Hurt

Chapter 1

    'You are getting married to Knoxville Daniel' are the words that has changed her life and had landed her in miseries she couldn't even escape from for months now.

    Aliya was a nineteen years old young vibrant aspiring actress, who wanted nothing, but to make her dreams of becoming a popular actress come true, but her dreams were shattered after she was asked to marry a stranger months ago. Unlike every other person that gets to decide for themselves without getting their parents involved, Aliya wasn't as lucky as that. Yes, she had everything at her disposal, which included money since she came from a well-to-do home although they were not very wealthy, but one thing she never had was freedom.

 Again, and just like every other day, she sat in the living room of her husband's mansion where she was supposed to find happiness, but found emptiness instead, as she waited for him to come back home. This is what she has been suffering for months since she got married to the stranger, but who would believe her when she said her husband was an arrogant and a promiscuous man that cheats on her almost every day with different women? Was she supposed to call it cheating when all he ever did was shove it on her face?

   Aliya checked her phone screen for the fifth time and sighed briefly. Again, it was already 10:30pm, and her husband was yet to be back home. She knew she shouldn't be waiting for him, but she couldn't also sleep as the thought of him being in danger out there struck her mind each time she wanted to get some sleep. She had tried to call him several times, but he never answered any of her calls, which made her more worried.

    She dialed his number once more, and this time, he answered the call, but she was disappointed when she heard the voices that came from the other end.

    "You are so sweet, Knox. You are huge down there," She tightened her fingers around her phone as those words came on from the other end. Of course, she recognized the voice to be Nina's. She knew she shouldn't be angry, knowing the kind of person her husband was, but she couldn't hold it in.

    "Hmm," Knox's groan sounded through her ears, and she bit her lip as she threw her head back, a drop of tears trickled down her cheeks, even if she wanted to fight them back.

    "You know you are the hottest bachelor ever, right? I wonder why you decided to get married when you can always enjoy hot girls. Your wife is not even pretty. I wonder why you settled for less when there are hot-looking ladies out there. I mean, look at me," Her heart wrenched in pain as she listened to Nina hurl insults at her, but she didn't blame her for everything, her husband was the one to be blamed.

    "Marriage doesn't stop me from doing what I want to do, sweetheart. Besides, you are the best, and you have been with me for long. You will always remain my favorite, Nina. Why don't you get on your knees and do your job, huh?" The bastard couldn't even defend her but chose to say those trash, and the thought of it hurts her so much. Was she supposed to ignore them and go to bed, or was she supposed to go there and confront them?

    "There's no point, Aliya. You will only humiliate yourself," She whispered to herself as she heard him groaning from the other end. She held the phone in her hands, staring at the screen as a pool of tears streamed down her cheeks. She wanted to end the call, but her fingers were numb that she couldn't even move them, but only cried her eyes out.

   "Why don't you divorce your wife and marry me, Knox? I'm ready to spend the rest of my life serving you in the other room, if you know what I mean," Again, Nina's shameless voice sounded, and she gulped down the lump that formed in her throat.

    "Divorce? That is not an option now. She has kept my bed warm one night or the other, and she's pretty good..."

    "But I can always move in with you if you want me to. I don't just want her in the picture anymore," Nina's voice pierced through her ears. She knew it was time she ended the call, but she couldn't. For some reasons she couldn't explain, she wanted to listen to everything they had to say. She wanted to hear everything so she could break down totally.

    "The only reason I'm keeping her is because of my granddad, and because she satisfies me some times when I need her. She's just a collateral that was given to me by her parents in exchange for success. She should be useful, yeah? Now, enough of the talk, and get to work, baby," His deep voice sounded through her ears, and she felt her heart wrenched painfully, more tears found their way out of her eyes.

    Minutes passed, and the clapping of skin, groans and moans filled her ears, and this time, she was forced to end the call. It would only hurt her more if she decided to listen to them further.

    With her heart aching, she stood up to her feet and dragged herself toward the staircase, heading up to their matrimonial room. She slumped on the bed once she walked inside, buried her face between her palms, and cried like she had never done before. 

