My Husband's Lies, My Departure

When I was three months pregnant, I craved seafood porridge. My husband got up in the middle of the night to buy it for me.

But during that hour when he was supposedly buying porridge, he was cheating with a college girl. In the footage from the dashcam, he gripped her waist, saying harshly, "I don't love you at all. You're just a tool for me to vent my desires!"

The girl burst into tears and then he hurriedly raised his hand to comfort her. At that moment, I knew our marriage was utterly broken.

——

When I was three months pregnant, my morning sickness had eased up a bit. Javier was so happy that he couldn't sleep that night.

He held me close as we reminisced about our past. While recalling memories, he wrapped me tightly in his arms, kissing my hair and said, "Mandy, I'll always love you the most!"

But I never expected that in the brief time he stepped out to get me a late-night snack, he had sex with a female college student. In the dashcam footage, Javier and the girl were clearly visible.

My hand froze on the tablet and my heart began to race. Suddenly, my belly contracted sharply, the pain making me curl up, drenched in sweat.

"I don't love you at all. You're just a tool for me to vent my desires!" In the video, after he said this, the girl began to sob quietly. Then, he pulled her into his arms, slowly licking away her tears. "You are so delicate, what should I do with you?" he said.

On the seat next to them, I noticed the late-night snack he had bought for me, the seafood porridge spilled all over the seat.

In a daze, I recalled how eager Javier had been when he left to buy it for me. He said, "Mandy, I know you're craving it. I'll get it right away!"

But in that hour, he spent 'buying food,' he was entangled with another woman. My stomach churned and the nausea I hadn't felt in a while hit me again. I bent over the sofa, dry heaving, overwhelmed by the sensation.

I lay on the sofa and retched, vomiting until I felt dizzy. My hand accidentally brushed against Javier's contact on the phone.

We had once agreed he would never make me wait more than three rings. This time, the phone rang ten times before he picked up.

"Mandy? What's wrong?" His voice was rushed. But in the video, his expression was far from worried, instead, his face showed satisfaction and pleasure.

I couldn't suppress the disgust rising within me any longer. I vomited everything in my stomach. Hearing the sound of me retching, he grew anxious on the other end of the phone.

Meanwhile, in the video, he suddenly sat up, holding the girl tightly. A few minutes later, Javier threw his shirt to the girl and said, "My wife's not feeling well. You'll have to go home on your own tonight."

His voice softened afterward, slightly husky from the aftermath, "Take a cab, don't save money. It's dangerous outside."

But the girl, frail after their encounter, was too weak to even get out of the car. Javier, his eyes still red, grabbed her by the neck and kissed her forcefully. "This time, I'll take you home. Don't expect this again," he said.

Watching the dashcam footage on my tablet, I laughed silently. But tears streamed down my face, falling onto the screen.

I had known Javier for fifteen years. My family didn't agree with our marriage. To marry me, he started his own business right after graduating. He used to drink himself into having stomach ulcers for work, the worst time landing him in the ICU.

I cried and begged him not to push himself so hard. But he just smiled, looking content while he said, "Mandy, I know I'm not good enough for you, but I'll work hard. Please wait a little longer for me, okay?"

I waited for him for five years, enduring countless proposals from my parents and mockery from relatives. I accepted it all with a smile.

When I turned twenty-nine, Javier's company went public and he became a rising star in the tech world. He proposed to me and we had a grand wedding.

Afterward, I became pregnant easily and I thought my life was perfect. But Javier turned me into a joke.

I put down the tablet, dragging my exhausted body to clean up the vomit. An hour later, Javier returned.

He was carrying a bag of seafood porridge. He asked me, "Mandy, how are you feeling? Still unwell? There was an urgent matter at work, so I'm a bit late. Please don't be mad," he said, placing the porridge on the coffee table, looking at me with concern.

Those eyes, just like the ones I had fallen in love with years ago. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that the man who once loved me could become this person.

I didn't answer his questions but instead asked, "Javier, why did you change your shirt?"

His gaze remained calm as he effortlessly lied, "I spilled some porridge on my shirt while buying it, so I changed into a new one in the car."

I didn't say anything, just curled my lips into a mocking smile. He didn't notice, preoccupied as he took the porridge into the kitchen.

"I'll heat it up for you. Eating cold food will upset your stomach," he said. But when the porridge was placed in front of me, I couldn't bring myself to take a single bite.

I thought of that spilled bowl of porridge in the car, I thought of their intimate encounter.

Suppressing the nausea rising within me, I pushed the porridge onto the table. I pushed myself and said, "I don't want to eat anymore. I'm not feeling well today. I'll go to bed first."

Javier was confused, followed me, asking if I was okay. But I caught a whiff of a different scent on him. A fruity fragrance, something only a young girl would wear.

"Javier, I'm not feeling well. I'd like to sleep alone tonight. Go sleep in the guest room," I said it again. I pushed him out of the bedroom.

It was the first time we'd slept in separate rooms. He went to the guest room while I tossed and turned in the master bedroom.

