Chapter 1 He cheated

Chapter one

There he goes again.

Running off when that damn phone rings.

He has been doing that a lot lately. At dinners, late at night, even when we go out.

Today, he was in the shower, and I tried to take a peek at the caller, but my husband came out of nowhere and snatched the phone before I could see who it was.

I knew I shouldn’t doubt him, but I couldn’t help but think that my husband was cheating on me.

“You know your birthday is coming up,” Melissa told me when we met for coffee.

I stared at her; she looked away, taking a sip of her coffee.

‘That was possible. He could be planning a surprise for me, but something didn’t seem right.’

“But Mel. He has been withdrawn lately,” I confessed to her.

She raised a brow at me. “What do you mean?”

I sighed. I didn’t think it was right to talk about my marriage with someone, but Melissa is my closest friend. And besides, I had no one else to talk to.

“We no longer spend quality time with each other, has always busy at work, he comes home late, and lately we don’t even have sex.” I could feel the weight in my chest getting bigger.

She was silent as she processed what I said, lightly chewing on her lip.

“From what I know at work, I think he's busy. Our boss has been in a terrible mood lately ever since his wife died.” She paused and then nodded. “I think he’s busy, Kalyssa, you’re thinking too much,”

Her voice was soft and reassuring.

That was one thing about Mel, she was not only beautiful but kind-hearted, always seeing the good in people.

“But Mel—”

She grabbed my hand over the table, stopping me from continuing.

“Kalyssa, he’s my cousin. I’ve known him longer than you, I know that James will never do something to hurt you because he loves you so much.”

She laughed and added. “Sometimes I get envious of your relationship.”

I snickered and smacked her hand. “You have a lot of suitors, just pick one.”

That night, James got home earlier than I expected. He looked haggard.

When he saw me, he quickened his steps, and my heart raced.

“James, you— ‘’

He pulled me into a hug before I could finish my sentence. My hands hovered; I didn’t know where to put them.

My nose caught a mild scent on his collar, but I didn’t think about it.

“Oh my gosh, babe, I’m so tired,” he breathed.

I hugged him back. “Rough day at work?’’ I asked and he nodded.

“My boss has been an ass since his wife left him, and I don’t blame the woman,” he explained.

‘Wait! I thought the wife died?’

I said nothing. Maybe they got different information.

I pushed him back. “Why don’t you freshen up and come down for dinner.”

He shook his head and pulled back.

“Dinner first. I’m so hungry I could devour you,” he said, snapping his teeth at me. I giggled and went on to dish the food, while he followed behind.

Mel was right. James just had a lot of work, and he was distracted.

We spent the evening together, just like before. We even watched a movie. But halfway through the movie, James started touching me. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “I need you, Kalyssa.”

We started kissing on the couch, and his hands roamed around my body.

When things got heated, he picked me up and we headed to the room. Clothes were flying, and the room was hot. But somewhere in the middle, the rhythm faltered.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured as he stepped back.

I stared at him in understanding. “It's okay, these things happened,” I told him.

He shook his head. “No, it's not okay, we haven’t done this in a long time, and I—”

“Shhh,” I cut him off, going to my knees. “Let me help you.”

He closed his eyes as soon as I started. It took a short time, and he was back. He started rocking his hips, faster and faster, his movement frantic. It was almost like he was not himself anymore.

And then he whispered.

“Lissa”

My hands shook.

“What?!”

I wanted to move away, but he held my head and took over, his eyes shot tightly.

James has never called me that before, or maybe I was just overthinking.

“Issa,” he whispered again. “Yes, baby, I love it when you do this.”

From then on, things went great. I fell asleep shortly after from exhaustion.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to an empty bed.

“James?” I called out to him, but he didn’t answer. I decided to go look for him. He wasn’t in the bathroom when I checked, so he must be in his study.

The hall was quiet. I could hear faint sounds coming from the study.

It was Jonathan’s voice.

Low and shaky. Like he was…moaning?

“Oh, baby, make me cum” he groaned.

I stopped, snickering into my hand. ‘Didn’t he get enough?’ I thought to myself as I peeped into the study.

But what I saw shocked me.

“Thinking of you makes me so hard. I couldn’t even get it up when I was with her until I thought of you, babe.”

I looked in to see my husband pleasuring himself in front of his laptop…

There was a woman on the laptop.

I didn’t know when a gasp escaped my lips.

James jumped. He turned to see me, his eyes wide in shock and fear, then he slammed the laptop shut so I couldn’t see who the woman was.

“James, who was that?” I asked as I marched into the study.

He took a step back, his eyes wandering around, his face red in embarrassment.

He pursed his lips.

“Who was that?” I asked again. Tears gather in my eyes.

“It’s Ai,” he snapped. “My friends introduced me to this AI app and I’ve been—” he trailed off.

Then he walked towards me and pushed me outside.

“Go to sleep, it’s just Ai,” he said before shutting the door in my face.

I stood there for a minute as everything now made sense to me.

I was right.

I didn’t mishear anything, and he did call someone’s name when we were having sex.

James was cheating on me.