Falling Apart

Leah could feel her chest tightening at Chantelle’s words. It was just as she thought. Chantelle had only returned to put a strain on their relationship and steal Derek from her. But the nerve of her to show up at her house was infuriating.

“Come on Leah, you actually didn’t think that you could take my place in his life, did you?” She chuckled.

“Derek has always been mine. I have his heart. What do you have, just your name on a marriage certificate that means nothing.”

Leah smirked, masking the anger boiling inside her, “What makes you think that I’m just going to stand back and let his old vomit take my husband from me?”

“Oh honey, I’m already doing it,” Chantelle said with an icy calm. “I’m going to be seeing him every day at the office, and working late nights with him. Why do you think Derek offered me the job and not you? It’s because deep down he still wants me. He just doesn’t realize it yet, but I’ll help him see it.”

“Derek still loves me, so why don’t you do us both a favor and just remove your miserable presence from both our lives? You’re in the way of our happiness and if you haven’t noticed, Derek doesn’t love you. You need to let him go.” She said, her voice dripping with venom.

Leah’s eyes narrowed angrily. She opened her mouth to speak but the words formed a lump in her throat and just then, Derek’s voice echoed loudly,

“Leah, who's at the door?!”

Leah blinked, locking eyes with Chantelle’s smug grin, “No one,” she said sharply, staring directly at Chantelle.

“This is pathetic,” Chantelle said with a condescending laugh, “Face it Leah, you’ve already lost.”

Leah’s heart felt like it was about to explode. Just thinking about Chantelle working day in and out with Derek at a job that was supposed to be hers made her boil. The worst part was that she could not even confront Derek about this or make him understand how working with his ex made her feel. He’d only dismiss her feelings or scold her for being insecure. It had only been a day and she was already starting to feel like the other woman in her marriage.

Chantelle looked at her with a smug expression on her face, “You don’t realize it yet, but it’s only going to be a matter of time before Derek kicks you out of his life. Don’t you think it’s best to just avoid him to save face?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and called sweetly, “Derek!” entering the house.

Derek turned at the sound of her voice, his face lighting up with a smile, “Oh Chantelle! You’re here. Just give me a moment, I’ll be with you soon.”

Leah looked at Derek and her heart dropped. He casually shrugged off his suit jacket like this was normal, like he couldn’t see it was ripping her apart to see Chantelle invading the one place that still felt was hers.

Her voice cracked, heavy with the weight of her emotions as she finally asked, “Why is she here, Derek?”

This house was their home, and for years, Derek had not invited anyone, not his friends or work colleagues. He always liked to keep his personal life away from everything else, it’s one of the few things Leah liked about their relationship.

It felt private and personal, and their home had become her safe space. With everything happening in the past few days, this house was her only escape, but now Chantelle was here. It’s been a day, and already the woman was infiltrating and taking over everything in her life.

Derek let out a long sigh, the excitement in his eyes dimming as he spoke, “There were a few things we didn’t get to at work for the presentation tomorrow, and since Chantelle was already in the neighborhood, I decided it’ll be easier to just meet here,”

Leah wanted to raise her eyebrow at that. She was tired, and this was just too much to accept. She could try to stomach them working together, but bringing Chantelle to their home, their private space was just too much.

Her hands balled into a fist, despite her efforts to keep her anger at bay.

“Couldn’t you find somewhere else to meet? Did it have to be our home?” She tried her best to keep her tone steady, but every word felt like a volcano was about to erupt within her.

“This is my home, Derek, why would you bring her over without informing me?!”

Derek’s brows furrowed. He could not understand why Leah was making such a big deal out of nothing, but he was tired of rehashing this conversation, “It’s my house Leah! I paid for everything. Why would I need your permission for anything?”

Those words stung Leah and her stomach churned painfully. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she managed to stifle them. Everything was falling apart. Derek and she barely fought, but even when they did, he never raised his voice so harshly or spoke so cruelly to her. This was all happening because of her.

“Why are you doing this to us, Derek?” She asked, her voice breaking. She wasn’t sure if it was her emotions running wild or the pregnancy, but her heart felt like it was being shattered all over again.

“I don’t have time for this, Leah.” Derek said coldly, and shifted his gaze to Chantelle, “Wait here. I'll change and be back in a minute.” After Derek went upstairs, Chantelle started chuckling,

“You can see it now, can’t you?” She asked, staring at Leah triumphantly.

“Derek doesn’t want you anymore. He never did. Your marriage was never real. He was only using you to try and get over me, but now I’m back and he’s seeing more clearly now,” she paused, with a sympathetic look,

“You need to leave him alone.”

Leah stood quietly for a while and then smiled. She was determined to maintain her dignity and prove to Chantelle that she was exaggerating her importance to Derek. She stepped closer, her voice sharp and taunting, “You keep telling yourself that Chantelle, but let me ask you this. If Derek wanted you so badly, why didn’t he even mention you in the last three years? Why didn’t he look for you? Why didn’t he care?”

She paused and placed her hand on her chin,

“Huh… I don’t know, but that doesn’t sound like he’s that interested in you.”

“I mean, while you were busy dreaming of him, I was the one he spent every night with. I was the one he held. I was the one he wanted. So remind me again, where were you?”

The smug grin on Chantelle’s face slowly faded away, and she began to boil in anger.

“The reason Derek hasn’t bothered with you this whole time is because he didn’t have a reason to look. I was more than you ever were and satisfied him even more.”

Chantelle’s anger intensified and she lunged at Leah, swinging her arm wildly in an attempt to slap her, but Leah was quicker on her feet and evaded her strike. Chantelle lost her balance and fell to the ground with a loud thud. She screamed, grabbing her leg in pain.

At that moment, Leah could hear footsteps descending quickly on the staircases,

“What’s going on?” Derek demanded, his eyes laced with anger as he rushed to Chantelle’s side. He helped her up, his eyes blazing as they locked onto Leah, “What did you do? Did you push her?!”

“I didn’t,” Leah replied quickly, still trying to process the speed at which everything happened.

“She tried to hit me, and I moved, so she fell.”

“Hit you?!” Derek snarled, glaring at Leah. Chantelle clung to him desperately like a helpless victim.

“Are you crazy Leah?! You could have badly injured her! What the hell’s gotten into you? Why are you acting like such a bitch?!”

Leah could no longer hold back her anger, “A bitch? How can you say that Derek?” She muttered, her voice breaking.

“Can’t you see what’s happening here? She’s-“

“Enough!” Derek roared, cutting her off,

“I see exactly what’s happening. You are just bitter Leah! We’ve been together for three years with no child and you just can’t stand the thought that someone else might be able to give me what you never could.

That’s why you have all this resentment towards Chantelle. You’re so insecure and afraid that she can actually give me the child you never could, but I’ve had enough! She’s not your enemy, so just stop!”

Leah froze, his words tearing through her like glass on skin. Derek’s words were sharp and cruel, breaking every last strand of hope she had for their relationship. Her whole body trembled, but she said nothing. She couldn’t.

“Ahh, my leg.” Chantelle winced in pain.

Tilting his head, Derek glared at Leah and she could feel the blood drain from her face.

“You want this house so badly, Leah? Fine. Have it. We’re leaving.”

Leah watched in stunned silence as her husband scooped Chantelle into his arms and carried her. Her triumphant smile was the last thing Leah saw before they walked out the door, leaving her shattered and alone.