The Woman He Created

Chapter 3

“Oh gosh, you scared me,” I said, placing my hand over my fast-beating heart.

He didn't look concerned for a second.

“I didn't mean to scare you,” he said flatly.

His eyes scanned me from top to bottom like a detective.

“Where did you go?” He asked.

I froze.

“I… I went for a drive,” I lied.

He raised his left brow suspiciously and asked,

“A drive?”

I composed myself so he would believe me.

“Yeah,” I replied.

His eyes were still fixed in me as if he was trying to read me. I quickly changed the subject and asked,

“What are you doing here? I thought you already left for work.”

His expression switched back to normal.

I sighed in relief.

“Yeah I did but then I realized I forgot an important file for a meeting I have later today so I had to come back,” he replied.

Then he glanced at his watch.

“I have to get back to work. Later,” he said and walked away.

But suddenly, he stopped and turned to look at me.

“I saw a debit alert on our joint account. Why did you use that amount for?”

As I watched him walk away, my meeting with the private investigator flashed through my mind again.

I really hope you're not cheating on me, Alex. Not after I had given up everything for you, I thought.

Days passed and soon it was a week gone and I hadn't heard anything from Signor Lorenzo yet.

I was beginning to think he was a scam. But just when I was starting to lose hope about the whole issue, I got a phone call.

“Madame Elizabeth, let's meet at the cafe,” Signor Lorenzo said over the phone.

It was a Saturday and Alex was home so I lied to him about going to the grocery store. Luckily, he believed me and this gave me a chance to leave the house without any suspicions.

“This document contains everything you need to know about that woman you asked me to run a background check on,” Signor Lorenzo said the moment I got to the cafe.

As I was about to get the document from him, he pulled back and said,

“Balance first, Madame.”

I pulled out my phone and sent the remaining half payment.

“Nice doing business with you, Madame,” he said with a smirk.

Then he got up and left, leaving me behind with a nervous heart and shaky hands.

This is it, I thought.

I slowly opened the document and pulled out the paper. The first thing my eyes caught were the pictures.

My heart dropped.

Tears blurred my vision.

There were different pictures of Alex and that strange woman and even on some occasions they were seen kissing and going out on dates.

Alex was cheating on me.

It immediately dawned on me. Alex had been acting weird and hiding things from me.

The late night meetings and dinners.

They were probably lies. He was probably seeing his other woman. I hadn't noticed I had gone full blown sobbing until a waiter came to my table and asked if I was okay.

“I'm… I'm good,” I replied embarrassingly.

I immediately wiped my tears and walked out of the cafe before the waiter could ask any more questions.

I got in my car and drove to a park nearby. I didn't come out. I just sat there and cried my eyes out.

I couldn't believe Alex would do this to me after I had sacrificed everything for him - my relationship with my father, my friendship with my best friend and dropping my dreams of having kids.

A knock on my window made me realize I had slept off while crying inside my car. I wiped the tears before rolling down the window to see a young beautiful woman in jogging outfits.

“I have jogged around this park for almost an hour now and I realized this car has been here for a long time. I just wanted to check if the owner was okay,” she said.

I flashed a fake smile to her and said,

“I'm fine.”

She looked like she was going to say something but then stopped herself, smiled and jogged away.

Finally, it was time to go home and face that cheater. I started the car and drove away.

The moment I walked into the house, Alex began questioning.

“You said you were going to the grocery store about 2 hours ago and you're just getting back.

What happened?” He asked.

I couldn't bear looking at his face so I avoided his eyes and walked past him towards the stairs.

“Nothing,” I replied with a cold tone.

“Why didn't you answer your calls?” Ne asked.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and without turning around, I replied,

“That's because I didn't see it.”

He didn't say anything probably because he was surprised by the tone I responded to him with.

I was already halfway through the stairs when I turned back around and walked up to him

“Alex, do you have another woman?” I asked.

He looked at me in a ridiculous manner.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Are you seeing another woman?” I repeated.

He simply laughed.

“C'mon don't be ridiculous, Elizabeth. Why are you asking such questions?” He asked.

I stared at him, my heart aching. I couldn't believe he would look me in the eyes and lie to me.

I faked a smile and said,

“It's nothing.”

I turned around and walked back up. The days that passed were awkward between us.

Two weeks later, we had our third year anniversary and I prepared his favorite meal. When he got back from work, we sat at the decorated candle-lit space and ate dinner.

Then I said,

“I have a present for you.”

I slid an envelope towards him and watched him open it. Seconds later, his eyes widened.

“Elizabeth, what's this?”

I smirked.

“You've been served, Alex.”