Betrayed for Love

Time continued, and the wounds continued to heal. I had moments of dread with Travis, as my trust with him was stretched and tested. Emily had retired, and Julliette, who had bounced back on her feet, was now promoted to her role, and I in turn to hers.

On my 37th birthday, my world was made right again.

"Renay, my life without you has no meaning, I want to grow old with you and I want to have a family with you. Will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest and luckiest man alive? Will you be the mother of my children?"

My beautiful man, the hero who saved me, Travis had proposed, and he did it in front of all my friends and family at a surprise party that he had organised.

I squealed. All my girlfriends squealed. My mum squealed. My sister and her children squealed, though I think they just joined in because all the adults were doing it. The men cheered.

"Yes, yes, oh a thousand times yes!" I squealed once more, as I tried to extricate his tonsils with my tongue, my hands grasping for his groin as I squeezed it hard, making all the females giggle and laugh, my mother included. The men let out a raucous cheer, applauding the lucky man. "Let's get started on that baby making right now!" I demanded, thus ending the party immediately as I kicked the guests out, and then dragged my now fiance to bed, shedding my clothes along the way.

I grasped his long hard dick in my hands and planted kiss after kiss upon it, before pushing him back on the bed and impaling myself upon him. This was no time for slow and pleasurable love making, my time was running out, this was to be the beginnings of a baby factory, and I needed him to shoot as much of his seed as often as he could, inside my very willing body. That night, he managed five loads, and though he tried when I demanded more, his body was nearly broken and his balls totally drained.

I was a little disappointed, but only a little. Who was I kidding, I was over the moon.

But all good things must end, and there is always a fly buzzing near the ointment. My fly was named Melody.

It was a couple weeks after Travis had proposed to me when I came across her. I had never forgotten her, nor what she looked like. Her image, that whole scene was still burned into my subconscious. Travis and I had just been to dinner and were about to head back home for some more baby making, when I literally ran into her as we were leaving the restaurant. She was with a guy I had never seen before and was looking lovingly into his eyes when we crashed into each other.

Suddenly, thoughts of revenge or at the least, some form of payback, lept to the forefront of my mind.

My right hand was arcing towards her before I think she realised who I was. The slap caught her square on the side of her pretty face, knocking her back and to the ground, leaving a bright red hand print and splitting her lip.

"YOU FUCKING HOME WRECKING WHORE!" I screamed towards her, now confused and startled prostrate on the ground. My attack stunned everyone in the restaurant, Melody, her companion and Travis. I stepped forward and launched a vicious kick at her body, knocking the wind out of her before Travis and her friend interceded and held me back.

"SLUT!" I yelled again, before spitting on her, hate burned deep within me. "YOU GUTTER FILTH CUNT BITCH!" So much pain suddenly boiled to the surface, pain I had never really had a chance to get rid of since I hadn't seen her or William, or any of his family in the past few years, and whilst trashing all of William's belongings was a release, it bore nothing compared to putting down my tormentor.

"Let me go Travis, let me go. That's the bitch that fucked William. That's the whore I told you about!" I struggled in his strong grasp, all the while Melody's companion crouched, shielding her from further assault whilst at the same time trying to get her up from the ground.

Her companion was puzzled and shocked by my ambush to say the least. He looked from Melody to me and back again, and then repeated his gaze again.

"YOU SLEPT WITH MY HUSBAND!" I yelled again, swinging a wild and very misplaced kick in her direction. It missed her, and struck her friend, knocking him down onto his haunches.

Melody had regained her feet, though she was unsteady. I could hear a commotion all around me, around us, and I'm sure I'd end up on YouTube or Tiktok or some other platform by the end of the night, but I didn't care. Hell, I welcomed it, especially if it showed the whore, Melody's face.

"Is that true?" her date turned to her. He had a look of disgust on his face, which I lapped up. Good, let her relationship be ruined as mine was.

"Fucking oath it is," I hissed. "Bitch slept with him in my house, and then the two of them rubbed my face in it, gloated about it."

