CHAPTER TWO

TRICIA'S POV

The night air felt colder than I remembered.

By the time I left the hotel, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the steering wheel.

The rain came down in sheets, blurring the city lights, and the sound of it against the windshield drowned out my sobs.

I couldn’t even breathe properly.

Each gasp came with a new wave of betrayal…the image of Oliver and Priscilla tangled together burned so vividly into my mind that I wished I could tear it out.

My sister.

My husband.

How do you even begin to process that kind of wound?

When I reached home, I collapsed against the front door, letting it shut behind me.

The silence of the house was suffocating.

Every corner felt haunted by his lies, every framed photo mocking the love I once believed in.

I slid to the floor and cried… not softly, not gracefully.

I cried like something inside me was breaking open, piece by piece.

My chest hurt and my throat burned.

I wanted to scream until the walls cracked.

The clock ticked past eleven…Then twelve…. Then one.

He still hadn’t come home.

I sat on the couch with my arms wrapped around my knees, staring at the door with red, swollen eyes.

I wanted him to walk in so I could demand why.

I wanted answers and I wanted closure but most of all, I wanted to stop loving him long enough to hate him properly.

When the lock finally clicked sometime after two, my heart stuttered…not out of love, but fury.

He stepped inside, looking calm, composed, even a little irritated, as if I were the one at fault.

“Where have you been?” I asked quietly.

Oliver froze, his gaze briefly darting to my face before softening into that patronizing calm I’d come to know too well.

“Traffic,” he said smoothly, setting his keys on the table.

“The rain’s been terrible.”

“Traffic?” I repeated, standing.

“You were in bed with my sister, Oliver.”

He blinked, then sighed heavily, loosening his tie.

“Tricia, you need to calm down.”

“Calm down?” My voice cracked, sharp and trembling.

“I saw you! With her! My own sister!”

“Tricia….”

“Don’t say my name like that,” I snapped.

“Don’t you dare try to twist this!”

He stared at me for a moment, then shook his head like I was a child throwing a tantrum.

“You don’t understand how these things work,” he said slowly.

“Men… we make mistakes…we have needs.”

I stared at him, disbelief clawing at my throat.

“So cheating on your wife is a need?”

“It’s not that simple.” He rubbed his temple.

“Every man slips once in a while…. It’s in our nature…you can’t hold that against me.”

I felt something inside me snap.

“In your nature?” I repeated, my voice shaking.

“Did your ‘nature’ force you to sleep with my sister?”

He flinched slightly, but his expression stayed smooth.

“Priscilla came onto me, Tricia…You know how she is…You’ve always been too naïve about her….I made a mistake, but she took advantage of it… It didn’t mean anything.”

“You disgust me.” I said as he sighed again.

“Don’t make this bigger than it is.”

“Bigger than it is?” I laughed bitterly.

“You betrayed me, Oliver. You broke our vows, our trust, our family….”

“Enough.” he yelled.

“You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment…You should be thanking me instead of accusing me.”

“Thanking you?” I whispered, unable to believe what I was hearing.

He stepped closer with his eyes darkening with arrogance.

“For everything I’ve done for you…you think you’d be where you are if it weren’t for me? Don’t forget where I found you, Tricia.”

I froze.

He smiled faintly, cruelly.

“You were a nobody…a girl from the slums with nothing but cheap dreams and hand-me-down dresses…I picked you up….I gave you class, comfort, a name that mattered…You owe me everything.”

Tears welled in my eyes again.. not from heartbreak this time, but humiliation.

“So what?” I whispered.

“Because you gave me comfort, I have to accept betrayal? Is that it? I’m supposed to keep quiet because I should be grateful you married me?”

“You’re overreacting…you can’t survive without me, Tricia. You’d crumble in a week.”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

“You really think that?”

“I know that.” He smirked, leaning closer.

“This little tantrum of yours …it’s cute but you’ll calm down tomorrow…You always do.”

I stared at him for a long moment, my heart pounding.

Then I said it quietly, but with a clarity I hadn’t felt in years.

“I want a divorce.”

The silence that followed was deafening and then Laughter followed.

Oliver laughed.

A deep, mocking laugh that echoed around the living room.

“You?” he said between chuckles.

“Divorce me? Don’t be ridiculous…You wouldn’t last a day out there without my money, my influence…Who would you be without me, Tricia?”

“I’d rather find out than live another day with you.”

His amusement faded, replaced by cold disdain.

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

He shook his head slowly, almost pityingly.

“You’re not thinking clearly…Sleep it off. You’ll thank me later.”

Then he walked past me just like that.

No apology, no guilt and no shame.

He went into the bedroom, leaving me standing in the living room with my tears, my pain, and the sound of his footsteps fading behind the door.

For a moment, I thought about running after him, begging him to care but then I realized I was begging for something he no longer had to give.

And I was done begging.

I sat there for what felt like hours, staring at the empty hallway, the divorce papers forming in my mind even before I knew where to get them.

When dawn began to spill through the windows, I finally stood up, wiped my face, and grabbed my coat.

I couldn’t stay here..not another second and so I walked out of the house.

I walked without direction, letting my feet guide me away from the house, away from him, away from the wreckage of my marriage.

I didn’t realize where I was heading until the bright lights and familiar scent of caramel popcorn hit me.

The amusement park.

The same place I used to come as a little girl, back when happiness was simple and pain was something I could shake off with a laugh.

It was mostly empty at this hour, just a few workers cleaning up, some soft music playing from an old carousel.

I sat on a bench near the fountain, watching the water ripple under the dim lights.

For the first time since the betrayal, I felt something close to silence not peace, but a quiet numbness that let me breathe again.

“Ma'am, are you okay??" A little child asked as she walked closer to me.

“What??" I asked in confusion.

“You are crying…are you okay??” She asked with a sad look on her face.

I was the pitiful one but I instantly felt pity on the child.

“I am fine dear…I just got something in my eyes.” I said as I faked and cleaned my eyes.

“Everything will be fine." She says as she gave me a hug and ran away.

That little gesture was more than enough to strengthen me and so I cleaned my eyes and decided to do something I never thought I could do.

I decided to confront my sister.