The next day, I had someone investigate the college girl. Her name was Danielle Crimson, a senior at Atlanta University. Her family was poor, an ailing mother and a younger brother still in school.

She and Javier met at a cocktail party. She was molested by someone and Javier rescued her heroically.

"Madam, I think Mr. Lloyd might have saved her because she reminded him a little of you," Miss Taylor, my assistant, hesitated to explain.

I laughed lightly and set the information down on the table. Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.

[Mrs. Lloyd, can we meet?] The message was from Danielle. She had asked to meet at a café.

When I arrived, she was busy finishing up her shift, sweating, "Sorry, Mrs. Lloyd, I just got off work. Thank you for waiting."

Her youthful energy radiated from her glowing face. She did look quite different from me. I smiled and took a sip of my coffee, then calmly said, "Go ahead, let me know when you've scheduled Javier to arrive so I can play along with your little show."

"Is it the classic scene where the wife catches the mistress and the husband scolds his wife while heroically protecting the mistress?" I continued.

She remained silent, eyes wide with surprise. I leaned back in my chair and spoke softly. I said again, "Javier is a meticulous man. There's no way he'd leave the dashcam on. You turned it on, didn't you?"

"Was Javier's mood bad today? Because I'm upset, he gave you the cold shoulder too, didn't he? You're smart. You must've guessed that I saw the footage, so you arranged this meeting to stage a little drama, right?" As soon as I finished speaking, Danielle's face turned pale.

She hesitated, then finally spoke, her eyes red with tears, "Yes, it was me! Why should you get all of Mr. Lloyd's love? What's the difference between us? I'm even younger than you, aren't I? You're just a housewife, with no job or career. What makes you worthy of Mr. Lloyd's love?"

I said nothing, simply watching her with indifferent eyes. The sound of familiar footsteps approached.

Danielle's lips curled into a victorious smile as she glanced at the steaming cup of water on the table. Her intentions were clear.

I smiled, indulging her and picked up the cup, not to throw it at her, but directly onto her face.

"Ah! It's so hot! It hurts!" Danielle screamed in pain as tears streamed down her face.

Behind me, Javier's anxious voice rang out. But the name he called was mine, "Mandy, are you okay?"

Javier may not love me anymore, but he couldn't completely let go of fifteen years of feelings.

He shielded me in his arms, carefully checking me over. When he finally looked at Danielle, his eyes held a complicated emotion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Danielle covered her flushed face, her eyes red. "I don't know, it was Mrs. Lloyd who asked me to meet her," she said. "I only said a few words to her and she threw hot water at me."

Javier pursed his lips, remaining silent.

Tears spilled from Danielle's eyes, dropping onto the table while she said, "Mr. Lloyd, even though I come from a poor family, no one has ever humiliated me like this."

Javier looked at me again, his expression still tender and caring, "Mandy, you have your prenatal checkup today. Let me take you to the appointment first."

He didn't directly address Danielle's accusations, but I could sense a shift in his emotions. I didn't confront him about it, opting to leave with him instead.

As we reached the car, a girl suddenly rushed out, panicked, "Mr. Lloyd, something's wrong! Danielle has fainted!"

Javier's expression shifted slightly, though he remained composed. He answered, "If she's sick, take her to the hospital. Why come to me?"

The girl looked anxious, her tone sounded urgent, "But ... but Danielle keep calling your name. She refused to go to the hospital no matter what."

Javier's face changed completely. His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his veins bulging.

In the next moment, he could no longer hold back. "Mandy, Danielle has a heart condition. I need to check on her, I can't let her die ..." Before he could finish, he had already run off. I stepped out of the car too.

Not far away, Danielle was lying on the ground. Javier expertly searched her body for her medication, only to find the bottle empty, he panicked. For the first time, I saw Javier lose control over another woman.

His eyes were bloodshot and his arms trembled as he held her tightly. He shouted, "I'll take you to the hospital! You'll be fine!" During this time, Javier didn't look at me once.

It was like watching a dramatic scene of a hero saving a damsel in distress, until I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

A passerby pointed at me, shouting in alarm, "Your stomach ..."

It was only then that I realized my white dress had turned bright red. A pool of blood gathered beneath my feet. I was rushed to the hospital.

The doctor said I was at risk of miscarriage. I had two choices, attempt to save the pregnancy or undergo an abortion. I chose the abortion.

When the nurse brought the surgical consent form for me to sign, I saw Javier and Danielle.

Danielle was leaning on Javier's shoulder, smiling contentedly.

The nurse beside me whispered under her breath, "That couple, turns out the girl only had low blood sugar, but the man acted like she was dying, rushing her to the emergency room. It's ridiculous!"

I laughed as well and signed my name under the abortion consent form and said, "Nurse, when I'm about to go into surgery, can you call that man over for me? He's my husband." The nurse's eyes widened in disbelief.

I lay quietly by the operating room doors, waiting. It wasn't long before the nurse brought Javier over.

He looked confused, not understanding the situation. But then he saw me being wheeled into the operating room.

"Javier, let's get a divorce," I said.

Javier was in utter disbelief, stumbling as he ran towards me.