Betrayed, but New Love Found

Heartbroken

TW: Physical Assault

Holly

“I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know in my house the food was magnificent. With Christmas coming up in a month, I thought we could make these cute chocolate bombs. They would make great stocking stuffers, or pair them with a mug and have a great white elephant present or even a gift for Secret Santa.”

Holly showed her watchers how to melt and temper the chocolate. She told them where they could get the cute round molds for the chocolate bombs. And she showed them everything they could put in their chocolate bombs, like mini marshmallows, or broken candy cane pieces. Then she showed them how they could melt the chocolate at the seam and freeze it to seal.

“Now, the packaging you can make it as cute as you like. I like using these red and green colorful cellophane. I use colorful twist ties to close the cellophane around the chocolate bomb and, voilà, you have a cute packaged chocolate bomb. Now put it on top of a mug and put it in a gift bag for a cute present. To use your chocolate bomb, put it in a mug and pour hot water or hot milk over it until the bomb opens up and spills its contents inside the mug. Stir until completely melted and enjoy.”

She demonstrated while she talked and when her chocolate bomb melted, she took a sip.

“Mmmm, you can’t go wrong with these. Plus, if you give them to a child, the wonder on their faces is priceless. That’s all I have for today. See you on Tuesday where we will make rum balls and homemade ornaments for your tree. See y’all later.”

Holly hummed as she cleaned up the mess in her kitchen. She really liked doing her videos. She liked the feedback she got on them, and she liked engaging with her subscribers and looking at everything they tried that she had shown on her page. She didn’t really think of herself as an influencer or a famous food vlogger. She definitely didn’t have the numbers for it, but in just a few days since Thanksgiving, she’s gained another thousand subscribers and another two thousand followers. It made her feel really good that people liked what she was doing.

She edited today’s episode and posted it. She then practiced making the homemade ornaments she was going to do on Tuesday. It was just melting some plastic beads in the oven after gluing them together in whatever shape you want. And also melting broken crayons in a clear round ornament using a blow-dryer.

After perfecting her technique, so everything would go smoothly, she cleared out everything and cleaned the rest of the house. She dusted and cleaned the downstairs and upstairs hall bathrooms and the one in the main bedroom. She put in a load of towels and hung up the clothes she had just gotten out. She was just putting the last of Kyle’s work shirts in the closet when she heard tires squealing. She came to the top of the stairs just as Kyle burst into the house.

“HOLLY!” he roared.

He looked livid.

“HOLLY! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU GOLD DIGGING WH*RE!”

She gasped and he looked upstairs. He stomped up them, his facial expression was murderous. He had a large tan envelope in his hand. She backed up at the anger pouring off of him.

“Kyle, what is going on? Why did you call me that?” Her body was shaking. She'd never seen him like this. He’s always been so loving towards her.

“Why am I calling you a gold digging wh*re?” he growled at her.

Tears spilled from her eyes. He’s never been so mean to her before.

“Because that’s what you are. I should have listened to my mother and sister. All you’ve ever wanted was my money. You don’t f*cking care or love me. You’re nothing but a f*cking orphan that saw me and saw a meal ticket. You saw the high life I could provide you.”

“No, that’s not true. I do love and care for you.”

“Oh, do you? Then explain this!” he yelled at her, throwing the large envelope at her feet.

It fell to the floor, and she bent to pick it up. He paced in front of her, his hands in fists, sometimes running one through his hair.

She opened the envelope and took out its contents. She looked at what was in her hands in horror. Picture after picture of someone that looked just like her in compromising positions with a man she had never seen before. Each picture was more and more d*mning.

“Kyle, this isn’t me, I’d never do this to you. I love you,” she pleaded.

“LIAR!” he roared. And then he did something that he’d never done before. He backhanded her.

“Do you think I’ll believe your lies with the evidence right in front of my face!”

Holly fell to the ground and put her hand to her cheek. She sobbed at the pain, heartbreak, and the betrayal he had just made.

“I’ve never once cheated on you. I’ve had plenty of women hit on me, but I was loyal, because I loved you! But there you are spreading your legs for some random man. Tell me Holly, when did you have the time to meet him? Don’t you claim you’re always here doing your little VidTube videos? Always making some sort of recipe? Did you meet him when you went shopping with the money I provided for you? Did you spend my money on him? Your little boy toy? How old is he? He looks like he’s eighteen. You like f*cking kids now?”

“You’re disgusting. I’ve never done anything like this. I don’t know who that is, that isn’t me!” she screamed.

He advanced on her, he pulled back his leg to kick her but stopped himself.

