My Perfect Marriage

Chapter23

Sophia spots the navy SUV parked by the pink cafe across the road where they arranged to rendezvous, the one he told her about, and looks around before making her way over there. She can see a middle-aged white-haired man sitting inside and pulls out her cell to check the picture he sent her of how he looked. Confirming it's him, she wanders up to the passenger side and opens the door to get in. Checking around once more in case she's seen and satisfied no one here knows her.

"Mrs. Park, hello. I'm Devon; we spoke on the phone." He has a polite yet rough accent, not typical for these parts, and Sophia smiles without it reaching her eyes. She found him under a private listing, and his specialty is extramarital affairs. "It's nice to meet you in the flesh."

"It's been two weeks since I sent you all the information. I just need to know the outcome or if you need more time." Sophia cuts straight to the point, staring ahead instead of at him as her insides tighten and anxiety rises in her throat to strangle her. Her body runs cold, but her palms get sweaty, and she swallows hard, then clears her throat in nervousness.

"Sure. Small talk won't help, I guess. Here." He slides a brown A4 envelope her way, and she takes it with fumbling fingers and shaking hands. Turning it over and seeing nothing written, she hesitates to open it. Her blood runs icier, and she closes her eyes and takes a heavy breath before opening one end.

"It's as you suspected. Your husband and this woman have met a few times over the last couple of weeks. Usually late in the evening. It seems to be for romantic dates."

His words are a slicing weapon as photographs fall out onto her lap, and she sits staring at the haphazard pile, unable to pick them up as she's frozen in posture. Her eyes glued to the assault before her.

Pictures of Leon walking hand in hand, hugging, cuddling up, and smiling at this woman. All manner of locations but making it very clear she's not just a business acquaintance. Sophia starts trembling and finally picks them up one by one, blankly staring at each before carefully placing it back on her lap in a neat pile, yet she can barely breathe. Her outward calmness doesn't match her inner chaos, and tears prick her eyes as each one gets more challenging to keep still from her vibrating fingers.

She stops at a picture of them kissing in his car, and it hurts like a gunshot to her chest. Taken from a distance, but it's unmistakably him. His hands are in her hair as they passionately make out, and she closes her eyes and lays it down to blot them out. Trying hard to keep a handle on her body and emotions, and this is so much harder than she thought it would be.

"I'm sorry. I know this must be very hard for you, but a******y will work in your favor." His words are like lead to her, dropping heavily onto her brain and weighing her down.

"This is the additional information you wanted. Her movements, schedules, home address, etc. She has an apartment not far from here. I came from there before meeting you."

Sophia nods numbly, unable to take it in, and forces all her efforts into not breaking down in front of this stranger. Her heart is broken into a million pieces, and she doesn't know how to react when it's so plainly in her face. She can't deny it or make excuses, and her gut was right from god knows when. Deep down, she knew, and she hates that she knew.

"If you want to confront your husband, he's there now."

His added afterthought makes the breath hitch in Sophia's throat, and she turns and blinks at him.

"What?" It's a raspy, hoarse question borne of disbelief and desperation. Shocked and not sure she heard him clearly.

"He arrived early this morning, and they were still there when I left a few moments ago."

Sophia's teeth and even her lips chatter and tremble in response. Her whole body violently shakes as she's blinded by the moisture of her eyes welling up, and she crunches the envelope in her fist and yanks the car door open. Instinct is taking over as she hears him clearly inside her head telling her he would be at the office today- right to her face.

"The address?" Sophia grits through clenched teeth, barely staying upright as he picks up a secondary envelope and holds it out to her. She tears it open, dropping all the pictures from her lap as she slides out, and he hurries to collect them and puts them back into their original envelope.

Sophia looks down and scans the address on the first piece of paper and knows where it is from here. She knows her surroundings like the back of her hand as they grew up near here. It's literally one street away. One road from where they used to run together in the good old days of early marriage, near where she is almost daily. It makes anger bubble up from the fiery pits of hell within her, and she throws everything back into his car.

"Keep it all, and I'll call you tomorrow. I'll need it all." Sophia's voice sounds alien to her. Some internal purpose takes over and thought and logic ceases to exist. Shaking, raspy, like she's a possessed crazy woman, she hauls herself away from his car and moves with deadly intent.

The emotions and feelings Sophia subdued and pushed down since she was fifteen years old, to dedicate her life to helping Leon rise, come at her like a fireball of chaos. It was never part of the plan to confront them. She just wanted to know so she could figure out what to do next. Yet now it's right here, so close, and she knows what he's been doing as fact. She can't control it anymore.

Sophia gave up so much for him. She gave up her entire heart and soul for him. She sacrificed her sanity and her baby, hopes, and dreams. Everything for the Hale family and him. How could he do this to her and make her a pathetic laughing stock? That she's so worthless to him that he doesn't care about wounding her this deeply.