Betrayal's Echo: A Husband's Reckoning

Betrayal's Echo: A Husband's Reckoning

Gavin

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The air in the bank was cold, a stark contrast to the warm spring day outside. I shifted, the familiar ache in my leg a dull reminder of my past, as the teller tapped at her keyboard. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hayes," she said, "I can't seem to find a joint account under that name for you." I frowned, "That's not possible. It's a joint savings, with my wife, Sarah Hayes. We've had it for years." "I see a Sarah Hayes," the teller replied slowly, "but the account lists her as Sarah Miller. And you are not listed as a signatory." Miller. The name hit me like a physical blow. My former commanding officer. The man whose orders had sent my team into an ambush, ending my career and leaving me with a leg full of metal. My world tilted as I stumbled out of the bank, clutching a phone that shook in my hand. Then, I heard her voice, bright and cheerful. "Liam! Honey, is everything okay?" "I heard your voicemail, Sarah." My voice was eerily flat. Silence. Then, a choked sound. "Liam... I can explain..." "No," I cut her off. "There's nothing to explain. I just called to say... congratulations." I hung up, the emptiness inside me starting to fill with a purpose I hadn't felt since I wore the uniform. They thought I was a broken man, a harmless relic. They were about to find out how wrong they were.

Introduction

The air in the bank was cold, a stark contrast to the warm spring day outside. I shifted, the familiar ache in my leg a dull reminder of my past, as the teller tapped at her keyboard.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hayes," she said, "I can't seem to find a joint account under that name for you."

I frowned, "That's not possible. It's a joint savings, with my wife, Sarah Hayes. We've had it for years."

"I see a Sarah Hayes," the teller replied slowly, "but the account lists her as Sarah Miller. And you are not listed as a signatory."

Miller. The name hit me like a physical blow.

My former commanding officer. The man whose orders had sent my team into an ambush, ending my career and leaving me with a leg full of metal.

My world tilted as I stumbled out of the bank, clutching a phone that shook in my hand. Then, I heard her voice, bright and cheerful.

"Liam! Honey, is everything okay?"

"I heard your voicemail, Sarah." My voice was eerily flat.

Silence. Then, a choked sound. "Liam... I can explain..."

"No," I cut her off. "There\'s nothing to explain. I just called to say... congratulations."

I hung up, the emptiness inside me starting to fill with a purpose I hadn\'t felt since I wore the uniform. They thought I was a broken man, a harmless relic. They were about to find out how wrong they were.

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I received a pornographic video. "Do you like this?" The man speaking in the video is my husband, Mark, whom I haven't seen for several months. He is naked, his shirt and pants scattered on the ground, thrusting forcefully on a woman whose face I can't see, her plump and round breasts bouncing vigorously. I can clearly hear the slapping sounds in the video, mixed with lustful moans and grunts. "Yes, yes, fuck me hard, baby," the woman screams ecstatically in response. "You naughty girl!" Mark stands up and flips her over, slapping her buttocks as he speaks. "Stick your ass up!" The woman giggles, turns around, sways her buttocks, and kneels on the bed. I feel like someone has poured a bucket of ice water on my head. It's bad enough that my husband is having an affair, but what's worse is that the other woman is my own sister, Bella. ************************************************************************************************************************ "I want to get a divorce, Mark," I repeated myself in case he didn't hear me the first time-even though I knew he'd heard me clearly. He stared at me with a frown before answering coldly, "It's not up to you! I'm very busy, don't waste my time with such boring topics, or try to attract my attention!" The last thing I was going to do was argue or bicker with him. "I will have the lawyer send you the divorce agreement," was all I said, as calmly as I could muster. He didn't even say another word after that and just went through the door he'd been standing in front of, slamming it harshly behind him. My eyes lingered on the knob of the door a bit absentmindedly before I pulled the wedding ring off my finger and placed it on the table. I grabbed my suitcase, which I'd already had my things packed in and headed out of the house.

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