“No, I’m not going to beat you. You’ll just turn that on me. I want you out of my house. Pack your sh*t and get out. You have two hours. I’ll be back with divorce papers. Thank God, you signed that prenup. That was your plan right. Take half of everything I’ve worked for. Well, I bet you didn’t see the cheating clause. You won’t get anything. But since I hit you, I’ll make sure to leave you with some compensation. You will sign those papers. I f*cking hate you.”

He jogged down the stairs and slammed out of the house. Holly laid there on the floor and sobbed. She rolled into a ball and let the tears flow. Where was her loving husband? Why didn’t he believe her? The woman in these pictures wasn’t her, even if she did look just like her.

She slowly got to her feet. She left the pictures scattered on the floor. She walked into their bedroom. She looked around. What could she pack? Everything she had, Kyle bought for her and if he was accusing her of being a gold digger, she wasn’t going to take anything that was from him.

She went to her closet and got down her suitcase that she brought with her when she moved in. She still had her old clothes that she put in the back of her closet. She didn’t know why she kept them, but she was now glad she did. She had three pairs of jeans, a couple of sweaters, a handful of T-shirts, leggings and a couple of sleep sets. She packed her old tennis shoes and high-heeled boots. She went to the bathroom and got her toothbrush and toothpaste, but left her facial stuff.

She opened her purse and took out the card he gave her to use and laid it on the dresser with her wedding and engagement rings that she never left home without and her watch he had given her for their anniversary. She got her important papers out of their safe. She saw their marriage certificate and with a sob she tore it in half. There was no coming back from this. He had accused her of being a gold digger, a liar, a wh*re and he hit her. Even if he ever found out the truth, she could never trust him again. The only person that had ever truly cared about her was Emma Jean, and Holly wished Emma Jean had been alive right at that moment.

Thinking of Emma Jean, she went back to the bedroom and got a stool. She forgot about the package that was given to her by Emma Jean’s lawyer three months ago. She couldn’t open it then. She still didn’t know if she could. When she pulled the slim box down she took a deep breath as fresh tears fell. It was the type of box that a present came in. There was even a black bow around it. She wondered if there was a homemade sweater in it. Emma Jean was always crocheting.

Holly stepped down from the stool and put the package in her suitcase. She’d open it later when she figured out where she was going. She didn’t want to open it now for Kyle to find her still sobbing. She wiped the tears from her eyes and zipped her suitcase up. She looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a blue sweater that she had bought and a pair of black jeans. Her boots by the door she also purchased. She sighed with relief. She had used some of her money as a gift to herself on her birthday. She had bought the whole new outfit for her channel the week before Thanksgiving. She saw the outfit in the window of a shop at a mall and, having her own money, she splurged on herself.

Her birthday was on the 18th of November. She and Kyle had celebrated it by him taking her out to dinner after he got home from work. He had bought her a dozen red roses and surprised her with them, when he walked through the door. He had also given her a necklace with a heart pendant. She reached up and touched it around her neck. She grabbed it in her fist and yanked it off, letting it drop to the floor. She picked up her suitcase and took it to the living room. She went to the kitchen and packed up her laptop in her laptop/ camera bag. She unplugged her camera and folded up her stand, and put it in the bag along with the remote. She put it by her suitcase. She put on her boots and waited by sitting on the couch, her hands on her thighs. She was numb and probably in shock. Everything was going brilliantly this morning, and now everything has fallen apart.

The door opened thirty minutes later, she hadn’t moved. Her eyes snapped to Kyle’s. He walked towards her and slapped the divorce papers on the table.

“Sign them, give me my card and get out,” he said in a voice so menacingly she flinched.

She picked up the document and looked through it. She scoffed at the paltry amount he put in the compensation line.

“Twenty thousand dollars?” she questioned.

“For me laying a hand on you. You won’t get anything more. You cheated, you tore us apart.”

“I didn’t, but you don’t believe me.”

“The evidence proves you did.”

“Where did that evidence come from?”

“It was on my desk this morning when I got to work. But I was swamped with meetings and didn’t have an opportunity to open the envelope until after lunch. Imagine my surprise to see my wife riding some man in living color.”

“I didn’t Kyle. That woman isn’t me.”

“Are you saying you have an identical twin, Holly?” he asked sarcastically.

“No,” she said. She could feel her eyes filling again, but she refused to let them fall.

“I loved you,” he said. His voice filled with hurt.

Loved, past tense. Her heart hurt so much. He was throwing her away over false information. He didn’t believe her. That hurt the most.