Twisted loyalty

Surprising my husband

“Come on, Lisa. He’ll be so surprised if you suddenly show up at his workplace. You know I work with him, right? I can feel it. He misses you badly.”

Kate paused before continuing.

“If you don’t believe me, just this morning, I pretended to be on a voice call with you, and he immediately stopped what he was doing just to talk to you. Your husband misses you, but he’s very busy and tired during this period. He needs someone by his side now, and I’m also worried about him. He works all day long without rest, just to help his patients. You know that.”

“I know, I know. That’s what I’m planning to do next week. The kids will be done with their exams by then, and you know I miss him a lot too. We talk on the phone, and we see each other every six months, but you know how he’s always busy, and I’m also busy with my work schedule. Nevertheless, I’ve made up my mind. Next Monday, I’m going to surprise him.”

“Okay, fine. You’ve got this, girl. Go get your man!” Kate said before hanging up.

My husband, Raymond Bard, and I had been married for years.

We met in college when Ray, as I called him, was still a nerd. He didn’t have the body many girls desired, but somehow, he won over my heart of stone.

Back then, I lived a very reckless life. I bullied him sometimes along with other students, but whenever someone else bullied him, it upset me.

What touched me the most was when he confessed his love for me—the very girl who used to bully him.

That confession melted my heart.

It took nothing short of the grace of God before I finally agreed to date him.

Our relationship wasn’t easy. I was Black, and he was white, and we had to face many challenges before we could finally be together.

His father was a retired General, and he wanted Ray to follow in his footsteps.

But Ray wanted something completely different.

He wanted to help people suffering from mental illnesses and help them become whole again.

His father refused to accept his decision and used me as a threat against him.

“If Ray truly wants to have a peaceful marriage with you, then he must either join the army or marry you without my permission and live a life of fear.”

Ray eventually agreed to his father’s demands.

We got married, and shortly after, he left.

What he didn’t know was that I was already pregnant with our first child.

He came back nine years later.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him.

The fat, nerdy guy I remembered was gone.

In his place stood a grown man with features that could kill.

He was taller, broader, and even more handsome than I could have imagined.

His deep voice made me blush whenever he spoke.

But what surprised him the most was discovering that he had an eight-year-old son who was the exact copy of him.

He couldn’t have been happier.

He thanked me for waiting for him, and after we had finally reunited as a family, Ray went to see his father.

He told him that he had fulfilled his wishes.

But Ray had also fulfilled his own dream.

He opened a grand hospital and research center dedicated to helping people, especially those struggling with mental illnesses.

The center had become a great source of help to many people.

---

“Kate, dear, I just landed. Where are you?” Lisa asked over the phone.

“I’m right behind you. Turn around.”

Lisa did as she was told.

When she turned around, she saw Kate waving at her.

“Kate, love! How are you doing? I hope Ray isn’t giving you too much work.”

Kate smiled.

“Work is good, and I promise you, Ray takes good care of me. Now, enough talk about me. Let’s go and give that husband of yours a shock.”

Lisa blushed at the thought of seeing her husband after such a long time.

“Wait, where are the kids? I thought you would have brought them with you. You know Ray would be so happy to see them.”

“I know, but what can I do? My parents said they missed them, so I decided to let them stay with their grandparents for the meantime. That way, I can spend more time with Ray.”

She smiled.

“Let’s get going.”

Soon, they left in Kate’s car.

The research center was located a little distance away from the city. It took them about four to five hours to get there.

When they finally reached the gates of the research center, Kate showed the security guards her ID along with Lisa’s.

The research center was highly secured. No one was allowed inside without proper identification or a pass.

After carefully checking their IDs, the security guard finally allowed them to pass.

He watched them drive away with a shocked expression on his face.

“Who was that?” he asked his colleague.

“That’s the boss’s wife. The dark-skinned woman.”

“I knew our boss had a wife, but sir is really lucky. She’s so pretty.”

“You better keep your eyes off the boss’s wife if you don’t want to die,” another colleague warned him.

“It’s not the first time Lisa has come here, but whenever she does, she always uses their private gate.”

“That gate is only for the boss and other important people.”

After passing through the gate, they encountered another security checkpoint.

After finally going through the last checkpoint, they reached the main research center.

Lisa couldn’t wait to see her husband.

“Haha! I can’t wait to surprise Ray. I’ve missed him so much. I’ve missed his touch.”

Soon, they reached his office.

Kate knocked on the door.

A deep, hoarse voice filled with exhaustion answered from inside.

“Yes? Who is it?”

“It’s me, Kate. Someone wants to see you, sir,” Kate answered.

Hearing his voice filled Lisa with both joy and pain.

He sounded so tired.

I’m going to have to scold him. He needs to take better care of himself.

“Come in,” Ray said.

Kate opened the door, and the two women entered together.

Ray still had his head down, busy looking through some documents.

Kate, being Kate, walked toward him with a mischievous smile.

“Don’t you want to see who came to visit you?”

Ray didn’t look up.

Kate continued teasing him.

“Poor Lily. She came all this way, spending hours on the road even though she’s seven months pregnant. How sad. Her husband doesn’t even want to see her.”

She turned toward Lisa.

“Let’s go, Lily. Your husband clearly doesn’t want to see you.”

Before she could finish her words, Ray was already behind her.

He immediately wrapped his arms around his wife.

Lisa gasped in surprise.

How did he move that fast?

Kate smiled knowingly and quietly left the room, giving the couple some privacy.

When Kate had first entered the office with the person she mentioned, Ray had immediately caught the familiar scent of his wife’s perfume.

He wanted to look up and confirm that it was really her.

But he had missed her so much that lately, he had been imagining seeing her almost everywhere.

He was afraid that if he looked up, he would discover that the person standing there wasn’t actually his wife.

But the moment Kate mentioned that Lily had come all the way there despite being pregnant, he immediately looked up.

And there she was.

His wife.

Standing before him and looking as beautiful as ever, even at seven months pregnant.

For a moment, Ray couldn’t believe his eyes.

Then the reality finally sank in.

She was really there.

His wife was standing right in front of him.

He couldn’t contain the overwhelming joy he felt at seeing her again.