- 7.
Chad stared, shocked.
“Your girlfriend? She’s my wife!”
The two of them started fighting.
L
Chad, who spent his time drinking and
partying, was no match for Gabe.
Gabe beat him down in seconds.
I felt bad for Gabe, patched him up.
Chad looked at me, defeated, and screamed.
“Why are you two so close? When did you get
together? Evie, were you cheating on me? I
was so good to you! Why would you do this
to me!”
Gabe answered him.
He looked down at Chad, a smile on his face.
“Dude, get your facts straight. Cheating?
Didn’t you have an open marriage?”
“They’ve been together for a while. But what
right do you have to be mad? Think about
how many girlfriends you’ve had! You don’t
have the right to judge her!”
Chad couldn’t say anything.
He’d wanted an open marriage so he could
cheat without feeling quilty.
く
He wanted me to stay home, take care of
him, while he partied.
Now, he was the one getting hurt.
But what he was going through couldn’t
compare to the pain I’d felt for three years!
I walked over to Chad, told him everything
he’d forgotten.
The first time I found out he cheated, we had
a huge fight.
He locked me out on the balcony for three
hours. It was snowing.
Then he apologized, swore it would never
happen again.
“Evie, I love you. If you don’t want to see
those women, I promise I won’t bring them
home.”
He kept cheating.
Until Sierra came along, and he forgot his
promises again.
He ignored Sierra provoking me.
He let ner live in our nouse.
He defended everything she did.
He only saw Sierra’s charms, forgot all about
- us.
He forgot the orchid we’d bought when we
first got together.
He said it symbolized our pure love.
I took care of it for four years, and Sierra
ripped it out of the pot.
He forgot the kitten we’d found on the street.
He said the kitten was a sign of our love, our
first child.
I nursed that kitten back to health, but Sierra
threw it out because she was allergic.
And Mom…
I closed my eyes, pushing down the pain.
“Chad, we’re divorced. I don’t want to see you
again.”
“You saved my mom’s life. That’s why I don’t
want to argue. But I’m not letting Sierra get
away with this.”
“If you keep bothering me, I’ll see you in
court. You cheated, you were abusive. You
can’t deny that!”
Three years of marriage, not long, but it had
hurt me more than anything.
I’ll never forgive Chad.
And I’ll never go back.
Chad couldn’t say anything.
He just knelt on the ground, crying, over and
over.
“I’ll change.”
Gabe glared at Chad, took my hand.
“Don’t waste your breath on him. I’ll protect
you. You don’t have to be afraid of anything.”
I smiled, squeezed his hand, ignoring Chad’s
desperate pleas.
Gabe stayed with me, waiting for the trial.
Waiting for Sierra to pay for what she’d done.
