Shattering discovery

Marcus gawked at me, still partially inside Eunice, with little shock on his face as our eyes met. I felt pain, anguish, and disdain wash over me. He still had his hand on Eunice. He smirked and continued striding. What was happening? Was I dreaming?

My jaw dropped. Marcus continued with Eunice, her moans matching the classical music in the room. Was this a pregnancy hallucination? No, it was real. I watched Marcus climax inside another woman—his cousin—their sweat mingling.

"Enjoying the show?" Marcus said as he finally pulled out of Eunice, standing in front of me, completely nude and sweaty.

My throat tightened, a scream trapped inside. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I needed someone to snap me out of the dream, but no one did, because it wasn't a dream.

"What did you just do? Tell me this was a dream, Marcus," I managed to speak with a lump in my throat. My whole body trembled, goosebumps covering me.

Marcus ignored my question, filling a glass of water and drinking it with deliberate, exaggerated gulps.”

"Marcus, I’m asking you a question! What just happened here?" Tears welled in my eyes again.

"Lower your voice, Mia," Marcus thundered.

I stared, shocked. Was this my husband? The man who had never raised his voice at me? Eunice chuckled, standing up and walking over to Marcus, naked and shameless.

"In fact, what are you doing home this early? Your appointment is supposed to end in about an hour," Marcus shrugged.

My lips trembled, my eyes opened their gates, and tears rolled out uncontrollably.

"Marcus, you were sleeping with your cousin," my heart shattered even more, a million times over, as I said those words, flashing back to how he went in and out of her, caressing her from behind like he used to do with me.

"And so what? What if I’m sleeping with my cousin?" Marcus asked with widened eyes, rubbing Eunice’s backside.

"Marcus!" I screamed at the top of my voice, my eyes red like hot coal.

"Lower your voice. You brought this upon yourself. Why did you return from the Josip tail earlier than usual? You could have avoided this," Marcus sounded so nonchalant, no hint of remorse in his voice.

He stepped away from Eunice, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat from his brow, as if nothing had happened.

"Can you hear yourself? I just caught... caught you having sex with your cousin, and that’s what you have to say?" My voice shook with emotions. I kept closing and opening my eyes, hoping I would wake up from this nightmare, but unfortunately, I couldn’t.

"I’m not his cousin," Eunice finally spoke.

My heart stopped pounding for a second. My eyes narrowed at Eunice, who then wore one of Marcus's shirts to cover her chest. My legs trembled, and I had to lean against the wall by the door.

"What...? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Exactly what you heard, Mia," Marcus chimed in, wrapping his hands around Eunice’s shoulders.

Marcus smirked. "I can see the confusion on your face, my dear Mia," he added, moving towards her.

My body was practically shaking. Tears filled my eyes, and my face turned red as I stared into Marcus's stoic eyes. They weren't familiar eyes anymore, not those beautiful and loving eyes that I used to know. There was something different.

"I wanted to tell you, but not like this. Anyway, it's all good. Eunice is not my cousin; she's the ex-girlfriend I told you about in the past. The girl I dated who cheated on me before I met you," Marcus explained.

"This must be a joke, isn't it? Some kind of prank, huh?" I asked, tilting my head in disbelief. It couldn't be. Marcus wouldn't have betrayed me like this. He always told me he loved me so much and that he would never lie to me. Was that all a lie too?

"It's not a joke. Actually, you are the joke," Marcus spat, a smirk lingering around his lips.

"The same ex you said cheated on you with your boss? The same ex who ruined your life and made you hate living? The same ex who broke your heart that I managed to fix?" Each word I let out came with more tears. I couldn’t hold it. My heart was shattered, I felt a sharp pierce, my waist tinged with anguish.

I could remember how broken I had found Marcus. He thought of suicide multiple times, all because of this same ex, Eunice. I stood by him and showed him love even when he didn’t want to believe in true love. I fought my parents to keep him. I gave my all for him when everyone told me not to, and what do I get?

"Did you ask who the boss she cheated on was?" Marcus asked, this time with a menacing expression on his face.

My face contorted with perplexity. I couldn’t understand how that correlates with this. "Who?" I asked anyways.

"The bastard was your father!"

My eyes widened in shock. There must be a mistake. My father was the sweetest and most virtuous man I have ever known.

"That’s not possible," I argued, shaking my head. "My father could never do that. Never," my head continued shaking rigorously, eyes narrowed.

"Your father took advantage of me all because I…" Eunice spoke, choking on her tears.

How was this even possible? My father? I had a lot of questions. It just didn’t make any sense to me. My father would have never done such a thing.

Marcus approached, wiping a tear from my cheek with his thumb. He examined it, smirked, then slowly licked it, his eyes cold and cruel.

