Gone with the Broken Wind

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Alex cheated. With a subordinate twelve years his junior.

When I found out, he chose to come back to his family.

Everything was quiet until tonight, when I happened to see an unsigned text on his phone.

[I'm getting married tomorrow. Can you come to Port Crest to see me one last time?]

Its a three-hour drive from our city to Port Crest. If he left now, hed get there around one in the morning.

I watched him pack a suitcase, my voice deceptively light.

"Taking that many clothes? Are you planning to sleep with her one more time?" I added, a saccharine smile on my face, "Oh, should I pack a box of condoms for you two?"

Alex looked up, his face a mask of exhaustion Id never seen before.

"Stella, I already chose you. What more do you want?" His voice was raw. "Do you really have to push me to the edge before you're satisfied?"

I remember the day I caught him with Lily in that hotel room. The sheer panic on his face was almost comical. And I had become a clich, the scorned wife from a TV drama. Fueled by a blinding rage and a shattered heart, I had screamed, clawed, and hit them. I took humiliating photos and blasted them everywhere.

Lilys reputation was ruined. She was fired from her job and fled back to her hometown not long after.

Alex lost a six-figure deal because of the scandal and was forced to resign from his director position. Crushed under the weight of moral "condemnation," he got on his knees, begged for my forgiveness, and came home.

After his return, he became the picture of obedience. If I said east, he wouldn't dare look west. Even as he struggled to launch his own startup, facing unprecedented pressure, he took over all the night feedings for our newborn daughter, Penny, just so I could get some sleep.

In the span of a single year, despite the exhaustion, his new company was on its feet and starting to thrive. As his status rose, he regained his swagger, a success story in the eyes of the world.

It seemed like hed faced no real consequences at all.

Oh, except for a few bad colds from being overworked in the beginning.

And that's what he calls me pushing him to the edge?

The irony was suffocating.

A bitter smile touched my lips. "Alex, how dare you say that to me."

"Have you forgotten the oath you swore? That you would never see her again?"

He slowly unpacked the suitcase, folding each item and placing it back in the closet before shutting the empty luggage.

"Stella, it's been a while since we visited Director Thompson and the kids at the orphanage. Let's go together tomorrow."

"We should get some rest before Penny wakes up. You know how much of a handful she is when she's fully charged."

His casual tone was laced with a deliberate, gentle warmth that made my skin crawl.

I dug my nails into my palms, the sting of it grounding me. I hated this placid mask he wore, this way he sidestepped everything important. He was the one who had shattered our lives, yet he stood there, the picture of calm rationality.

My voice dripped with scorn. "What about Lily? You love her so much. Won't she be heartbroken if you don't go to Port Crest? Or are you just afraid of being struck by lightning for breaking your sacred vow?"

His expression remained infuriatingly placid.

"Stella, the kids love the pork buns from that Southside bakery. Remember to pick some up tomorrow."

This was classic Alex. The colder his exterior, the more organized his thoughts, the deeper the emotion he was burying. It used to be for me. Now, it was for her.

I felt a desperate urge to rip that fraudulent mask from his face.

I yanked open a drawer and pulled out a stack of letters, my stomach churning. In a voice thick with mock sweetness, I began to read his words aloud, one by one.

"Lily, you are like a cloud in the sky, untouched by the dirt of the world. Seeing you, I finally understood that something so pure and clear could exist."

"They say clouds are fleeting, but I will hide you, my cloud, in my heart. Year after year, I will protect your pristine beauty."

"All I desire in this life is to drift with you, my cloud, from dawn till dusk, never apart."

"Lily, the person in my bed is not the one in my heart. Only in the depths of night, in my dreams, can I see your face, so pure it makes my soul tremble."

A crack finally appeared in his composure. His voice erupted in a desperate roar. "Shut up! Stella, I made a mistake, okay? Just one mistake! Haven't I atoned enough this past year?"

"It's over! Why can't you just let it go?"

I smirked, snatching a pair of women's silk panties from the drawerembroidered with twin lotus blossomsand threw them in his face.

"Let it go? Oh, but these love letters you wrote her are just too moving. I have to keep them, to constantly remind you of the pure, beautiful Lily hidden in your heart!"

"And besides, do you call that atonement? Penny is my daughter, but she's yours too. Taking care of her isn't penance, it's called being a father!"

Alex had always been a romantic, prone to grand, cheesy gestures when he was in love. I used to pretend to cringe at them, but secretly, my heart would soar. I thought I was the only one he would ever love.

Until one day, bored and cleaning, I found a box tucked away at the bottom of his bookshelf. Inside was this stack of paper.

Over two years, he had written her five hundred and twenty-one love letters. The embroidered panties were her response, a token of their shared "love."

It was like opening Pandora's Box. The demons inside swarmed out and devoured my soul.

The emotional shock sent me into premature labor that very day.

Alex, still clueless that I knew about their filthy secret, continued to play the part of the tragic lover in a forbidden romance with Lily, right up until I exposed them.

