My Husband's Betrayal

CH 2

Hannah

I stood there frozen, trying not to believe the scene before my eyes. I hoped what I saw that night was just a dream and that someone would wake me up soon.

I slowly raised my hand and pinched my right cheek. It hurt, which meant I wasn’t dreaming.

In an instant, it felt as though my soul had left my body, and my world had turned 180 degrees. The man I loved and admired was kissing another woman, who was, in fact, our neighbor, in her apartment.

This is crazy. Really crazy. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time they had done this. If they dared to do something so crazy with the woman’s husband and me in the living room with their children, it meant they were professionals at doing disgusting things like this.

My chest felt tight, my eyes stung, and unfortunately, tears were welling up. But I kept telling myself that I couldn’t cry because of Jensen. So, I had to bear this pain alone.

As a woman, of course, I wanted to go up to them and curse them both with harsh words I had rarely used before. Or, without saying much, I would go up to Bella, grab her hair, and say, “Go to hell, b***h! And you, Jason, we’re getting a divorce. Never see Jensen again. We hate you!”

But an affair doesn’t happen because of the will of one party alone, but because of the will of both parties. If I had followed my emotions that night, then everything would have ended. Many hearts would have been broken, and two families would have been destroyed instantly. However, what I didn’t want even more was for my child’s mental health to be destroyed.

I turned away from there for the sake of the integrity of both families. In addition, I had to consider many other things before making the most important decision of my married life.

We were no longer just a man and a woman united in marriage; we now had a child, who was the greatest gift any married couple could have. And whenever there is a problem in a marriage, it is the child who suffers the worst consequences.

However, another much stronger reason was that I didn’t want my child to feel what I felt as a child. I didn’t want his life to be destroyed and for him to feel different from other children because I knew best what it was like to live in a broken family with divorced parents.

My elder brother and I moved around every week. The first week was at my father’s house, the second week at my mother’s apartment. Eventually, my father remarried and started a new family. Meanwhile, my mother remained single, so my elder brother and I stayed at her apartment.

My parents’ divorce and their preoccupation with their own worlds completely changed my character. My inner self was shattered. I became quiet and insecure. My mother only came home after sunset; then she would take a shower, eat dinner, go into her room, and then I would see her fall asleep. And I was the one who became her babysitter.

It was exhausting to differ from the other children. I heard my father was having an affair with his co-worker until they finally had a child from their disgusting actions.

In the end, the home wrecker won, and they are now a happy family. Of course, this made my relationship with my father worse. I have hated him from then until now. If there were a way to sever the relationship between father and child, I would be the first to try it.

However, everything that has happened cannot be changed. And now, my marriage is facing a situation that is almost the same as what happened to my parents’ marriage.

The difference is that I devote all my attention and energy to my little family. To Jason and Jensen. In fact, I often neglect myself for the sake of the two of them, especially Jensen, because I only want him to get the best and feel happy because he has parents who are his primary support system, making his world beautiful and colorful. Meanwhile, my parents were always busy with their own affairs, even before they divorced.

Before returning to the living room, I had to make sure my face was the same as before, a happy face. I forced my lips into a wide smile, and when I arrived in the living room, I saw the children still playing.

Jensen looked at me even though his hands were still holding the Legos he was playing with Emma. My heart immediately cried when I saw his innocent face, and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if one day he found out that his father was having an affair and that his parents were getting divorced.

“Mom, where is Dad? I thought he was with you,” Jensen asked curiously. His question pulled me out of my reverie and made me even sadder.

I sat down next to Jensen and asked him softly, trying to keep our conversation from being heard by Mike. “If one day, Dad has something to do and he must go away for a very long time, how would you feel?”

Jensen rolled his eyes and replied, “Then Dad wouldn’t be able to take me to the park for a picnic on Sunday mornings or play basketball anymore?”

Jensen’s answer suddenly took me back to the past, to a time when I often went on picnics with my father, mother, and elder brother to the park on Sunday mornings. We did this every week, and I always looked forward to Sunday, which I considered the happiest day of the week.

A few moments later, Jason and Bella arrived. Their faces were beaming with happiness. Bella even kept thanking Jason.

I felt sick and nauseous watching their charade.

Suddenly, Jensen approached his father and asked him to go home. I continued to observe Jason’s expression while pretending not to see anything.

Jason’s expression did not change. He continued to display the expression and attitude of a caring husband who loved his family very much. Then, the three of us hurried home from there.

After lying down on the bed, Jason kissed my lips and forehead as usual and said, “Good night, love.” After that, he turned around and fell asleep, leaving me awake until sunrise.

My mind kept working all night. My feelings had been shattered from childhood to adulthood. And I knew the result of every affair.

Therefore, I had to prevent Jensen from becoming like me, even though I might not save my marriage.

Because I would never tolerate an affair.

The next morning, I continued to fulfill my duties as a good wife and mother. After that, I hurriedly left there and headed somewhere.