Rise of the Desperate: Billy Wood's Save and Restart System

Chapter 3: Unexpected Surprise at Home

Billy whistled a tune as he held his precious cargo to his chest. His wife was going to love what he got her. She had mentioned before that she wanted some new earrings when he asked why she wasn't wearing the ones he got for her a couple months ago. Since he got her red earrings last time to go with her dress, he got blue ones to match her eyes.

He paused and shifted his weight so he wouldn't drop the cake, flowers, and champagne while he locked the car. Once he was successful, he turned around and frowned at the other car parked nearby. Billy had never seen the car before. It certainly wasn't one of the cars his wife and her family drove. They must have guests visiting.

It would explain why no one had come out to greet him. No one had mentioned guests, but they probably didn't have the chance to tell him. With a shrug, he walked past the car towards the door. The thought of the surprised and pleased look on her face when she saw him return home early with gifts brought a smile to his face.

Unlocking the door, he was about to call out that he was home when he froze. His arms went slack, and everything in his hands dropped to the ground. There was a loud crash as the bottle of champagne shattered, sending pieces of glass and champagne everywhere. He could feel the front of his pants and shoes becoming wet as they soaked up the champagne.

Billy vaguely thought that the cake was probably a ruined mess now, and the flowers wouldn't be salvageable after being covered in champagne. However, his mind barely took notice of those things as he watched his wife pull away from the man she had been kissing. Her blonde hair and face were a mess, and her lips were clearly swollen from the intense make out session.

Words failed him as he tried to process what he had just seen. Had his loving wife really just cheated on him? No matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, there was no rationalizing his wife kissing another man. How could this happen? How did he miss the signs? There must have been signs of his wife hooking up with another man behind his back.

He quickly realized there had been, but he had been too blind to see it. They hadn't had a proper conversation in months. Billy had tried to make excuses, saying that it was because their schedules didn't match up. However, it was just him trying to convince himself that nothing was wrong.

In hindsight, perhaps he should have known something like this would happen. Even though his wife's family didn't treat him badly, he could tell they were unimpressed with him. He didn't have anything to add to the family. As an orphan with nothing to his name, they probably thought he was trying to leech off of her. They must have thought she was going through a phase, and that phase was over.

However, he didn't want things to end this way, except that he found himself utterly speechless. He didn't know what he could say in this situation. How was anyone supposed to react other than with rage, grief, and humiliation? In the time the two sides had been staring at each other, everyone else in the house had ushed over to see what the commotion was about.

The servants stood on the sidelines, not choosing either side. Billy didn't expect anything less. They weren't going to risk their necks for him. Honestly, he didn't care about them right now. It wasn't like he was really close with any of them to feel upset that none of them had let him know what was going on behind his back. What he cared more about were his wife's parents, who had shown up.

"What's the commotion?" his wife's father demanded.

The duo immediately took in the situation with a calm expression, unlike their previous expression. The fact that they weren't surprised to see the man with his wife meant they had known about him for a while. Had everyone been laughing behind his back while he showered his wife with affection? They must have thought he was some kind of fool.

"You returned home early," his wife's mother said as she smoothed out her clothes, acting like she hadn't rushed over in a panic.

"I wanted to celebrate our six year anniversary," Billy mumbled.

He didn't know why he said that. Immediately, there were snickers from some of the servants, who quickly shut up at the glare they received from his wife's father. However, the man didn't reprimand them, which meant he agreed with them. He only glared at them because he didn't want to ruin their image.

"In that case, we can settle things right away," his wife's father said as he stood by his wife. "Tell him, Debra."

His wife pushed her blonde hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms as she said, "We're getting a divorce."

Her words hit him like a truck. Even though he should have seen it coming, he hadn't been prepared to be struck by the sudden information after the shock he experienced. His mind was still reeling as his wife continued on, like she hadn't noticed his inability to keep up.

"I expect you to be gone within the hour after you sign the divorce papers. Don't expect anyone to take anything with you. You should be grateful that we're not demanding that you repay us for all the money that was spent on you," she said as she leaned towards her new man.

Billy opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and he shut it. He opened again with the same results. It was simply too much for him to process. How could things have spiraled out of control? She was basically saying they were throwing him to the streets. Did she not have any lingering feelings toward him to at least spare him some mercy?

"What are you looking at?" the man next to his wife demanded as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

Finally gathering the courage to speak, he was about to defend himself when they heard a noise outside. Everyone looked at the front door in confusion. It sounded like something was going on, but Billy couldn't think of any event that would cause any excited screaming. Of course, he hadn't known about his wife's lover either.

"Well, open the door," his wife's lover ordered.

The thought of actually obeying the man responsible for ruining his marriage made him sick, but there was no way they would be able to continue their conversation with all the noise outside. With a grim expression, Billy opened the door to tell the people outside off. The last thing he saw was someone lunging at him and sinking their teeth into his face.