The day I was cleared to leave the house after giving birth, I packed the thick stack of letters into a bag and stormed to his office, ready to tear them down in front of everyone.

But the receptionist told me Alex had taken Lily out for a "procurement trip."

A female colleague saw my pale, exhausted face and, assuming I was just a dutiful wife delivering documents, took pity on me. "This morning," she whispered, "I heard Mr. Morgan tell Lily he was taking her to The Monarch Hotel."

The last sliver of hope in my heart died. Nothing else mattered anymore.

When I got to the hotel, the staff tried to stop me, thinking I was just some troublemaker. I had no choice but to call the police.

With their help, I finally got into the suite. And there was my husband, his face a mess of panic as he shielded his mistress with a look of pained tenderness.

I lost my mind. I screamed, I clawed, I hurled the most vicious curses I could conjure. I took photos and sent them everywhere.

The whole process was surprisingly straightforward, easy even. But it drained every last ounce of strength from my body.

Now, Alex rubbed his temples, his voice laced with impatience. "Was all that really necessary? The hotel, that was a moment of weakness, I admit. But it was just that one time. And because of the scene you made, nothing even happened in the end, did it?"

"Don't you dare try to justify your cheating!" I shot back. "Alex, you're despicable!"

He smirked, his tone calm and cruel. "You know, Stella, the more you spiral like this, the more perfect Lily seems in my memory."

"You can never compare to her. Let's see how long you can keep this up."

My breath hitched. I stared at him, my vision blurring. He was finally showing emotion, but it felt like a boulder had lodged itself in my chest, suffocating me.

The man who once looked at me with nothing but love in his eyes was now a monster.

I had tried. I had told myself to let it go. He had repented, he had come home, we had a daughter who needed us.

But over the past year, whenever he tried to share our bed, whenever he tried to touch me as a husband, all I could see were his and Lily's bodies tangled together.

The nausea was overwhelming.

I couldn't pretend it never happened.

All the grief and rage I had bottled up inside finally exploded.

"Then divorce me and go marry her!" I shrieked. "Alex, stop acting like you're the victim here! It makes me want to puke!"

I snatched the silk panties off the floor and ripped them to shreds.

"Whore! You're both whores!"

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Alex's face as he watched me unravel. He reached out to wipe a tear from my eye.

"See? You make yourself this ugly just to get a reaction out of me. Was it worth it?"

His voice softened again. "Stella, it's in the past. Why can't you just let us live in peace?"

"We have a daughter now. Don't ever talk about divorce again."

I slapped his hand away and said nothing.

Our commotion woke Penny. Her cries filled the room. I went to the crib and lifted her into my arms, rocking her gently.

Alex watched for a moment, then turned and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Later, after I'd settled Penny back to sleep, I went to the kitchen to make her a bottle and was hit by the overpowering stench of alcohol.

I found Alex slumped on the living room floor, his eyes glassy and unfocused. Empty liquor bottles lay scattered around him.

A living tragedy. Was he mourning the impending marriage of his precious Lily?

His phone buzzed on the floor beside him. He glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted. With a trembling hand, he answered.

"Lily, I'm here."

Her voice floated through the speaker, soft and fragile. "Alex she won't let you come see me, will she?"

A shadow passed over his face. "Lily, she's my wife. We have a daughter. I have to be responsible."

"I know, Alex. You're a good man. So responsible, so dependable. I always knew I had good taste." Her voice sounded like it might break.

Alex gripped the phone tighter. "Yes," he said, his own voice gentle. "We shouldn't see each other anymore. Lily, I wish you and him a happy marriage. All the best."

Just as he was about to hang up, she pleaded, "Alex, can I just say a few words to her?"

He hesitated for a long moment before holding the phone out to me. "Lily wants to talk to you. Try to control your temper. Don't scare her."

I refused to take it, but it didn't matter. It was as if Lily knew I was standing right there.

"Stella," she began, her voice dripping with faux concern, "since he's come back to you, I'm begging you, please be good to him. The stress he's under, working to provide for you all it's just as hard as what you go through."

"He doesn't like spicy food, but he has a real sweet tooth, especially for mango pudding. And don't give him too many cold things in the summer; he has a sensitive stomach."

"Oh, and I bought him a shoulder massager before. His neck and shoulders get really tight, so you should use it on him when you have time. Also he's in a crucial phase with his career right now. You just had the baby, so you should be careful when you're intimate. Don't let another pregnancy distract him. Remember to use a condom"

I let out a cold laugh. "Are you done?"

"You shameless bitch. You've got some nerve, trying to manage my husband from another city! Since you can't seem to let him go, how about I pack him up and ship him to your wedding tomorrow? You can have a new groom!"

"After all, a homewrecker like you has no shame, right? We can let everyone see what a pathetic"

Alex snatched the phone away. "Enough!" he roared at me. "Are you insane?"

My eyes burned with hatred. "She had the audacity to do it, so I have the audacity to say it. Alex, you two are a disgusting pair of hypocrites! How dare you flaunt your affair in my face!"

From the phone, we could hear Lily's soft, whimpering sobs. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make your wife angry."

