THE DIVORCED WIFE

THE TRUTH

Past (Two months ago)

Alexander stared at his mother and his ex-wife's best friend, his face impassive while they looked at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing they had ever seen. Although they looked kind of ashamed and unsure, he didn’t know what this was about so he had bottled up all of his emotions so that they don’t cloud his judgment, even if he wanted to kill Xander with his bare hands.

When he had walked in his office and saw him sitting there with his not so innocent mother, he had barely stopped myself from punching him. The thing that stopped him were the emotions on both of their faces— devastation and shame— which was something new. So here he was seated in front of two people who had ruined his life, waiting for God knows what.

“Is anyone going to say something? Because I have a meeting.” He says after ten minutes of sitting in awkward silence with both of his uninvited and unwanted guests. None of them opened their mouths so he stands up and walks over to the door.

When his hand closes around the handle, Xander’s words freeze him on the spot.

“It's about Aurora.” Xander says and Alexander turns around.

Is she alright? Did something happen to her? Was she in an accident? Questions filled his mind as he forces himself to stay calm.

Is she even alive? The thought freezes his insides and he almost blurts the thought aloud.

She is alright. She is alright. He repeats in his mind as if this way he can make the words come true.

He pause his thoughts when he realizes that his mother and Xander are staring at him and clears his throat.

“What about her?” He asks feeling the mask come back in place.

This time it’s his mother who answers.

“We are very sorry Alex. I know this is not an excuse but it’s the only one we have. We never meant to hurt you, we just… I mean our selfish desires led us down this path. We didn’t care at that time but we do now—” She rambles but he cuts her off, getting impatient.

“WHAT.ABOUT.AURORA? He asks insinuating every word carefully.

His mother looks down ashamed and so does Xander. What is going on?

“Aurora never cheated on you.” She says and Alexander feels like she just dropped a bucked of cold water on him.

“You are joking, right? This isn’t the time for that.” He says laughing but both of them look at him with the same ashamed expressions as before.

His laugh dies out when he realizes that they indeed in fact were not joking.

He freezes, his expression closing off and his mother rushes to explain.

“I am really sorry son but Aurora was faithful to you. She didn’t cheat. I paid a man to attack her and tear off her clothes and convinced Xander to help me. Then I clicked some photos of them hugging while Aurora was still in a b*a. I showed them to you knowing that you will believe those photos over her.” She said.

They both could have ripped his heart open and it wouldn’t have hurt this much.

His beautiful wife’s teary face came in his mind. She had pleaded , begged and cried for him to believe her but he hadn’t. He should have held her in his arms when she had told him about that man instead of kicking her out. He should have comforted her after that man tried to r**e her instead of accusing her of being a cheater. His wife's voice as she repeated again and again that she hadn’t cheated and that she loved him filtered his mind, leaving him breathless.

Aurora never cheated. He repeats it over and over again but the words still meant the same as before. He had spent eight months convincing himself that his wife had cheated on him and now his mother says that his wife had been faithful. It seemed unreal. A number of emotions burst in his chest at once.

Happiness. Shame. Anger. Sadness. Shock. Weariness. Worry. Determination. Happiness.

Self disgust washed over him at the same time happiness did. Aurora had been faithful. She had loved him. Truly and madly. And then Determination filled him. He would find his wife. But before that he had some business to take care of.

He turned to Xander and his mother with a cold expression. Rage was bubbled in his veins but he pushed it inside. They had taken away his love from him and they will pay. When he looked at them , he was disgusted. How could a woman do that to her son? How could a friend ruin his best friend’s marriage? How could they even think about doing that? But the important question was not a ‘How’ but a ‘Why'. Why tell him now after all this time? Why did his mother ruined his marriage? Why did Xander lie?

“Why?” He asked not letting them see a glimpse behind his cold facade.

Cynthia and Xander tried to get a glimpse behind his facade but failed. They gulped at the steel in his voice and Cynthia was the one who answered first.

“I was greedy. I didn’t think how I was affecting your relationship. At first I thought that I was doing the right think but by the wrong means but now I know that I was wrong. I shouldn’t have interfered with your marriage. I was selfish and thought that when she leaves, you will move on easily with Kristina.” She said and Xander couldn’t believe that this woman was his birth mother.

When you told me how much pain you were in, I felt disgusted with myself. And I wanted to atone for my sins. Giving you the love of your life back could be a good start.” She explained the reason for her presence and Alexander felt something in his chest— something close to love. He didn’t know if it would take him months or years to forgive her or if he ever will, but he could appreciate her efforts.

He turned to look at Xander.

“Why did you lie that you were having an affair with her?” He couldn’t even say her name without feeling as if a knife was stabbed in his heart. He had ruined her life. The harshness words he had spat came back to him.” Would she ever forgive him?

Xander looked at his face trying to gage his reaction.

“I loved Aurora.” He said.

“You what?” Alexander asked before clenching his fists so that he doesn’t accidentally punch him.

“Since we were kids, I had loved her. I was her protector and her biggest supporter until you came. She fell for you and I hated you for taking away the one girl I loved. So when I had the chance I took it. I lied saying that Aurora and I were having an affair and denied the presence of any man in that room.”

“Why are you telling me this? Why now?” Alexander asked, his voice calm and collected even though his thoughts were anything but.

“Six months ago I met a woman . Her name was Kiara. She was kind, loving and gentle. She was everything I thought I never wanted but everything I have always needed. We fell in love. After being with her I understood what I felt for Aurora was infatuation. I didn’t love Aurora like you did. I started having trouble sleeping when the guilt became too much. Kiara being herself knew something was wrong. She asked me and I told her the truth. She wanted to go to Aurora herself but I didn’t knew where Aurora lived. For the first time Kiara asked me for something.” He said and gulped, then continued.

“She asked me to tell you the truth or she would leave me. It has been a month now since I last talked to her and I couldn’t take it anymore. The thought of telling you the truth and finding out your reaction used to scare me but now it doesn’t.”

“Leave.” Alexander said, his tone threatening.

Cynthia and Xander walked out without any protests because they knew Alexander needed time after hearing the truth.

A tear escaped Alexander’s eye. He had hurt his wife. He didn’t believe her over those two liars. He chose someone else over her.

His thoughts fired in every direction as he took out his phone and dialed a number. Someone picked up the call, his voice filtering through the phone.

“Good morning Boss. What can I do for you?” The man on the line asked.

“I want you to find someone.”

Present

Alexander snapped out of his thoughts when his phone rang. He picked it up without glancing at the caller's name, still in a daze.

“Boss, we have finally found her.”