Page 17 of Jealous Wife

So far, so good,she thought.

Ever so gently, she turned the door handle. The motion was smooth and easy. There was no fight from the lock. A second later, the door popped open, revealing a sliver of light coming from inside the apartment.

Ava held her breath as she returned the card to her purse and pushed the door open wider, looking at the wide, open room. The kitchen and living room were all in one, then to the left was the bathroom and bedroom.

All the furniture inside was white and modern, impossibly sleek. Ava grimaced at the sight of it. Everything was white and gold, glistening in the sun. Even her own house didn’t look this good. It was like she’d walked into a showroom.

Tentatively, Ava stepped into the apartment, clutching her purse as she moved through the room. She didn’t want to move anything or leave any kind of trace that she’d been there.

It worried her that her husband had access to Zoey’s place. It was clear their relationship was moving quickly—too quickly for Ava’s comfort—but there was no way she could bring this up with Rollo without giving away what she’d done.

The first thing she needed to do was check the bedroom. Surely, if they were fucking, that’s where they’d be doing it. Ava moved to the right of the room, heading for the painted white door, but she paused with her hand outstretched to the handle.

Do I want to do this?She thought, her stomach flipping.Do I really want to cross this line?

Ava looked over her shoulder, back to the front door, and realized she’d already crossed so many lines. What was one more?

The bedroom door swung open to reveal a huge bed in the middle of the tiny room. A small, curtained window was at the head of the bed, letting small slips of light through.

The sheets on the bed were white, of course, neatly made. There was no mess anywhere inside the bedroom. No clothes strewn on the floor, no shoes out of place, no dust to be seen at all.

Ava stood at the end of the bed, staring down at it, imagining Rollo and Zoey fucking like animals on there. She could almost smell their sweat in the air, salty and sweet.

The first thing she noticed was the hamper, stuffed in the corner behind Zoey’s pristine white dresser. Stacks of clothes were stuffed inside the knitted basket, calling out to Ava.

She rushed over to it and stuffed her hands inside, searching for a sign of Rollo’s discarded clothes. He hadn’t mentioned anything of his had gone missing—but why would he?

Before she knew it, she was elbow-deep in the basket, yanking out the clothes in clumps, searching for any sign of betrayal. Rollo had never been a man to use condoms, he hated the way they felt on his cock, so she knew exactly what she was looking for.

Zoey’s underwear was all bunched up in balls, scattered through the throngs of clothes. Ava unfolded each pair carefully, looking for big white stains on the crotch.

So far, she hadn’t found anything, but she knew there had to be something. They’d fucked. She knew it. Every inch of her body knew it, without a shadow of a doubt. All she needed was proof, something to calm her mind.

All of Zoey’s underwear was free from stains. But what about her sheets? Ava turned to the bed and began to strip away the covers, throwing the sheets behind her as she tried to reveal the bedsheet wrapped around the mattress.

Of course, it was completely clean from stains as well. Sighing, she turned away from the bed and gazed around at the room. What the hell else could she search for? If there weren’t any cum stains or signs of heated sex, then what else could there be?

She tossed the sheets back onto the bed and shoved the clothes back into the hamper as her thoughts started to spin out of control. She rushed into the living room and stood in the middle of the room, her eyes scanning everything around her.

Files and bits of paperwork were on the coffee table. Ava flicked her fingers through the bits of paper. There was nothing there. No signs of Rollo. In the kitchen were more shreds of paper, notes Zoey had made in a notepad. She turned the pages quickly, desperate to find something.

And then her heart stopped dead in her chest, giving out one final pathetic beat before turning cold. There, written in the notepad, was a scribble in Zoey’s handwriting.

Rollo’s name was in the center of the page, surrounded by small doodles of hearts, stars, and squiggly lines. Ava smoothed out the page as she stared at it. It took up a whole A4 sheet, the black ink carefully drawn over the lined page.

A lump formed in her throat as she stared at the immature etchings. It hit her hard then. Zoey was just a teenager, barely out of high school. This is what high school girls did, wasn’t it? They drew the name of their lover surrounded by cutesy hearts.

A sick feeling rose up from her stomach, threatening to spill out onto the page in front of her. The only thing she could do was slam the book shut and hope that she didn’t puke all over the girl’s spotless kitchen.

Ava turned on her heels, reeling from the discovery, and found herself facing the refrigerator. Another blow, this time it was worse. A picture was pinned on the top of the fridge with a couple of magnets. It was Zoey, looking beautiful in her lab coat and a huge grin on her face, tucked beneath Rollo’s arm.

Someone had taken this picture of them at work. Ava could see the lab behind them, stuffed full of robotics and electronic equipment. Zoey had managed to get a copy of the picture and had brought it home, sticking it on her fucking fridge.

Ava’s heart sank in her chest, cold and heavy and lifeless. Nothing had happened yet but it was clear they were interested in each other. The way Rollo was smiling in that picture… He looked so happy and carefree with his arm around Zoey’s back, his hand landing just above her hip.

I need to go, Ava thought, panicking.I need to get out of here.

She didn’t need to tell herself twice. Her feet carried her toward the front door of the apartment, storming across the room. She didn’t care how much sound she made. She just needed to get out.

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