2.

“Oh, Simon, I missed you so much.” I listened as Jenna muttered in her sleep and I felt as if my heart was shattering as I stared at her.

I was taken aback, stunned but I couldn’t possibly allow my pain to get the best of me as I stared at Jenna’s sleeping figure on his bed.

Hearing her mention another man’s name just after we had finished having sex was a little too much for me but I only managed to smile wryly and covered her up with my blanket.

I held off my pain as my smile grew wider and I slightly kissed Jenna’s forehead before getting out of the bed and leaving the room.

I know very well that Jenna had a first love, a man she loved so much that she would never think of betraying him, called Simon and I also knew that she never loved me but it still hurts.

It hurts to be with someone who doesn’t acknowledge you.

A knot tightened deep in my stomach and I felt as if someone had driven a really sharp knife through my heart, leaving it there and letting me bleed out.

Gently, I closed the door behind me and made up my mind to sleep on the couch since I knew that she would be mad if she woke up next to me.

“Simon, huh?” I chuckled bitterly to myself as I laid on the couch with both of my hands behind my head.

“He’s lucky he has her heart.” I said to myself, my smile was painful but I quickly shook it off and closed my eyes, preparing myself for what’s to come tomorrow morning.

_______________

The sound of a painful, resounding slap caused me to open my eyes at once and I almost jumped off the couch I’d been laying on.

My cheek hurts so bad and before I could recover from the painful, resounding slap that made my ear ring, another one came almost immediately.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING LAZING AROUND?!” A voice thundered, resounding in the sitting room and I looked to see my mother in-law, Lisa, standing over me.

Her anger was evident on her face and the way she placed her hand on her hip showcased just how furious she was with me. She looked as if she could yank my head off my neck any minute from now.

“You’ve been sleeping all day! How lazy can you be?” She scolded and I winced internally, “you laid on an expensive chair, don’t you know you have chores?!” She scowled.

My eyes quickly took a tour of the wall and I saw that it was still 6AM but Lisa was scolding me as if I’d been sleeping off all morning.

I know I had chores, she didn’t have to use such painful measures to remind me of it.

My body still hurts from the beating I’d gotten from Larl last night and my stomach growled, making me feel too weak to work because I didn’t have anything at all yesterday and at night I had been forbidden from having dinner with the family.

“GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS UP RIGHT NOW!” She sneered, her voice echoing in the sitting room as she didn’t care that it was too early in the morning.

“Go to the kitchen and prepare a nice meal for the family!” She added and I immediately stood up from the couch to do as I was told.

I had thought that Lisa would get off my back if I got to work but instead she followed me to the kitchen, scowling and calling me names.

“An honorable guest is coming today so you need to clean the house too, I can’t have it looking like a poultry.” She added.

“Yes ma’am.” I managed to say, obeying Lisa as I started doing everything I was told to do at once while Lisa finally left.

While I remained focused on cooking and doing the dishes, the sound of the kitchen door opening jolted me out of my thoughts and I almost broke a dish but thankfully, I was able to save it in time.

I looked behind me to see Jenna in the kitchen, her face was cold and a suggestion of annoyance lingered in her eyes. Her anger was obvious.

What happened? What did I do to anger her so early in the morning?

“Good—”

“Keep your nasty greetings to your fucking self!” Jenna yelled before I could greet her, her voice was coated with frustration and anger.

What have I done? What is she so angry about?

“What happened between us last night?” She asked, her voice was cold with no emotions and I only managed a small smile as I looked at her.

The memory of what had happened between Jenna and I flooded my mind and I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I remembered the moment she called that name.

“You took the initiative, you brought it up and I merely followed your lead.” I explained to her but that only angered Jenna even more.

She was so furious that her palm collided with my cheek in two resounding slaps before I could blink, it was the same spot that Lisa had hit not quite long too.

I winced, pain rippled through my face and aside from my ear ringing, I couldn’t hear any other thing. I lifted my gaze to look at Jenna and she was breathing heavily, seriously.

“I can’t believe my ears, when I woke up this morning in this trash’s room, I’d silently prayed to the universe that it had all been a dream.”

“I had hoped that me and this fool hadn’t done what I was thinking,” I listened, blinking as Jenna muttered those words to herself.

“I can’t believe this. This human garbage had sex with me and I couldn’t stop it!” She kept muttering to herself.

She looked so hysterical, her eyeballs darted around and she looked like she was utterly disgusted with the thought of me and her and what had happened between us.

I couldn’t blame her, after all, it must hurt and be so humiliating to wake up in the room of a man that’s not the love of your life.

“How. Dare. You.” She sneered at me as she shot me a hostile glare, her teeth gritted and it was as if being in the same room with me angered her even more.

“I WANT A DIVORCE AND I WANT IT NOW!” She spat out the words in a scornful way that showed her disgust for me and what we had done last night.

My jaw dropped, I couldn’t believe that just that one time that Jenna and I had sex was going to lead to something like this.

A divorce? Why so suddenly? Why is she bringing it up now?

Questions ran through my head and I had no answer to them. Prior to what had happened last night, I had done everything in my power to avoid Jenna.

I have done everything humanly possible to not get on her nerves so she wouldn’t throw the word ‘divorce’ around like it was nothing.

But, it seemed as though all of my effort to make this marriage work, all of my efforts to keep her satisfied without necessarily having to show her myself was all for nothing.

A woman like Jenna could never last in a relationship with a wretched man like me.

I couldn’t bring myself to get mad at her, I always knew it was only a matter of time before our marriage ended and with that, I made up my mind to handle the situation properly.

“Okay, I agree, we should get a divorce.” I responded calmly even though I was feeling the pain deep in my chest.

Jenna looked stunned, her mouth dropped open and it was as if she wasn’t expecting me to agree to a divorce that easily.

“But I have just one demand,” I continued and she raised an eyebrow, wondering what I could possibly ask for, “my only demand is that you must keep giving me money.” I finished.

Jenna scoffed unbelievably as her jaw dropped and her mouth opened. The disgust in her eyes intensified and I knew that she must think I was asking for myself.

I didn’t need her money, maybe I do need it but not for myself, I needed it to pay for Mrs. Winkle hospital bills and walking out of this marriage with nothing puts me at a disadvantage.

“You are so unbelievable,” she sneered at me, “you really are nothing but a lowlife gold digger.”