Chapter 2

It was coming from upstairs.

My leg felt heavy as I moved toward the staircase, my thoughts spiraled in every direction.

“No. This can't be happening, it can't be happening” i said to myself.

But the sound only grow louder, passionate. Familiar.

My stomach twisted, “ was it Nich? Did my husband. On our anniversary bring another woman into our home? Into our bed?” I muttered to myself.

I was filled with the mixture of fear and disruption.

Each step I took felt heavier than the last, like I was dragging my heart up with me.

And then, just outside our bedroom door I stopped.

The pleasure filled cries from inside made me tremble.

I had my answer already.

I stood frozen outside the bedroom, my breath shallow, my body numb.

The moans were sharper now, feverish and raw, echoing through the walls of the house I had lived with Nicholas. Out home.

I clenched my fists, my nails bitting into my palms. A sickening thought clawed it away into my mind. What if it wasn't a mistake? What if he wanted me to find out?..a lot of questions keep on ringing in my head.

I reached for the door handle. My fingers hovered over it, shaking.

Then a woman's voice.

“Oh, Nicholas…… I've missed this”

The female voice sounded familiar but I couldn't.

I flinched as if I'd been struck.

A low husky chuckled followed. His laugh. Nich laugh. My husband was there with her.

The world around me blurred.

I wanted to scream, to burst through that door and tear everything apart. But all I could do was stand there, my body betraying me.

My heart pounded against my ribs, screaming at me to move, to react, to do something.

Then the bed creaked. A deep, satisfied sigh and silence. My ear rang as I heard it.

I ask myself “What now? Walk away? Burst in? Confront him? Break down?.

I swallowed hard, my throat tight.

And then, with one slow, measured breath. I turned the handle.

The door swung open.

And there they were.

Nicholas, my husband was sprawled in the bed, his body tangled with hers. Clara. My cousin. The woman I had grown up with, the one I had shared secret with the one I had always trusted.

She was on top of him, her bare skin glistening with sweat, her hands planted on his chest riding him. Moving with slow, Intimate rolls if her hip on his cock.

Their bodies were so close, so in sync, it made my stomach turn.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move, my world shattered in real time, piece by piece, as the sound of their heavy breathing filled the room.

Then Clara looked up.

Her gaze met mine, and for a moment I expected something; guilt, panic, regret from them both. But there was nothing. Not even shame, no remorse just annoyance.

Nicholas followed her gaze, turning his head lazily toward me. And that was when my heart truly broke.

Because he didn't flinch. Nich didn't rush to cover himself. He didn't scramble for excuses.

Instead, be sighed, as if I was the problem here.

“Iris,” he muttered, his voice heavy with exhaustion, “what are you doing here?”

My stomach twisted. My head spun. “What was I doing here?”

Clara smirked. I looked at her as she smirked. As if she had just won some cruel game I didn't even know i was playing.

“We didn't expect you so early,” she said casually pushing her long strand hair back.

I took a step back, my vision blurring with unused tears. My mind screamed at me to wake up, fight back, and demand an answer.

“ But Nicholas?”

He just sat up, rubbing his temple I was nothing more than a mirror inconvenience. “You should've called first”

I choke on my breath. “Called?” My voice cracked. “Are you, are you serious right now Nich?”

Niche exhaled, looking at me like I was the one being unreasonable.

“ Look, I know this is a lot to take in but Clara and I…”

“Have been seeing each other for a while now,” Clara finished the sentence for him tilting her head in amazement. “We didn't want you to find out like this, but, well here we are.”

I staggered back, bile rising in my throat. “On our anniversary”

Nicholas shrugged at my word. Like today meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.

Clara smirked again “I mean technically. It's a celebration, right?”

The floor beneath me is titled. My heart screamed at me to run, scream, throw something, breaks them apart.

But all I could do was stand there, watching the people I loved betray me right in front of my eyes.

I felt my heartbeat in my throat, a painful, suffocating rhythm that drowned out the heavy silence between us .

Clara stretched lazily, completely unbothered by her nakedness in front of me, and leaned into Nich, pressing a slow, teasing kiss to his jaw. As if I wasn't standing right there.

Rage, humiliation. Disbelief it all crossed into me at once, sharp and suffocating.

“ How long?” My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Nicholas ran a hand through his hair, finally sitting up, the sheets pooling around his wrist. “Does it really matter?”

I flinched.

Clara chuckled as If this was some kind of joke. “ Months,” she said, stretching the word out like she was savouring it.

“Nicholas and I….. well, let's just say this isn't the first time we've enjoyed each other's company.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me.

“Months” I repeated

They have been doing this for months. Behind my back. In my home.

I clenched my fists so tightly, my nail dug into my palms “And you don't think about us Nich.”

Nich exhaled, like I was exhausting him. “Iris, don't be dramatic.”

“Dramatic” I let out a hollow laugh, my body trembling. “You” I sucked in a breath, shaking my head. “You cheated on me with my cousin, Nich. On our anniversary, and you have the audacity to tell me not to be dramatic.”

Clare sighed, rolling her eyes “God, you always were so sensitive.”

That did it, Clara words awakened more anger in me.

I moved before I could stop myself. I slap Clara hardly.