Melody shook her head at this, not so much for me, but her date. "No. It's not the truth," then she turned to me. "We never had sex. That wasn't the plan, it was never the plan. I, I can't believe that nobody told you. It's been years, and you," suddenly her face took on an even paler complexion, and she looked horrified as her voice broke with sadness. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" Travis asked, holding me back, firmly but still gently, his hands gripping me and comforting me at once. "What doesn't she know?"

"It..... it's not for me to say," she said, tears in her eyes. "Oh my god, oh my god. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I never slept with him, he never slept with anyone else. I don't think he ever did sleep with someone else. Oh god, I'm so sorry. It was supposed to be, I was told it would be over.... that you'd be told." She looked down, unable to look me in the face.

"What the fuck is going on?" her date asked, looking around in bewilderment.

Just then, a police car turned up outside, and two officers exited, approaching with hands up as though they were trying to diffuse the situation. People were pointing to me, indicating that I was the aggressor. Travis held me tightly and I feared being arrested for assault. However, Melody, my cruel tormentor, the horrible succubus that had fucked my marriage by fucking my man, turned to them, waving them away, "It's fine, it's fine, it was an accident." The mark on her face and the tears in her eyes told another story, and the female officer asked to speak to Melody alone for a minute, whilst her partner eyed the rest of us suspiciously.

Soon though, the pair returned, and the two police conferred. "Are you sure," the officer asked Melody, receiving a nod in response. "Ok then. But you," she turned to me, "Go home. And I don't want to see nor hear of you again."

I smiled, though it faltered on my lips and looked more like a grimace, I'm sure. "Yes officer," I said, before Travis led me away.

Behind, Melody called out one last time, "I'm sorry."

My mood was sour that night, and Travis had to do his best to calm me down. My nerves were on edge, my rage boiled and my mind reeled. "I hate her, and I hate him. Just more lies and for what? What did I do to deserve this, why do they hate me so much? What did I do? Am I that horrible of a person?" I was shaking, I was venting, my fists were clenched tight in balls, and I later realised that I had dug my long nails into my hands, leaving large red marks.

Travis, God bless him, tried his best to comfort me, to assure me that all was right. But I could see it in his eyes, he was pissed off.

We didn't make love that whole week. The bad thoughts just kept revisiting my dreams, the nightmarish situation just wouldn't leave my waking thoughts, I could see the two deceitful lovers intertwined every time I closed my eyes. I would cry over the least thing, I would snap, and my distrust of Travis grew once more, unfounded as it was. When I thought that I could trust him again, my subconscious told myself that I had trusted William as well, and look how that had turned out.

It was a Saturday afternoon, just over a fortnight since the run in with Melody outside the restaurant. Travis had gone to see a friend about his car, and had been gone all morning. I was beginning to have those feelings again. I was trying to trust him, I wanted to trust him, I loved him and I knew he loved me, but I couldn't shake the feelings of suspicion that clouded my thoughts.

I picked up my phone to call him, I needed to speak to him. In truth, I needed to know where he was, what he was doing, and who he was with.

No sooner had I hit the speed dial for him, I heard his car in the driveway. I raced to the door, I needed him to hold me, to tell me everything was ok. But as I got there, I saw another car behind him, and my heart skipped a beat as I saw who it was.

Belle.

My ex sister-in-law. My ex-friend.

She looked nervous as she exited the car, but Travis was with her, gently guiding her without touching her. His head was bowed slightly, and he was talking quietly. I could see his lips move, but couldn't hear what he was saying. Belle nodded her head a few times, in acquiescence, before casting a furtive glance up towards the house. Our eyes locked on each other, and I saw fear, concern, sadness? There was a look on her face of trepidation at the least. She didn't want to be here, so why then was she?

Travis entered our house, with Belle behind him. She stopped on the threshold and looked at me, before finding something more interesting on the floor at her feet.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" I hissed. "She hasn't said boo to me in nearly three years. She supported her fuckwit of a brother over me, that whole fucked up family did."

She suddenly burst into tears and fled. Travis cast me a horrible, haunted look, and chased after her. "Belle, please, Belle....."

But it was too late, she leapt into her car and sped off. Leaving Travis looking forlornly at the road and her rapidly retreating vehicle. His shoulder slumped. He leaned against the large tree in our front yard, and I could see him shudder. Was he crying? What had he hoped to achieve by bringing that bitch here?