    "Why did he answer the call if he was busy doing that?" She questioned herself, but she didn't need anyone to tell her the answer when it was staring right back at her. He wanted her to know he was busy with his promiscuous lifestyle, of course.

    "Don't cry, Aliya. It's not worth it. Get yourself together. He's not worthy of your tears," She shook her head as she mumbled to herself, but more tears kept streaming down her cheeks since she couldn't hold them in.

    She finally pulled herself together and dragged her feet into the bathroom, where she soaked herself in the bathtub. 'Maybe a warm bath would make her feel better' she thought to herself as she relaxed underneath the warm soapy water while sticking out her head.

    Seconds ticked into minutes, and it was finally an hour. By now, the water was already cold, so she stepped out of the bathtub and wore her robe before she headed back into her room to get some sleep. 

    She stopped when she pulled the bathroom door open and found Knoxville standing in front of the mirror with just his brief on. It dawned on her that he must've come into the room while she was wallowing in thoughts.

   Gathering her strength together, she walked toward the bed to sit, but his words brought him to an abrupt halt.

   "Make me dinner. I'm hungry," How he dared to ask her that was something Aliya couldn't comprehend.

    "Are you a human?" Her question brought him to an abrupt halt as he was heading to the bathroom, and he scoffed as he turned to face her, wondering why she asked him that question, even if it was already obvious why. 

    "Who treats his wife like this?" Tears trickled down her cheeks as she stared at him with resentment, but she didn't blame him for all these, instead, she blamed her parents who never thought of how she would feel before they forced her into this in the first place.

    "Wife? I never said I wanted to marry you," He finally turned to her and uttered, and she couldn't help but scoffed at his reply. Of course, she knew that from the start, which he didn't really have to remind her again.

    "You come home every night and have me waiting up for you... You come home every single night, smelling of other women... Do you still think nothing is wrong? I know you never liked me, but we are married now, can you respect that?" She screamed at the top of her voice, not minding if their maids would hear them arguing. Besides, it wasn't the first time that was going to happen, so it wasn't something strange anyway.

    "I never asked you to wait for me, Aliya... You chose to. Those women out there, they want me... They can't do without me. Come on, you aren't expecting me to not give them what they want, right? Don't you think it'll be unfair?" He smirked at her, and she didn't need anyone to tell her that he was doing this deliberately to hurt her, just as always.

   She paused and bit her bottom lip, as she forced back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of him, or cry because of him again, because it was not worth it. 

    "I will be gone on a business trip for three days. I'm going tomorrow at noon," He said to her and went to the bathroom, and she slowly clenched her fists and gulped down nothing. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she stared at his back, but she fought them back. He was going on a trip with a woman, and she knew it, even though he decided to lie to her.

    His phone suddenly beeped with a message on the screen. As much as she wanted to ignore it, a part of her insisted that she check the message. She finally walked over to the bed and picked the phone, before she swiped the unlock button, and thankfully, the phone wasn't locked.

    'Baby, I'm just texting to remind you to wake up early so we won't be late for our trip tomorrow. I love you so much, and I hope you dream about me as you have a peaceful night' she scoffed as she slowly tightened her fingers around the phone, her blood boiling in rage as she gritted her teeth. She knew before now that he was not going on a business trip, but with a woman. Didn't the woman know he was married? What the hell was she even thinking? Her husband was in the position to tell them he was married even if they were the ones throwing themselves at him, right? He accepted them wholeheartedly, which only meant that he liked them.

    "What are you doing with my phone?" His deep and angry voice snapped her back to reality, and she slowly raised her gaze to find him glaring hard at her.

    "You are going on a trip with another woman?" She scoffed as she threw the phone on the bed, and turned to face him fully.

    "What right do you have to go through my phone?" He snapped at her, giving her a deadly glare like he was going to hit her if she messed with him again.

    "I don't have any reason to check your phone, Knox. I know who you are, so why should I? Anyway, I wish you a safe trip..." She paused and bit her bottom lip. 

    "And I wish you never make it back here because you know what? I hate you so much with the last drop of my blood. You disgust me!" She walked over to him and slapped him hard on his cheeks, then spat on his face before she turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. It was the first time she was going to do that, and she felt better this way...