My mind went blank at Simon’s words. In our past lives, he and I had met on our travels. We got to know each other better after that, and it was only natural for us to become traveling buddies before officially going steady.
For the first few years of our relationship, we were happy. But things changed after we got our marriage license.
Our marriage was a celebratory occasion, so we had to announce it. As such, we held a party at a hotel and invited all our family and friends. Yasmin was fashionably late that day and showed up in a striking red dress.
Simon had gone still the moment he laid eyes on Yasmin, not that I paid that any heed. However, I began to notice small behavioral changes on his part. He was always distracted, and at some point, he moved out of our shared bedroom.
My female intuition told me that something must have happened to bring about this sudden shift in his demeanor, but I refused to listen to it. After all, Simon and I shared the same values, and our chemistry was solid. I was sure that he wouldn’t cheat on me.
However, Simon started coming home late more often and was always sneaking glances at his phone.
My heart wanted to believe that he wasn’t cheating, but the voice of reason in my head said otherwise.
One night, I came home from work to find Simon and Yasmin tightly embracing outside our home. It was the first time I felt such despair.
I was hysterical as I demanded an explanation from Simon. How could he hurt me like this? Did he even love me at all?
However, his answers that night crushed my soul. He shoved me to the ground and restrained me with his vise-like grip, snapping, “Look at yourself, Olivia! Your hair’s a mess, you look unkempt, and the only color on your face is the dark circles under your eyes! You look like an old shrew!
“Yasmin is better than you in more ways than you can imagine! She’s gorgeous and polished, not to mention well-mannered and bubbly. She’s my type! Our marriage was a mistake from the start!”
The man I had thought was the love of my life had flung such ugly words at me, all because he was enamored with another woman. The tenderness in Simon’s gaze vanished, replaced by hatred and disgust.
All I felt at that moment was pure disbelief.
I remembered how Simon used to spoil me before he met Yasmin. He always felt terrible that I had to stay up late for work and contribute to the family. He knew that I was headstrong for a reason and that I had the family’s best interests in mind.
Then Yasmin came along. She was the opposite of me, which drew him to her. He sought the thrill of having a shiny new toy and ended up falling for her.
I knew that we would tend to grow bored of the same old routine, but that was no excuse for Simon to cheat on me.
Seeing as our marriage had broken down irretrievably, Simon asked for a divorce. I had lost everything, and I couldn’t stand putting up with him anymore, so I agreed to the divorce.
Our emotions were still riding high as we finalized our split. It didn’t help that Yasmin kept taunting me. In the heat of our argument, none of us noticed the sports car speeding around the corner.