I slammed the door shut, and slid the bolt in place. "Well fuck him too," I thought. "Fuck him too."

Travis knocked at the door when he realised that I had bolted it. And he kept knocking and pleading with me for hours, before I finally relented and let him in. He tried to take me into his arms, but I pushed him away. "I'm sorry," he finally confessed, after an age of him trying to get me to look at him, "I'm sorry I didn't speak to you about it. But, I'm not sorry for doing it."

Finally, it seemed that he had had enough of my shit, and he grabbed my shoulders firmly, and turned me to look at him.

"Why'd you bring her here? Were you going to fuck her in front of me? Have her gloat about it and ridicule me?"

He was stunned. "Why would I ever do anything like that to you? I love you."

"So did William," I muttered. "Until he didn't."

"Did she ever ridicule you? Did any of them?"

I shook my head. "I haven't heard a word from any of them, not one."

"Then it's about time."

He gave me a huge, warm cuddle, and I melted into his body, laying my head on his strong, broad chest.

"I need to call her, hopefully she hasn't blocked my number yet. This is important, you need this to move on, you need closure. For you, and for us. You need to bury what happened, yes, it was horrible, but it was in the past. For our future together, this has to be resolved. It's killing you, Renay, it's hurting us."

I gave a small nod, barely moving my head, but it was enough. He gently tilted my head up, and planted a warm, loving kiss on my lips.

"I love you Renay, I always will."

He moved away then, and pulled out his phone. He was pleading, begging, he looked lost and desperate. It was a fight that he wasn't winning. Finally, in desperation, I grabbed his phone from him, I could hear Belle crying. She was absolutely bawling. It was gut-wrenching and pathetic. Why was she sad? She sided with my ex, her brother, in the destruction of my marriage, and my utter humiliation.

"Belle," I began, and suddenly I heard an intake of air, a gulp and then then silence. I decided to be the bigger person, not for me, but for Travis, for the man that I loved. "Belle, I'm sorry."

"Renay....." Her voice was croaky, and rasping, and sounded so weak. Not the strong woman that I had known. Then the phone went dead. She had hung up on me, on us. I looked up at Travis, handing him back his phone.

"She hung up."

"There's more to this Renay, lots more. I did a bit of digging before I asked you to marry me, and I've done a bit more in the last week. Something isn't adding up, so I went to Belle a couple of days ago and I introduced myself. I spoke to her briefly, I knew she was a good friend of yours, as well as William's sister, so I thought she was the best person.

"Renay, she's been destroyed by this. I didn't go into her house, but I could see inside a bit when I was there, at her front door. Renay, she still has a large photo of the two of you, in a prominent position. She wouldn't do that if she hated you, it would be long gone. I don't think she wanted to end your friendship."

"Then why?"

"I don't know Renay, I don't know."

Travis convinced me that I needed counselling. It was something that I had been advised to look into before, but I had always baulked at it. I wasn't crazy, I didn't need a shrink. I just needed the people in my life that I loved to love me back.

On Monday, at Travis' insistence, I made some calls, and organised an appointment with my GP to get a mental health evaluation.

Tuesday evening, as I returned from work, I was shocked to see Belle's car in our driveway. My stomach turned with nerves, and I cautiously approached my house.

Belle was sitting at the dining table, with Travis. They had a bottle of wine open and there were three glasses on the table. Their conversation, soft as it was, immediately stopped as I entered. Travis looked up at me with his cheeks glistening with moisture.

"I'll leave you two alone," he said solemnly as he rose.

"No, please." I reached for him. "We're a team, we do things together."

He looked from me to Belle and back again and sat back down with a sigh.

Belle looked up at me, she too was crying. She reached out a clutching, desperate hand towards me. I didn't take it. Her lip trembled and she bowed her head in grief.

"Renay," she began. Her voice was so weak. "William, never.... He oh fuck help me here please," she implored to nobody and everyone at the same time. "I'm not supposed to be here, I promised him, we all did. He doesn't want you to know."

"Know what Belle?"

"William is dying, Renay. He only has days, maybe weeks left if he is lucky."

I had wished him dead, hadn't I? When he had broken my heart, when he had torn it out with his slut. When he had so cruelly discarded me, without a care in the world.

