His Betrayal, My Beginning

Chapter 1: The First Crack

CAROLINE POV

I never expected this day would come. All my life I always thought that maybe bad things would come attacked with a warning, flashing lights that would be impossible to ignore.

But when I first stumbled upon David and Jessica together, it took me by surprise.

It wasn't anything grand at first. First it was just a hand clinging onto the other for far too long.

A joke that they only knew about, or stares that were too intimate to be just friends.

All this started on a Tuesday evening. David had been working late, or so he told me.

And that explained his reason for skipping dinner. I was a bit bothered about it so I decided to call his phone and find out where he was.

It was sent straight to voicemail.

Something churned in my stomach, a fear that I dismissed as paranoia. He'd always been there, always trustworthy, I had no reason to doubt him, right?

The first crack at our marriage started when I caught them together at the coffee shop the next morning.

I wasn't looking for him in the first place, barely thought about him -I'd just dropped Ethan and Liam off at school and thought I'd grab a drink before heading to the office.

And there they were, together happily discussing with each other. When. David reached forward and brushed a strand of her hair back, making me nauseous.

"David?" I called out, barely loud but definitely loud enough to startle him and make him freeze.

Jessica's eyes snapped to mine, becoming wide in surprise but she quickly hid it, making sure her clothes and hair were arranged and neat.

"Caroline! Hi." David said standing too fast as he knocked down his chair. His smile was fixed, strained didn't reach his eyes.

"I didn't expect to see you here." he said as I glanced back at Jessica and at him

"Obviously," I said, crossing my hand across my chest.

My voice was calm, I refused to break down but my heart was beating hard in my chest.

"What's going on? Did I happen to miss an invite to whatever this is?"

Jessica seemed to open her mouth to answer my question but David cut in.

"It's nothing. Not an planned thing. Jessica and I were just catching up. She's in town for a bit."

Catching up. I dwelled on those words for a long time. Jessica was someone who he had mentioned all the time in the past. And I was able to find out that she was, a high school friend he hadn't seen in years. But this didn't look like something that wasn't planned..

"Right," I said, my voice harsher now. I made myself to look at his face, searching for something,

"You didn't think of telling me?"

He sighed, shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I didn't think it was important. It's just coffee."

Jessica stood up, carefully as she said,

"It was lovely seeing you, David," she said, her voice smooth and flirting. She didn't even look at me as she left, deciding that I wasn't important in her eyes then.

The drive home wasn't something I focused on. It all seemed blurry to me. One thing I knew I was in the car and next I was entering the house.

. All I could think about was the way David had looked at her, a way he looked at me when we were newly married.

I decided to question him that evening, unable to keep it quiet. I needed to know. For my own sake.

"Are you sleeping with her?" I asked, my voice shaking as I held onto the kitchen counter for support.

He looked at me like I had said something morbid.

"What? No! Caroline, are you serious right now?"

"You lied to me. What else are you lying about You didn't tell me you were meeting her, you said you were going to work. That wasn't work."

"Because it wasn't a big deal! She's just a friend." His voice was calm but he kept looking away from me unable to hold my gaze.

I wanted to believe him. But my gut told me not to, and I kept pressing on. "Friends don't look at each other like that."

"Like what?" he snapped, getting mad at me as well.

"Caroline, you're imagining things. I'm not having an affair."

I knew he was lying but I had no proof so I kept quiet.

That night, I lay awake beside him, staring at the ceiling as his snores kept me awake.

Then it started cracking more with the help of Ethan and Liam.

I didn't even realized it at first too busy trying to figure out Jessica when they started mentioning her name all the time.

It started slowly like how she visited when they were in the pack, how she bought them ice cream, how funny she was.

"Jessica's nice," Ethan said to me one night as I made him get into bed as he was getting tired and it was his bed time.

"She's like a new mommy."

The words cut me deep like a knife but I forced a smile and kissed his forehead, pretending not to hear it.

The next few weeks were painful and hellish for me. Every time I tried to talk to David, he pushed me away claiming I was being delusional

The boys seemed to like Jessica more and I couldn't compete with her. She was younger, prettier, and, apparently a fun mommy. Something I wasn't.

One evening, after failing again to make everyone gather together for dinner as David was "working late" again-

I found myself standing in front of our wedding photo. I glared at it with anger in my eyes knowing those smiles David had for me were fake now.

Instead, I turned to the one thing I hadn't touch yet: David's phone.

It sat on the counter, charging, the screen lighting up with a new notification.

Unlocking it was easy-he hadn't changed the password. My heart beat faster as I scrolled through his messages, and finally got to Jessica.

I was stunned when I saw her name. There were plenty of messages, their texts sounding casual at first but growing more intimate.

Words like miss you and can't wait to see you again burned my eyes, imprinted into my brain.

The most recent message was what I read now.

"Tomorrow night. Our place. Can't wait."

The front door was pushed open then, and David walked in, his tie loose looking exhausted. "Hey," he said, dropping his briefcase down.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern as he looked at me frantically

I looked at him, and for the first time, I didn't see my husband. I saw a stranger.

"You fucking monster." I said as I glared at him.

His face paled, and his eyes moved to the phone. .

"what is it? What did I do?" he asked, his feigning ignorance.

I wanted to explode on him, but I held it back. Instead, I walked past him, grabbing my coat and keys.

"Caroline, where are you going?" he called out after me.

I didn't answer. My feet carried me to the car, and I got in.

I drove without a place in mind and soon p parked outside a small bar.

I didn't go in. Instead, I sat there, wondering how we'd gotten here.

And then my phone buzzed with a text.

It was from Jessica.

"We need to talk. It's about David."