001 - Betrayed

MAEVE

I hurried back home from work after grabbing my test results from the hospital. I was excited to break the news about my pregnancy to my husband. I’d heard countless times from Thayer, my husband, about how he wanted to have kids, and I was so proud and excited to be finally fulfilling that desire of his.

I’ve never had it easy with love. I was born chubby and was forced to endure relentless mockery from peers and even my family while growing up. I was called all sorts of names: overweight, fat, chubby, shark, and other painful names that forced me into hiding. No one wanted to associate with me, let alone fall in love with me.

I tried various methods to lose weight; I went on diets, practiced yoga, and even engaged in morning exercise routines, but instead, it felt like I was gaining more weight.

For the twenty-two years I’ve lived, I desperately wanted to experience romantic love, as I was also a human with feelings. Then Thayer came. He confessed his love for me despite my size. For once, I felt important and confident. Thayer was not just handsome; he was incredibly hot, and I was proud to call him my husband.

As I approached our house with the test results clutched tightly in my hand, I noticed the number of expensive cars parked in the compound, coupled with the loud music coming directly from inside the house.

“Is Thayer having a party?” I thought. His birthday is in two months, so it wasn’t a birthday party. Then what party is it?

The music grew louder as I got to the door, and when I looked in, I was shocked by the number of guests in my sitting-room, partying, drinking, and doing all sorts of things. Even the lighting was changed to deep blue and red neon lights just like a club.

What the hell is Thayer thinking, organizing a party in our house without my consent?

I had questions to ask him, but I was stopped from going into my own house by one of the bouncers at the door.

“Invite, please,” he requested in a deep voice that threw me off balance.

“Invite? This is my house!” I declared, loud above my voice, struggling to raise it above the blaring music inside.

“Entrance is strictly by invitation, ma’am. Please, step aside.” I became suspicious of what was going on here. First, there was the party held in my matrimonial home without my consent, and now I’m being stopped from going inside!

I tried to force my way in, but the bouncer wouldn’t let me.

I spotted Thayer’s best friend in the sitting room and tried to get his attention, but he looked past me as if I wasn’t just waving at him. Instead, he was busy with the girls dancing on his lap and stroking him inappropriately.

“Do you realize you could be punished for stopping me from going into my house if my husband finds out about this?” I threatened the bouncer, but he remained calm and composed as if I was just making empty threats.

I grew angry at his confidence. I could feel my cheeks boiling. I was forced to stand outside my own home by a total stranger, and it was so embarrassing!

Frustrated, I searched my purse for my phone to call Thayer. I dialed his number many times, but he didn’t pick up. My heart shattered. How could he not pick up when he was definitely somewhere in the house, probably drinking or smoking amidst this loud music?

No one knows my house better than I do. Taking advantage of the darkness, I found my way around and snuck in through the back door. It was both annoying and unbelievable that I was sneaking into my own house.

I scanned the guests for Thayer once I was in, hiding my face to avoid being spotted by the bouncer at the door. When I didn’t find him, I hurried to our room. Hopefully, he would be there.

As I hurried up the stairs with my heart beating rapidly in my chest, the sound of the music faded and was gradually replaced by silence as I approached our door. Then, swiftly, the silence was replaced by muffled moaning and the sound of skin against skin. My breath caught in my throat. It was obvious someone was having sex in my matrimonial room!

But, I decided not to think it could be Thayer.

I pushed the door open, and my biggest fears were confirmed. Thayer was fucking my step-sister!

I felt life drain out of me. I froze as my world went silent. My heart beat rapidly in shock. What I saw made my eyes bleed as tears welled up, threatening to fall. I allowed the tears to flow down my cheeks, and it felt more like blood than tears.

Thayer’s eyes connected with mine, but he ignored me and continued with what he was doing as if I didn’t exist, as if he was pleased I was watching. The pain hit me squarely in the chest, such that I could barely breathe.

Unable to watch anymore, I ran out of the room. I crumpled the test results in my hand while running. I felt a sting in my lower abdomen as I discarded the crumpled results on the floor.

I could feel the skin around my stomach, legs, and cheeks bouncing with each step that I took. Each step brought me closer to more tears. I increased my speed and ran into the sitting room where the party was going on. As I headed for the door, someone blocked my path. It was the bouncer.

“How did you get in?!” he asked in a deep, hostile voice. But the last thing I wanted to do now was stop. I just wanted to run, cry, and scream as I went. But the bouncer tackled me down before I knew it. I fought back, but he was just too strong for me. I couldn’t match up to his strength.

His grip started to hurt as I struggled against it. “Let me go!” I pleaded, trying to stand back up. By now, we were already attracting attention. “Please, just let me go,” I cried.

“Let her go. Just let her leave!” It was Thayer’s voice. He sounded like he was finally getting rid of me. The bouncer slowly released his tight grip on me. I turned to look at my husband who was just walking down the stairs.

He was wearing a pair of shorts while his upper body was bare. His hair looked messy, and there were lip marks all over his cheeks. Not only that, his lips were swollen, which I knew were from kissing my step-sister.

Remembering he just had sex with my step-sister and I had watched them clenched my heart painfully, and I could feel hot tears gathering at the back of my eyes.

“Let this be the first and the last time you ever enter my room without knocking! Just because I pitied you and married you doesn’t mean you can behave however you wish in my house!”

Those words hit me and made my feet wobble. I struggled to maintain my balance so I wouldn’t appear clumsy.

“You should be grateful I married you. A chubby, dirty, smelling asshole like you! What was I even thinking when I proposed? You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me!”

Everyone in the room burst into laughter. Their laughter and Thayer’s words echoed in my heart. Their laughing faces flashed across my mind as I watched them.

All the love I shared with Thayer, all the good times we spent—was it all fake? Was Thayer using me all this while? Why is my life so different? Am I cursed? Why is it so hard to experience true love just because I’m chubby? Is it a crime to be chubby?

I could live with others mocking me for being chubby, but Thayer calling me those names hurt more than a heart pierced with an arrow. I just wished for the ground to open up and swallow me.

Overwhelmed, I ran out, unable to bear the mockery and humiliation. But it was hard to get Thayer’s voice out of my head, as his hurt the most.

I screamed. I cried as I ran heedlessly into the road, and before I realized it, I was standing in the way of an oncoming car in the middle of the road. Shocked, overwhelmed, and in tears, I couldn’t move out of the way.

Luckily, the car stopped before it could hit me. However, my chubby feet couldn’t hold me anymore, and I collapsed on the road.

“Hell no! Maeve, are you okay?!” I recognized that sweet, familiar voice as darkness swirled in my head. It belonged to a member of my husband’s family. The deep, sultry tone cut through my despair, igniting a spark of something in me.