Chapter 4 Sting of betrayal

VICTORIA

Tears rolled down my cheeks as Mr Thompson helped me up to my feet.

“Are you okay, Mrs Armstrong?” he asked.

I nodded and straightened up, wiping the tears on my face.

“Do you need a shoulder… to cry on?” he asked. I paused and looked at him, my eyes red and glaring.

“No!” I said in a husky tone.

“Then, do you need help?” he asked.

“Didn't you say I could do it on my own?” I asked.

He narrowed his eyes over my body, and my toes coiled up. I looked like a mess who could hardly handle anything right.

“Alright, maybe you need some time away. You can go home and sort things out with yourself. We’ll always be waiting for you here,” he muttered. Home? I wondered if that place would still be a home after all this mess.

I gulped hard and only nodded before turning around to walk away to a place only God knew.

“Wait, I will call a cab,” he shouted at me. I stopped as instructed and stood at the spot like a zombie. My lipstick was smeared across my cheeks, and my mascara was like a large circle around my reddened eyes, while my hair was a disheveled heap of mess on my head.

“Get in,” Thompson said and opened the door for me. I got in silently.

He slammed the door shut, then gave my address to the driver. He flashed a smile at me before the car drove. I watched his slender figure and his face filled with concern disappear from the rear view mirror.

I called my best friend, Erica, but she didn't answer the call. Perhaps she was busy with work. I decided to solve this problem by myself without involving Erica, knowing how worked up her life was, it would be wicked adding more burden on her.

The driver kept staring at me from the mirror, perhaps bewildered by my appearance.

He didn't dare say a word to me until he got to the villa where we lived. A villa owned by me.

“Ma'am?” the driver called. I tore my gaze away from the building and got out of the car, then strode to the gate. The security man seemed shocked to see me back home at that time, which was unlike me. I didn't even bother to look at him twice and walked in, heading to the building with clenched fists. I paused when something in the garage caught my eye.

I turned in the direction of the garage, and my chest tightened at the sight before me. The car that Simon claimed to have been stolen last night was parked right in the garage.

I spun around and marched towards the house, ready to choke life out of the woman he had brought home.

I pounded my fist on the doors, filled with rage.

The doors pulled open, and Mrs Rachel gasped when she saw me. She craned her neck backwards, her eyes widening.

“Where is she?” I whispered in clenched teeth.

The face of Mrs. Rachel fell, and she stepped aside, her hand shaking.

“They are having wine in the garden,” she responded in a defeated tone.

I walked in and trudged silently to the garden, my fist still clenched and ready to smash their jaws. I would make Simon pay for this. He didn't just lie and give out the car I gifted him, but also brought her to our matrimonial home, my house!

Their laughter that came from the garden forced me to stop in my tracks. They weren't alone. My mother-in-law was right there with me.

I wasn't shocked, though. She had always hated me right from the beginning. It wasn't surprising that she knew and supported her son’s disgusting affair.

I would put them in their place and have them thrown out of this house, every one of them.

I took a deep breath and entered the garden. My eyes found them seated at one of the tables in the garden, a glass of wine in their hands, along with a bottle of wine and a plate of dessert on the table.

“Simon!” I growled loudly, and the laughter ceased.

Simon jumped up from his seat, and so did his mother, their eyes wide in shock. His mistress remained seated, her back turned to me.

“You dared bring your whore to my house? How dare you!” I growled and didn't wait for another second before marching towards the woman.

I was about to grip her hair when his mother came between us, glaring at me.

“Don't you dare touch her. She is carrying my grandchild!” she snapped, and my heart twitched.

“You are behaving in this shameless manner because you want a grandchild? I never expected you to stoop so low, mother!” I snapped back at her. She slapped me hard on my cheek, and I staggered back, pain hitting my cheek. If only Erica were here, she wouldn't dare raise her hand to my face.

“Don't you dare speak about my mother in that manner!” Simon growled, shuffling forward. I huffed loudly and straightened up, brushing my hair away from my face.

“Where is the key to the car I got you?” I asked, stretching out my hand. His lips turned up in disgust, and he huffed loudly, standing beside his mother.

“You mean this key?” the woman finally spoke, and I swerved my head in her direction.

“Unfortunately, you date a man who depends on his wife for most of his properties,” I muttered, and anger darted across Simon’s eyes.

The woman stood up and turned around. My jaw dropped and my heart crushed as I stared at the person before me. I wasn't hallucinating, was I?

“Erica?” I whispered, filled with disbelief.

She smirked and tilted her head to the side, her dark hair sweeping freely to the side.

“Yes, I am your husband’s shameless mistress, and the mother of his unborn child,” she said and placed her hand on her belly.

I staggered back, almost falling as I stared at them with a dropped jaw and widened eyes filled with tears. All the anger I had suddenly vanished and was replaced by pain, raw pain, and a more bitter sting of betrayal. I became weak and could barely stand straight as I stared at the woman I had trusted since childhood. She was the last person I thought would ever betray me. She… she was the mistress. My best friend was his mistress all this time? The other woman.

“Don't get too upset, I only took your advice,” she said, and I huffed as a conversation we had in a park resurfaced.

“So, when you told me you were suspecting of being pregnant with your boyfriend, it was Simon?” I asked, and she nodded, smiling like a fool.

“You told me to confront him about it, and I did. He agreed to take care of me and our baby.”

I huffed and dug my hand into my hair, my head swirling.

“I trusted you, I fucking trusted you,” I whispered as tears blinded my vision. Why? Why did they do this to me? The one that I loved and the one I trusted betrayed me without thinking twice.

“You bitch!” I screamed and rushed blindly towards her. I grabbed her hair and pulled her down to the ground, ignoring her screams. I was ready to kill her right there and go to jail for it.

“You all deserve to burn in hell!” I growled bitterly, hitting her head on the ground. His mother screamed and scratched my arm with her nails, but I didn't care. I was filled with anger and blinded by the thirst to kill her.

Simon grabbed my neck and, with his strength, he tossed me away from her while his mother kicked me hard as I lay on the ground.

I watched helplessly as Simon helped Erica up, kissing her while wiping the dirt off her dress.

“I am filing for a divorce. I won't live with a dog like you anymore,” I whispered as I lay on the ground, my body weak and broken.

“No need, I have done that already. I can't keep living with a barren woman,” he spat.

“And don't worry about the properties, they will do well in my name,” he said, and my heart sank.

I was too weak to say a word to him, but I was dying in anger.

“Sign the divorce papers and leave the house quietly!” he snapped.

“And here is your car key,” Erica said and threw the key at me.

“Finally, my dear son is free from a barren psycho!” his mother spat and trudged out of the garden with them. I broke into tears and sank my nails into my palm.

This was where it would all end? This way?

I wou

ld be left with nothing aside from a scarred heart. I thought I fell in love, but instead I fell into my death and downfall.