgivable. I had to confront him.

I had to confront both of them.

I drove to the address from the text message.  

Eillie answered the door, surprised to see me.

“Cassandra?” she asked innocently. “How lovely to see you!” She reached out to embrace me, but I waved her off.

“Stop pretending,” I told her. “I know what you and Jordyn have been doing.”

She blinked rapidly a few times. Then her expression changed. Her lips curled up into a sly smile.

“Is that so?” she cooed. “Well, you’re not surprised, are you? I mean, when was the last time you and Jordyn made love? From what I understand, he never even touches you anymore. It’s me he wants.”

She leaned in and whispered in my ear, taunting me.

“It’s ALWAYS been me.”

I was angry but I held it in. I wasn’t going to let her see me get upset. She didn’t deserve the satisfaction of knowing that she’d hurt me. That they both had.

“How long?” I asked. “How long has this been going on?”

I wanted all the facts so I could make an informed decision. I did my best to remain calm, but my mind whirled.

“He’s a MAN,” Ellie said. “He has NEEDS. Sexual needs. Needs YOU can’t satisfy.” Her tone was mocking, and sarcastic. I held in my anger. She continued. “He never loved you. He never will. You’re a nuisance to him. A nag. Always meddling in his affairs.”

I didn’t respond. Her words cut deep. I had tried, many times, to be intimate with Jordyn. I craved intimacy with him. But he’d always held me at arm’s length. Even when we were making love, he was still distant.

“Ellie, I was thinking Chinese for dinner. How does that…” It was Jordyn. He emerged from her bedroom, his shirt off.

“Jordyn?” he asked, clearly surprised to see me.  

He took one look at me and his face contorted into a look of shock.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice low.

“Cut the crap,” I said. “I know everything.”

He nodded. I searched his face for guilt. But there was none.

I knew what I had to do.

“You have two choices. Either you come home with me…immediately…” I paused for effect.

“Or?” he asked, his hands on his hips.

“Or we get a divorce.”

My breath hitched. Deep down, I wanted him to come home. If we could sit down and talk about this, maybe…just maybe….we could work this out. I mean, I loved him. I really did. I was angry, yes. And hurt. But he was my husband. We could go to counselling? Try harder?

He interrupted my thoughts, though. And his next words shattered me.

“Enough,” he scoffed. “Really, Cassandra. You’re so childish.”

Childish?

And then it hit me – he was NEVER going to change. He was a condescending, arrogant, belittling asshole! At least, that’s how I felt in the moment. He had ignored me for years!

I’d been so stupid! So naïve!

Well…not anymore! This marriage was over! 

I slid my wedding ring off my finger and forced it into his hand.

“Take this ring. I don’t want it.”

“Cassandra,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t talk to me,” I seethed. “Just wait for the divorce papers.”