Pleasure and Sin

Part Two: CHAPTER ONE

LAURINA'S POV

"Charles!"

Shouting at the top of my lungs while he walks away and slams the door shut behind him. He didn't even bother to look back. It's as if I’m a plague he would do anything to avoid. It was never like this. We were such a lovely couple at least for the first year of our marriage.

"Charles, you..."

Clenching my fist, my legs took to the door in two flighty steps. Turning to look at me, takes a deep breath and closes his eyes briefly.

“What do you want, Laurina?”

Approaching him with my arms crossed. “Cut the act, Charles.”

Lifting his chin while listening, then finally speaking up. "Just let me be. What's the point? You won't even listen to me.”

Shaking my head in frustration and jabbing my fingers at him, "Why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing this? Doing what, Laurina?" Charles retorted, taking a step back and then turned to enter the car. He brings out his phone and dials a contact, my eyes caught the name dancing on the screen.

Something inside me snaps immediately, I snatch the phone from his palm and smash it on the ground. "Bastard!" I shriek, my whole body vibrating.

His eyes startled, then turns cold as he steps out of the car. "You crazy b***h! What do you think you're doing!?" The darkness in his eyes reveals what is running through his mind by the way he clenches his fist.

"Nonsense!" I cried out, "You think I don't know what you've been doing all these years? You liar! You've been stabbing me at the back while sleeping next to me!"

"Laurina, are you insane?"

Charles' face was burning red. I take a few steps back, my arm uncrossed while waiting for him to cross the line. But he stood where he was, staring coldly at me while gritting his teeth. He turns away, enters the car and his driver zooms off before I could even react. I let out an exasperated sigh. I suggest it's time to live my life too. I have been married to Charles for three wholesome years, and next week is our fourth year anniversary but I'm not half as excited like I was last year.

Last year, rumours about his infidelity were on the lips of everybody. However, he was sneaky enough to not get caught. He was often the hot topic in my friends group and most of them even pressured me to divorce him for the sake of my peace, but I didn't want to be the prodigal wife not after my father had warned me not to bring shame to the family's name or else he would disown me. He would return home tipsy and collapse on the bed without looking twice at me. And it didn't bother me at all because he had been doing it repeatedly, making me accustomed to his nonchalance.

Two weeks ago while pulling off his shirt, he held my arm and for a second I thought that he missed me, but then he moaned his mistress’s name, "Anna.” I jerked off my arm and walked away. When I dropped his shirt on the sink to cool off my head, I saw a stain on his shirt; it was lipstick. A red one. That night was the longest night of my life. So, the rumors are true.

Anna. That name sounded familiar, I've never seen her with him before. They were too careful to be caught on camera by these paparazzis lurking around to devour. I had been stubborn not wanting to believe the rumors even when everything was clear. Charles loves me, at least that's what I believed all these while. As I stared at the lipstick, the words of my friends echoed in my ears, “Pay someone to track that girl down. Or teach Charles a lesson!”

“Girl!” Jane called out frustrated.

“No one knows him better than I do. I trust Charles.”

“Urgh!” Jane and Elena groaned in unison.

“Are you totally blind that you cannot see what we are seeing?” Elena cried out. They were exhausted from my constant defensive attitude towards Charles.

“You all know how Charles picked me even when his mother never liked me.”

“Picked you???” Elena questioned, her face darkened. She was clearly offended.

“Laurina, why are you behaving like this? You're begging for love? Your father is a billionaire!” Jane snapped.

“Can you please return to your senses?” Elena pleaded while they both reached out for my hand looking into my eyes as if to search for answers.

I remember crying myself to stupor. It started with a tear. One drop. Then it flowed in torrents down my cheeks.

“I love him,” I kept telling them in a breathy voice. They all nodded, probably wondering what happened to my sanity that I couldn't see what everyone saw. Jane and Elena leaned back and sighed in exasperation. Jane sat sulking, her fist clenched as she tried to suck in the anger within her. Among my friends, Elena was more of a sweet and calm person as compared to the quick tempered Jane who was always looking for a fight.

“Don't worry about me.”

“How can we not be worried when you're clearly being cheated on?” Elena answered.

“Let's not talk about this please,” I pleaded while wiping the tears that were flowing freely down my cheeks. I had reached for my wipes and blew the snort out of my nostrils.

I looked at the bathroom mirror, then at his shirt again. My eyes moved to his pocket, I lifted his shirt up and turned it over, a red thong fell off. I picked it up, tilting my head to one side. “This thong…”

My fingers trembled, “Charles… He…”

I shook my head in disbelief, “He wouldn't. How could he?”

My legs were numb, my fingers cold and I could feel my heart ache. The thong slipped from my fingers and fell on the floor while I clenched my chest. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

The memories from the conversation we had during our girls night out a month ago slowly faded away. My friends were right after all.

I take in a deep breath. Such an awful memory because of a man. Now, glancing at the stereo which was humming Charles's favorite instrumental. I hiss at it and move away. Hastily, I picked my bag from the center table where I had flung it earlier while arguing with Charles.

Today is his late mother's death anniversary, but he said he won't be going there with me has important business to attend to. I grab my car keys, walk outside to my car and drive off, hopefully it won't be a long day.

Trying to answer the call on my phone, I heard a loud honk and swerved to the right. Another honk follows with a terrifying screech, my life flashing before my eyes and sending my brain into spiralling.