Alex's face darkened. "Stella, apologize."

That was it. The last thread of my sanity snapped, consumed by flames. I was back in that hotel room, my fists flying, my nails digging into his skin. "Apologize to your mother! Alex, are you even human? You and that bitch can both go to hell! Go to hell!"

He shielded his face and pushed me away, his own anger boiling over. "Stella, are you deaf? Didn't you just hear me say goodbye to her? If you don't stop this madness, I swear I'll drive to Port Crest right now to see her!"

As he spat out the last sentence, a flicker of anticipation flashed in his eyes. A longing to go see Lily. But he had to maintain his facade of the responsible, long-suffering husband, a martyr to his family.

It painted me as the villain, as if his "unfortunate situation" was all my fault.

I laughed, a harsh, grating sound. I ran back into the bedroom, grabbed the clothes he had just put away, and stuffed them back into the suitcase. I threw it at his feet. "Get out!"

"Alex, the very sight of you makes me sick."

"You asked for this, Stella. Let's see how you manage with the baby all by yourself." A cruel smile twisted his lips as he picked up the suitcase and walked out the door.

Silence descended on the apartment. I collapsed to the floor as if all the strength had been siphoned out of me, hugging my knees and crying without a sound.

It wasn't until Penny started crying again that I forced myself up, finished making her bottle, and carried it back to the room. I held her tiny body close, my eyes wide open all night.

I was the one being pushed to the edge.

By him and Lily.

On the surface, our life over the past year had been tolerable. But inside, I was breaking. I became someone I didn't recognize.

I started having nightmares of two pale bodies writhing on a hotel bed. I'd wake up crying for no reason, my body wracked with uncontrollable tremors. I screamed. I threw things. I started cutting my own arm with a kitchen knife.

If Alex came home even a little late, I would pick a fight, my words laced with suspicion and acid. I was constantly convinced he was with another woman. At first, he would patiently explain himself. Eventually, he just started sleeping in the guest room. The warmth between us slowly froze over.

The day I found myself on the balcony, holding Penny and thinking about jumping from the eighteenth floor, was my wake-up call.

I almost died.

I had become one of those "oversensitive," "hysterical" new mothers he read about. I had postpartum depression.

Standing on that balcony, the cold wind shocked me back to my senses. I started trying to save myself. I saw doctors. I took medication.

But tonight, Alex, the very source of my sickness, had shoved me right back towards the abyss.

This disgusting, shattered marriage had to end. Now.

I stayed up all night. Alex didn't come back. Instead, his parents showed up first thing in the morning.

Alex's father looked me up and down with disdain. "Fighting with Alex again? Stella, if Alex really loved that Lily-whatever-her-name-is, you would have never been our daughter-in-law in the first place."

"And don't take this the wrong way, but you've always been petty and shortsighted. If you had just looked the other way back then, Alex wouldn't have been fired, and he'd be collecting easy dividends every month. He wouldn't have to work so hard now."

His mother took out her phone, feigning a sigh. "Stella, our Alex is such an exceptional man. It's normal for him to have admirers. You need to hurry up and have a son to secure his heart, or you'll be crying a lot more in the future!"

She then thrust the phone in my face. It was a social media post Alex had made after he left last night.

In the photo, he was holding Lily tightly, gently wiping away her tears, his face filled with affection.

The caption read: [Drove for miles, just to see you one last time.]

I opened my phone, but the post wasn't on my feed. I realized he had blocked me.

I tried calling him several times, but each call was rejected. After the last one, I asked quietly, "Are you sure he went to see Lily?"

His mother's face was smug. She dialed Alex's number right in front of me. He picked up instantly. "Mom? What's up?"

"Honey, where are you?" she cooed. "Did you and Stella have another fight?"

Through the phone, Alex's voice was flat, tinged with contempt. "Not really a fight. She just had one of her episodes. Probably bored from being stuck at home all day."

"I'm in Port Crest right now. Mom, don't tell Stella. I'll be back soon, just after I see Lily one last time."

The call lasted less than a minute.

So he really had driven through the night to be with her.

My chest felt hollowed out, yet strangely, a sense of relief washed over me.

Seeing my lack of reaction, his mother clucked her tongue. "Did you hear that? Alex is always complaining to me about how dull and stupid you are, how you do nothing but fight with him. If it weren't for the baby, he would have left you long ago!"

"You know, this Lily girl doesn't seem so bad. I hear her parents are teachers. She's more than good enough for our Alex. Not like some people, with no parents to speak of. Probably a jinx!"

"Like father, like son. Since some people have a taste for spoiled goods, I'm happy to let them have her." I delivered the line calmly, then picked up my daughter and walked out, leaving the two of them sputtering curses behind me.

I knew they never liked me. After marrying Alex, I had tolerated them time and time again. Not anymore.

Since Alex wasn't in town, I would go find him myself.

I stopped by a lawyer's office to pick up divorce papers, then hailed a cab to Port Crest.

Using the photo from his mother's phone as a guide, I went straight to the hotel where they were meeting.