"And?" I replied, coldly. My heart hurt, but I kept that feeling down, down deep where it couldn't hurt me. My head was going into this battle, my heart would be weak and so I had to leave it in the trenches.

She looked at me shocked, Travis was shocked. "Renay." His voice was sharp, his tone stern and his gaze made me wilt a little.

"You don't understand, Renay." It was Belle again. "He never cheated on you. He never wanted to hurt you, but he felt that he had no choice." She was wringing her hands, and now that I looked more closely at her, I noted that she had lost some weight. Her face was haggard, with great dark circles under her eyes, and slightly sunken cheeks.

"I know what I saw, Belle. They were in my house, they were fucking when I found them." I cast my mind back into the darkest moment of my life, even worse than when my father had died.

She shook, both body and head. She was so sad, broken.

"No, Renay. That's what he wanted you to think. What he wanted you to see. He never slept with her, it was all a trick."

I could see Melody's lewd nakedness, her shaved and well-used pussy, both of them glistening with the sweat of strenuous exertion. I knew what I saw. Or did I?

"It was a trick, a cruel one, but.... Oh, Renay, he had the best of intentions. We tried to talk him out of it, but he made us promise. He loved you Renay with everything he had, he still does."

"Well why the fuck did he cast me away?" Travis had reached over and was squeezing my hand. "Why hurt me like that?"

Belle's tears ran freely down her face, spilling onto the table unabated.

"Because he didn't want you to watch him die....."

She suddenly jumped up and was out of the house, fleeing once more.

I was stunned. I couldn't speak for what seemed like hours. Travis held my hands in his own, crying with me, for me.

"I, I need to see him." I was sobbing and Travis moved to me, held me gently, letting his love for me be a shield, a suit of armour to wrap me in and protect me.

"I'll find out the details." I could hear the pain in his voice. But was it pain that he was feeling for me, for William, or himself? I had been cheated out of the last years of marriage with a man that I loved, by that man himself, and hurt terribly. But if what Belle said was true, was it the lesser of two evils? Did William sacrifice himself, his final years, for me, for my future? Did he sacrifice for himself, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the pain of seeing me lose the man I loved.

I was stricken. I was completely confused. I was heartbroken all over again.

Travis held me still, and we wept together.

William was in a private hospital in Newcastle on palliative care. Travis had kept his word and found out the details. It was Thursday that we found ourselves driving up to see him. I was nervous, terrified. Belle and I had spoken that morning, she was relieved that the secret was finally out, even if it meant breaking her promise to her dying brother, it had been eating her alive for the past few years. It had been killing them all, as surely as the cancer was killing William.

I don't recall much of the hospital. It was small, but it was well staffed, and had that funny, disinfectant smell that hospitals have. It just looked like a normal hospital in miniaturised form. William's room was small, and crowded when we arrived. His parents were with him, as were his remaining two grandparents. Belle and her husband and their children.

He was gaunt. I could barely recognise him hooked up to so many devices and tubes and wires. His mother was crying, holding his hand in hers. She was small, but her hands looked giant compared to the shrivelled one that she was holding. His skin was pale and clammy looking, and it seemed that his eyes struggled to focus on anything in particular.

Soon our presence was noted, and the quiet of the room became quieter still. Travis gently pushed me forward, before moving back out and away from this private moment. Everyone else started to slowly exit as well, his mother clasped me to her in a great hug, whispering "Thankyou," and "I'm sorry" in a hushed tone. Everyone touched me on the shoulder or the arm with compassion as they left. Belle nodded and mouthed her thanks to me as well.

Soon it was just William, alone and frail on the bed, and me, standing tall, but bowed, hurt. He was so tiny. The man that I had loved with all my heart, the one that had broken it terribly in such a barbarous manner, was now nothing more than a shell before me. There were tears cascading down his face as he gazed up at me, and I noticed that on his bedside table was a photo of me in my wedding gown, from the day that we had married, and on his left hand was the ring that I had made for him, the one that I was sure had been bifurcated and discarded with contempt.

He saw me looking at it, and croaked as with a voice that barely rose above a whisper, "the other was a copy. I could never have damaged it, never."