Saving A Marriage

3 - Stupefied.

My heart jumped when I heard my message alert tone. I had just finished putting up an alibi for my weird actions and I thought it was a nice escape to see the message that I got. So, I quickly grabbed my phone to check who sent a chat.

Only to find out that it wasn't Levi. It was Mona, on my message request. I am not supposed to open her chat. But then her message made me reconsider if I should tap on the blurred photo to see what it was.

'Myr, I don't really want this to come from me. But you're still my sister. I have to let you know whom I saw this morning while having breakfast somewhere near our house,' Mona said in her message.

Her chats went to my message requests box because I wasn't accepting her friend request nor was I replying to her messages. That's how much I hate Mona. And I knew the feeling was mutual, so I didn't really understand why she had to send me a friend request.

"Who's that, Myr?" Esther asked before I could tap on the image.

"It's Mona," I answered.

"What did she say?"

I shook my head. My eyes still glued to the blurred image, contemplating if I would like to see it or not. It came from Mona after all. That woman always wanted to piss me off.

I was about to close that chat head when another message from Mona came.

'He saw me. I know he did. But he acted like he wasn't doing anything wrong. And that's why it took me hours to decide whether I should let you know or not. Maybe he was just with a coworker? Or a friend? Or someone you also knew. You know a pregnant female friend of Levi?'

This time, I felt like my heart was already on my throat. Mona was talking about Levi!

I scrolled to the image again, and with a shaking hand, I tapped to reveal a clear photo of Levi and a pregnant woman, sitting side by side, and having breakfast together.

My husband even appeared as if he were feeding the woman!

Tears blurred my eyes as I felt a sharp pain slicing through my heart.

"Myrtle, what's going on?" Esther worriedly asked, taking my phone from my grasp. And through my blurry vision, I saw the shock register on her beautiful face. "Who's this woman? Do you know her?"

I shook my head. I felt like my brain cells were all over the place now as I couldn't think of anything else but the pain that's wanting to kill me from the inside.

No! Levi cannot do this to me! He's a good man!

"It's from Mona, Esther," I said, my voice shaking from anger, pain, denial and I didn't know what else I was feeling. "Do you think it's photoshopped?" My mind was brainstorming possibilities to deny what I just saw.

Esther didn't answer. She angrily pulled out her own phone and made a call.

But I was quick on my feet and stopped her. "Please," I begged. "It's not your brother. Look closely, he's not–" my tears burst once again. Because I knew it was him. I'm his wife, I do his laundry and that set of clothes he was wearing were the ones on top of his closet. I was the one who washed it, hung it, folded it and put it there.

Mona didn't edit that picture… My heart, my all of me just couldn't accept it.

To my surprise, Esther hugged me real tight.

—

"Levi, I'm sleeping over to your parents' house. Esther and I would like to catch up. Danie will also be on the phone with us."

I finished typing my message and Esther hit the send button for me.

"Alright. I'll not be home as well. I have a surgery scheduled tonight," was my husband's quick reply.

We weren't in their house. We're currently in the hospital where Levi was working.

I am not comfortable doing this. But Esther told me to stop believing everything that Levi says. And so here we are, inquiring if he had come to work on a Sunday and also to confirm the surgery schedule he mentioned in his message.

Because I felt so wrong spying on Levi, Esther did the work for me. She knew the hospital staff because she frequented her brother's workplace when she wasn't still busy with her own work.

Ten minutes later, we were sitting beside each other on a bench at a nearby park. Both silent and maybe like me, Esther couldn't also comprehend what was happening.

Levi hadn't been spending his Sundays at the hospital. That meant he was somewhere else with someone on a day he was supposed to spend with me, his family and the church.

I was still in shock. I felt like my heart was no longer whole inside of me. I couldn't feel it beating anymore.

"Ahhh!" Esther suddenly stood up and shouted at the top of her lungs. "What had become of Levi?! This is not a funny joke! You have any idea who that d*mn woman is?! Where can we find her? I wanted to slap that b*tch's face until her head falls off!" My kind sister-in-law started cursing. She was mad, really mad.

I buried my face on my palms and cried. The image of my husband with a pregnant woman flashing in my mind repeatedly like a scene from a pirated movie.

Why? Was my husband really having an affair with that woman? Then, did that mean she was carrying his child?

I cried even louder at the realization that hit me. I felt like dying. The pain was too much. I need to see Levi. I need him to tell me it wasn't real!

'God, it hurts… Why did You allow this to happen?'

"Oh Myr!" Esther hugged me. She cried with me until the two of us looked like crazy women in that park.

I felt betrayed. Esther did too.

"What's your plan now?" She asked after we had calmed down.

