LEAVING MY EX FOR HIS UNCLE

Luz Four years of trying to get pregnant, and nothing. As if the disappointment was not already enough, the night became much worse when I saw the text on my husband, Mateo Hill’s phone. I glanced at the screen with just a quick innocent look, and there it was, a message from a woman named Juliana. {The bed feels lonely without you. Why don’t you come over and keep me warm?} Attached to the text, was a selfie of a woman in a leopard skin night robe, her cleavage deliberately exposed. My chest tightened as my mind ran wild with thoughts. My grip on the phone grew tighter, as I glanced nervously at the bathroom door, where Mateo was taking longer than usual. ‘This must be a mistake.’ I told myself, clinging desperately to the hope that my husband wasn’t cheating on me. However, my thumb still hovered on the text and finally I decided to scroll through their previous exchanges to find out what was going on. But before I could get far, the bathroom door creaked open and Mateo walked out. He had a concerned look on his face when he saw me and walked over slowly, “Honey, is everything alright?” He asked, leaning in to kiss me. I turned my head away and tried to brush it off, but the explicit image was still very vivid in my mind. He paused, noticing my reaction, and shot me a confused look, “Honey, what’s wrong?” “Explain this.” I held up his phone, showing him the text and picture, watching his reaction closely. “Are you cheating on me, Mateo?” He glanced at the screen, a mix of confusion and concern on his face, then grabbed it from me. As soon as he saw the name of the contact, his face darkened. I could see a flash of anger in his eyes before he dialed the number. It rang once, and then was quickly answered. “Mr. Hill, is everything okay? It’s a little late.” Mateo glowered and his voice suddenly turned icy, “What is the meaning of this text, Julianna?” There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Julianna’s panicked voice came through. “Oh my! I’m so sorry Mr Hill. That message wasn’t meant for you. I thought I sent it to my boyfriend. I must have accidentally sent it to you instead. Please forgive me.” “Mistake?!” Mateo scowled, “Make another one and you’re fired.” He hung up and shifted his gaze back at me, his expression softening with a trace of grievance. For a moment, I wasn’t sure how to feel, but before I could process my thoughts, Mateo’s voice cut through the tension, calming me before I could give this more thought. “Honey, I’m sorry about that, but you heard her. She sent it by mistake. If you’re still upset over it, I’ll fire her first thing in the morning, but it’s late now and I don’t want some nobody to ruin our perfect evening. What do you say we go again, maybe this time take it to the couch?” Mateo leaned forward, nibbling and gently biting my earlobes, moaning softly into my ear. On any other day, this would have lit a fire of passion and desire within me, but right now my mood had already been ruined by that text. Despite the issue being cleared up, I still couldn’t shake the thought. ‘What would have happened if Mateo was actually cheating on me?’ The thought gnawed at me, and I pushed him away. “I’m not in the mood anymore Mateo, maybe tomorrow.” I said quietly. A flash of disappointment crossed Mateo’s face, but he only heaved a tired sigh and turned away. “Alright, but I’m not tired yet, so I’ll head to the study and finish some work. I’ll be back later. Go to bed, honey.” “Okay,” I replied, and with that, Mateo walked out of the room. *** The sound of a heavy thunderclap jolted me awake. Sluggishly, I reached over towards Mateo’s side, only to find it cold and empty. Puzzled, I picked up my phone and glanced at the time – 3:30. Was he still working? Scoffing tiredly, I stood up, put on my robe, and went to the study in search of him. He often worked late these days, but as I pushed open the door, my heart dropped, the room was empty. Mateo was not there. Panic began to creep in as I hurriedly reached for my phone to call him, but before I could, my phone buzzed with a message, startling me. I glanced at the text and saw it was from a strange number and my curiosity grew. After a brief consideration, I clicked on the text and my eyes widened in horror with each line I read. {If you’re seeing this, it means you’re awake and probably searching for your husband.} {Wouldn’t you like to know where he is?} A cold dread surged up my body at that moment, but before I could process anything, another text came in with an address and a series of digits. I stood there, frozen, not sure what to do. Part of me wanted to follow this lead, but another part feared I was only going to put myself in unnecessary danger. However, deep down, my mind hinted that there was more to this than I wanted to believe. After a brief moment, I finally gathered some courage, grabbed my car keys, and drove straight to the address in the text. By the time I reached the villa, it was 4 a.m. and after scanning around making sure no one saw me, I entered the code, and the door unlocked. The living room lights were on, and at the entrance of the room, I could see a man’s clothes and a woman’s night robe strewn about. Seeing the torn night robe on the floor, my mind suddenly flashed with horror. ‘No, it can’t be.’ I muttered, trying to convince myself that it was just a weird coincidence. But I recognized that night robe clearly, it was the same leopard-print robe from the picture. I stood at a distance, my mind racing with thoughts and my feet reluctant to move, not sure what I was going to find. However, summoning what little courage I had left, I pushed forward, my feet dragging on the floor as I approached the door. I reached out, my hands still shaking and slightly opened the door. Immediately, I froze in horror seeing Mateo, naked on the bed, and the woman next to him was none other than Juliana. Their heavy breathing and moans pierced my ears, shattering my heart. Mateo seemed like a s*x-starved animal that had been let loose. They both seemed so engrossed that they didn’t notice me standing there, with my heart in my hand. Unable to bear the sight, I turned and stumbled out of the villa, driving away. Tears blurred my vision and the pain in my chest felt unbearable. Desperate for some kind of relief, I decided to stop by a bar on the way and try to drown out my pain with alcohol. After my first bottle, I was already intoxicated and then called my best friend Valeria. By the time she arrived, I’d already downed my second bottle. Through my blurred vision, I could see her approaching hastily with a frown on her face, “Leave! All of you.” She sneered at the men hovering around me. I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. Valeria successfully drove the men away, and sat beside me, “I got here as soon as I could Luz. What happened? Did Mateo really cheat on you?” As soon as I heard his name, my brows furrowed angrily, breaking me out of my buzz momentarily. For a moment I’d almost gotten the image out of my mind, but hearing Mateo’s name brought the heart-wrenching pain back. My jaw clenched as I slowly turned toward Valeria with a stern look on my face, my voice sharp and full of pain, “I don’t want to hear his name or even think about him right now Valeria.”