II. Like a FOOL
1001 Words
"A divorce?" I couldn't believe it.
"Yes, Holden. I need a divorce. I'm done playing 'The Good Wife'. I know I'll never get what I want. What's the use of feeding you on a silver platter every day?" She said.
"Then I'll eat from the floor, Skye. Don't do this to us. I love you." I confessed. I wheeled closer to hold her hand. But Skye swatted my hand away harshly.
"I need to know what you do with all that money and the time spent away, Holden. My family is speaking behind my own back. About us." Tears like crystals fell from her eyes. It angered me like no other.
"Who?" I asked.
"Aunt May and her husband, Aunt Maya and others. So many others." She cried, close to sobbing.
"What did they say?" I inquired further, letting my anger reach the brim. Even if I was angry and my wife was in pain, I knew I could not trouble her with the truth. I should withhold it at any cost. Knowing too much isn't beneficial for her.
At once, Skye breaks down in front of me. She kneels, and I jump on my numb, lifeless legs to my knees as well. It hurt like hell. Fire shot up my entire body, but I held my dear wife as she cried.
"They're saying you're treating your mistress lavishly. Grand and luxurious, with my money involved. They're calling me names, Holden. Golden pocket, Side income, Money minting wife who can't satisfy her disabled husband!" She exclaimed. I was seeing red at that point.
"I feel like a fool because I don't know the truth and can't do anything about it!"
It pains me. I wanted to console her, but my words wouldn't reach her ears. She has labelled me as a cheater even though I wasn't. Why do men get labelled as cheaters so quickly? Where was the proof?
Suddenly, Skye pushed me away. I fell to the ground, looking up.
"They were right. I AM a money-minting wife for you, and I resent being one. You're just acting concerned for me so you could take more money from me. I am not letting you fool me, Holden." I stared at her in disbelief. She just rebuffed me and called me such pathetic names again.
"A man who relies solely on a woman's income isn't worthy of being my husband. He should be a hero, protecting me and serving for me. Not the other way around. I need someone to depend on, not someone who depends on me." She spits venom.
Skye hastily fetches out a necklace from a little golden treasure box. It's been sitting on her desk for ages, I wondered what it was.
"This..." She started, "This is the indication of true love and protection. This man saved me on the battlefield, three years ago. He was so brave and valiant, nothing like you can ever be." She said, waving the piece of platinum and gold with diamond studded intricately on the metal.
"It's similar to the one on your neck." I pointed out, my eyes wide as saucers.
"Exactly. This man who saved me on the battlefield is the only man allowed to love me and dote on me. You were the biggest mistake of my life. I could never love you, Holden. Never." She adamantly declared her lack of love for me. She could never love me, and I had to accept that truth.
I remember the night we got married. Skye put pillows between us on the king-sized bed and claimed she didn't want to be touched that night. She turned her back on me and slept. I smiled and looked down at myself in the wheelchair. I needed help to get onto the high-rise bed. I didn't want to disturb her from her slumber. Especially when she was so tired after the wedding and greeting countless guests. I let her sleep peacefully and I slept on the wheelchair itself.
The next day, she revealed that her bedroom was on the first floor. She promised to arrange my bedroom on the ground floor, but she was adamant about staying in her room. I was fine with us sleeping in different rooms as husband and wife. My mother-in-law, Skye's mother, told me I had to 'grow legs' to show my love for Skye. It hurt. It still hurts thinking about how they behaved with me.
But all those emotions fueled me into doing what I was doing behind Skye's back. As I stared at her, crying her heart out in her office, I wondered if serving her with the truth would give any justice.
But at the same time, she claimed her love for another man. I was never even given priority as a human; forget about my husband. And there she was, claiming her love for someone who saved her on the battlefield.
She thought he was her hero. Her concept of love was that the man should save her.
But the irony was...
Three years ago, I adored a platinum and diamond necklace that was incredibly rare to find. The craftsman who crafted that piece had crafted only two of such pieces to date. He died last year of a stroke, meaning, there were only two authentic, existing pieces of that necklace.
I looked at her necklace only for a brief while. My mind was screaming at me that it could have just been a coincidence.
No...way...
Three years ago in Errandale, I was forced to retreat to a corner, piled with civilians. My first duty was to evacuate the area and then fight. But the enemies attacked right before I could evacuate everyone.
There was this woman...she missed the bullet from the ambush because I covered her with my body.
I helped her escape, but in that process, I lost my necklace.
My body was riddled with scars. Who knew that one of those scars was dedicated to my future wife by fate?
- Writer
