Page 71 of Heartless

“Burn, baby, burn,” I mumble, watching the fire lick at the clothes inside.

Once it’s burned enough, I turn on the water hose and put out the flames. I head back inside and set an alarm for two hours from now.

Climbing onto the bed stinking with the stench of fire, I close my eyes and rest. Only part of the pain that I feel in my heart has been addressed.

How could he do this to me?

***

After the alarm went off, I lay in bed a little while longer, crying and wallowing in misery. But after a while, I’d finally gotten up, showered, dressed, and waited for my husband.

Finally, I wrote a letter to him that I stuffed in an envelope. I took the clothes that I’d packed and placed them in the rear of my vehicle, and then I drove to his office.

At a little after eight o’clock in the evening, everyone is gone except for Onyx. There’s only one other car in the lot, and it belongs to Sharla.

The reason that I know this is because she’s standing beside her driver’s side door, and he’s standing in front of her. He’s staring down into her face and saying something to her.

She’s nodding, and she reaches up and touched his face. She leans in and kiss his lips, but he pulls away.

It’s too late for that now. He went to a place that he shouldn’t have gone. Worse still, he broke the sanctity of our marriage and the vow of trust that we shared.

I love Onyx, but how can I ever forgive him? How could I trust him again?

17 – ONYX

“MJ!” I call out.

This morning, I promised her that I would be home in time for dinner, but I was late coming home again tonight.

When I first returned from Vegas, I’d promised her that I would make it home at a decent hour as often as possible.

Late nights have been the norm for the last couple of months now.

Special projects. Budget preparation. Global expansion.

Tonight, Sharla and I were the last two left, as usual. I walked her to her car as a safety precaution only. The sexual tension between us and the memories are high, and when she kissed me, I was tempted to do more. I instantly pulled back, full of regret that I’d allowed it to get out of control.

Guilt and recriminations over my thoughts have poured through my mind the entire drive. I’ve decided to tell Meadow the truth and beg her to go to counseling with me. I had planned to tell her from the start, but I was struggling with a lack of courage. I knew the moment that I told her she might leave me, and the last thing I want is to lose her.

The way that she’s drawn a wedge between us isn’t as easy for us to overcome as she might think. And my deplorable actions have severed the bond that we have, and she doesn’t even know it.

I cannot continue living on the edge this way.

I barely have a wife anymore.

The moment that I step foot inside I pause, seeing the damage that’s been done in the kitchen and the dining room.

My first thought is about MJ’s concerns about the attacker having followed her home and knowing where she lives.

I didn’t park in the garage like I normally do, so I didn’t see whether her car was missing.

I know that she’s not here before I even check all the rooms. The house feels empty.

“MJ!” I shout, rushing through every room on the first floor. My heart beats heavily in my chest, thundering in my ears.

I rush back to the kitchen and open the door to the garage. MJ’s car is gone.

Racing back through the house, I take the steps two at a time.

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