"I don't know." I really didn't know.

"Sleep in our house tonight. Maybe, ask Dad and Mom what to do," Esther suggested.

"It's not yet confirmed, Esther. Please, let this be between us for the meantime."

"What proof do you still need? Your sister already saw them!"

"That's Mona, Esther!" I reminded her. "That woman wanted nothing but to see my marriage fail!"

Esther sighed. Then she shook her head after. "You and I knew for a fact that it was Levi in that picture. You are his wife, even if that picture isn't clear, you would recognize him! I am his sister, I've spent everyday with him until you two got married. There's no denying the truth, Myr. Levi's having an affair. And we just couldn't let him!"

"What if that woman is just his friend? A patient, perhaps?"

"Myr!" Esther couldn't believe me. "Levi is not an OB-Gyne! He has no business or whatsoever that has got something to do with a pregnant woman on Sunday morning!"

I bit my lower lip hard as I felt fresh tears well up my eyes again. Could Esther blame me? I'm just trying to come up with possibilities.

Even when I'm already dying inside. I just couldn't accept that Levi really threw away our twelve years together.

In the end, Esther wasn't able to persuade me to come to their house. But she said that she would come visit me tomorrow morning.

"Don't do anything stupid, alright?"

I nodded and we separated.

IT WAS already dark when I reached home. Tired and all, I didn't bother opening the lights and just threw myself on the sofa and cried once more. This couldn't be happening. My marriage, my life, it's crumbling right in front of my very eyes.

Just like the last time. When my family was ruined, would I just watch and do nothing? But what could I do?

I'm such a useless person. I couldn't get pregnant so Levi found another woman to bear his child. Because I couldn't give that baby that my husband ever wanted!

But I tried, didn't I? Even seeking the help of professionals. Couldn't he understand that I wanted a baby too but couldn't do anything about it if it wasn't the right time for us to have one? Must Levi abandon me for it? I thought he loved me!

I stopped crying when I heard the familiar sound of Levi's car. He came home. Maybe he wasn't expecting me to be here so he didn't bother that he lied about having a scheduled operation tonight.

I didn't move from my seat and just waited for him to enter the house.

As I expected, Levi was surprised when he saw me the moment light flooded the living room.

"Surprised, Levi?" I asked acidly.

"What's this again, Myr?" He asked back when he was able to compose himself. "Why are your eyes swollen? Have you been crying since last night? Aren't we done with your drama yet?"

"Drama? It's all just a drama to you?" I repeated. "Tell me why are you home tonight, Levi. Didn't you say you have a surgery scheduled at this hour?"

"How about you? Didn't you say you'll be at my parents' house?"

"I changed my mind. Is that why you came home? Because you thought I am not here so it's alright even if you lied?"

"I didn't lie. We postponed the operation. The patient's condition cannot bear a surgery as of the moment," he denied, turning his back.

"No, Levi. There's no scheduled surgery for you tonight! Didn't you think I'd find out?"

"Don't tell me you're spying on me, Myrtle," anger was evident in his voice. "I don't remember giving you the right to do that!"

"Do I need your permission to ask around to confirm your lies? I am your wife, Levi! Why are you lying to me?" I asked. I saw him clenched his fists. But he didn't look back at me. "Don't worry though, your sister did it for me. I still respect you. I didn't want to raise suspicion against you in your workplace."

"Tell me what's this all about, Myrtle. What are you thinking, huh? Did that d*mn sister of yours tell you anything? And you believed her?"

"Ah, so it was really you? You saw Mona this morning while you were having breakfast with a pregnant woman, Levi?"

I didn't hide the pain in my voice. But I was taken aback when Levi laughed mockingly.

"Great," he said in disdain. "Believe her then."

"Levi!" I called when he proceeded to the stairs. "If it's not true, why didn't you tell me about her? Who is that woman?"

"Because I knew that this would happen, Myr. I know you too well. And don't bother knowing her name, she's not important."

I was left in the living room, stupefied. Did I cry all day for nothing?

I hoped it was really the case. But with the picture that was now saved in my gallery, I couldn't be at peace until I knew who that woman was in my husband's life.

That night, while Levi was asleep, I set up his phone to send a backup of the messages he was sending and receiving, on his email drive.

I knew Levi, he wasn't so much into what I am installing in his phone. As long as I can hide it amongst his least noticeable folders, he wouldn't find out about it.

All I had to do was open his email drive from my phone and wait for the evidence of his cheating to come out.

'Prepare your heart for the worst, Myr,' I told myself as I watched Levi sleep.

He already stopped kissing me goodnight. I couldn't even remember the last time he said he loved me, nor the last time we hugged in our sleep.

My Levi had changed.