“I have waited all my life to feed on your tears,” Marcus said coldly, staring at me with a smirk. “I have waited so long to make you go through pain just like your father made me go through.”

My jaw dropped, my heart pounded wildly in my chest. What sort of nightmare was this?

“I thought you loved me,” I asked, looking at the shadow of Marcus because the person standing in front of me was not my Marcus, but someone different.

“Love? All I ever felt for you is hate and nothing more. The sight of you reminds me of what your father did, and I vowed that I was going to make him pay. It is time, and you are going to pay for your father's sins,” Marcus said.

“Mar… Marcus,” I muttered in shock, my jaw dropping even harder, goosebumps covering my body even more. “You love me, I know you do,” I reaffirmed, nodding my head and using the back of my hand to wipe away the tears.

“I hate you. I hate you, Mia Smith, and you disgust me!” Marcus roared in my face.

Everything was a lie. The deep stares of love and affection, the kisses, the lovemaking. What did I do to deserve this? My heart broke and shattered into a million pieces. Everything was a lie. All the times Eunice and Marcus were alone, they were making love. They’d look at me and laugh each time. How did this even happen?

“Leave my house. Leave my life,” I whimpered, my teeth clattering together as I spoke with the little strength left in me.

“Your house? The question should be, do you even have a house?” Marcus chuckled.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I should be the one telling you to leave my house because you are the one in my house, my property,” Marcus snapped.

I frowned, confusion etched on my face. “What are you talking about? This is my property.”

“Your property?” Marcus repeated, then turned to Eunice, and they laughed together.

I stared dumbfounded.

“You have no property, Mia. You are nothing, just like I was when you met me. You own nothing in your name. Everything your stupid father ever worked for is now in my name. It is all mine,” Marcus explained with a smile.

My tongue couldn’t work anymore. A heavy lump occupied my throat, my hands trembling frantically as Marcus's words played in my head over and over.

“How... how is that even possible?” My voice shook with fear, and my eyes filled once more with tears.

Marcus approached, cupping my face in his hands. His eyes, once warm and loving, now held only darkness. “Mia, you are so naive and dumb. A trusting fool,” Marcus tutted. “You trust too much and blindly, and that is the reason for your downfall.”

My attention was piqued.

“I have brought documents to you multiple times to sign, and you are such a trusting fool to sign them all without even going through them. Of course, I’m your husband, you think, he can not hurt me. Isn’t that what you have in your head?” Marcus chuckled as he spoke.

My world crumbled. My father had always warned me—never trust a desperate man. I never listened, and now, here I was, betrayed by the man I loved.

“Marcus, why? Why did you have to do this to me? I trusted you with my life,” my heart burned. What was there left in my life? I had lost it all, my marriage and my birthright, and all for what? Love? Or better still, a facade.

“It is said that the child will pay for the crimes of the father. In your case, your father paid for his crime, and the remnant was passed onto his one and only beloved daughter,” Marcus smirked, and my eyes twitched with disbelief that it was the same man who couldn’t go a night without telling me he loved me so much.

“I tortured your father and watched him breathe his last,” Marcus dropped the bombshell, his eyes fixed on me.

Shock filled me; I couldn’t believe my ears. “You killed my father,” I stuttered, coldly in shock.

"Something like that, and you can do nothing about it," Marcus laughed softly.

I felt everything stop around me. Who was this man in front of me? Was he my husband, Marcus? I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears.

“I’m never going to forgive you for this, Marcus, and I promise you with my life that I will make you pay for all you have done. I’m going to make you pay for killing my father,” I swiped away the tears on my face and tightened my jaw. I was too hurt to feel any more emotions. I was numb.

I didn’t allow him to talk, and as I stormed out of the house angrily, filled with disbelief, my ears tingled with doubt and shock at the things I had heard. I drove straight to the penthouse downtown, calling my lawyer on the way to meet me there.

I reached the penthouse and comforted myself with alcohol as the flashbacks of Marcus inside Eunice and his words of killing my father repeatedly played in my head. What had I ever done to deserve such betrayal? I harbored his ex-girlfriend, thinking she was his cousin. I could only imagine how they both looked at me while I swam in my own foolishness.

The elevator chimed, and I turned towards it as I anticipated seeing Brad, my lawyer. As the elevator door opened, I was in shock as I saw three police officers step out of it.

“Good day, Mrs. Mia Marcus,” one of the police officers, who was in the middle, greeted, dressed in a black suit, while the others were in police uniforms.

“Good day. How may I help you?” I asked.

“My name is Inspector Luke, and these are my colleagues. You are under arrest for the murder of Miss Eunice Connor,” Luke stated, and I died in that moment.