Transcription
Yes, faster, stronger, stronger. I'll show you what stronger is. Although the commanding female voice was definitely my wife's, I didn't know who the loud male voice was, but they were clearly having sex. I stood outside our bedroom, amazed at what I heard. The door was slightly open, which is why the voices were so clear. I didn't dare look inside. To do this, I would have to stand in front of the door, which I didn't want. Instead of barging in and causing unnecessary chaos, I calmed down a bit. It was difficult, more difficult than many things in life, but I had a life, so I was able to calm down and do the only rational thing that came to my mind. I went to the garage in the backyard and took the thing I hated the most, and then slowly walked back. What was the point of going fast? They didn't expect me until the evening, and now it was only midday.
By the time I got back to the bedroom door, the conversations had died down. "They were talking. I have a lot, but you take the cup, baby," a loud male voice declared. "And you're not bad either," my wife noted with admiration, a smile in her voice. "But you better get dressed and leave now," the man's voice laughed. "Are you kicking me out now that you got what you wanted? Why take risks when everything is going well? Your husband should only come in the evening, right?" he asked. "Besides, even if he comes in now, I can put your frail husband to bed at any moment."
Okay, that was a challenge. I didn't want to hear what my wife would say, so I burst in loudly, opening the door. I stood blocking the entrance without going inside. To be fair, they flinched in surprise. My wife, who until that moment had been carelessly lying naked, pulled the sheet to her chest, covering her nakedness. I would have laughed at the absurdity of the situation if it weren't for the guy lying next to her. I didn't recognize him, but I understood why he was so confident in his abilities. Where I was a normal 180 cm tall with a modest build, he was at least 183 cm tall and had massive muscles. He could have been a bouncer. I understood the appeal. Where I had the usual 13 cm, he had an anaconda. Of all the things I expected my wife to say, she said, "You're home. Why are you here so early?"
I didn't answer. I stood motionless. I have to admit, she looked nervous, but not scared. She must have been planning how to get out of this situation. Anaconda did not cover himself. He sat assessing me with a slight grin. "When did you come in?" I realized that she was trying to understand how much I had seen. "It's funny, she was in bed with another man, both naked, wasn't that enough?" I didn't answer again. Then came the funniest part. "Look, it's, it's not what you think," po, at least she faltered again. No response from me. "Python took over. You're the silent type, aren't you?" No answer, just a curious, cool look. "Well, that's good, because if you're going to talk and make me angry, it won't be good for you."
I couldn't help it. I grinned. This bothered him, and he got out of bed. "Why are you grinning, son of a [ __ ]?" I decided not to answer but looked at him with a speaking look. "At you, idiot." He immediately understood everything and approached me with an angry look. "I'll make you squeal, [ __ ]! Don't!" my wife screamed, trying to grab his hand, but to no avail. He was about to come within arms' reach when I raised my right hand, which I had hidden behind my back. His face was just inches from the gun I was holding. When I fired, I wasn't stupid. I didn't shoot the python, but the shot fired inches from its face had the desired effect of making it fall back, covering its ears with a scream of its own.
I waited for the screams to stop. I spoke for the first time since I burst in. "I came home because I forgot my document. I had enough free time. As for it not looking like it is..." I looked at my wife. The unusual calm in my voice did not escape either me or her. To my delight, she was shocked. I then turned to the python, who was recovering from shock. "I'm not usually one to keep quiet, but with you, I really don't have anything to say. As for taking over me, I guess it depends on whether you're alive." He didn't answer, just continued to look between me and the gun, still a little disoriented. "You're not going to kill us, are you?" my wife asked, trying to sound braver than she felt. "You can't. You're not a killer." I grinned. "Well, I also thought that you were a faithful wife, but it turns out you're a cheating [ __ ]. If you can surprise me, then I can surprise you." Very well. This made her shut up. I decided to check before doing anything further. "How long has this been going on?" I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Today was the first time." "Incorrect answer. I told you I have enough time, so I heard something that made me think today wasn't the first." "Correct answer. Now it's been a month." "A month?" she stuttered. "Who is he?" She hesitated a bit before answering. "He's a bouncer at the club the girls and I go to." I was right. The girls were her friends, four girls, five including her. "Do they know you're doing this?" "They don't." "Do that." By this point, my wife looked worse for wear. Python sat down. "Listen, man. I, I..." "Hit, hit him. You can speak when I give permission. If not, the bullet will find its way into your body." I pointed my gun below his belt. He automatically covered it with his hands. I silently thanked my father for building this house at least a kilometer away from the others. No one will come to the sound of my shots. "You are married?" "No, I am not married," he said with difficulty. "So you don't have a wife or kids who need you? You could die and no one would care?" I asked, pointing the gun at him. "I, I have to take care of my parents," he quickly suggested. "This is bad. You should have thought about this earlier. Maybe it's too late. Listen, dude, please. I'm sorry." "What are you apologizing for? For sleeping with my wife? For being caught red-handed? For trying to mutilate me? For failing to mutilate me?" I let my anger show. He remained silent, only shaking his head. My wife saw something in my face that shocked her. I knew what it was and knew it would be worse. "You see, I was the typical 'yes, honey' guy. Some might say that I was henpecked. There was a reason I became that way. When I ask you a question, you answer, okay?" I said, pointing the gun at the Anaconda. He nodded his head, tears streaming down his mud-smeared cheeks. "I'm sorry. I had my eye on your wife, man. I won't do anything more. Just let me go, please." "Where has your courage gone, [ __ ]? What are you? A little afraid of the gun? What are you? Just a stud, huh?" I asked, teasing him. It worked. Anger flared up in him, but reason prevailed, and he lowered his head. "Okay, I got it. Okay, just let me go. I'll never see your wife again." "I can't risk that. You're a wounded animal. You might decide to kill me later, and I might end up dead in an alley." "No, man, I swear." Looking at my wife, who was still silent, he said, "Nothing is worth my life, man." "You want me to believe the words of a jerk [ __ ] that goes out and has sex with married women?" He looked up. "I didn't stalk her. She stalked me. I only agreed after she assured me we wouldn't get caught." I smiled. For the first time, he answered one of my unspoken questions. I pointed the gun at my wife. "Why?" "I, I don't know why. G-girls, they constantly teased me about my lack of experience. It pushed me. I gave in. Neither of them are married, but you are," I reasoned. A fresh set of tears covered her dirty cheeks. She nodded. "They kept teasing me for marrying too young. They said I should have tried life." She went back to sobbing. There was so much truth. My wife and I got married after college. We were each other's first experience. Her friends, however, never missed an opportunity to tease her about it, both verbally and by showing off their ever-changing boyfriends. When they teased me, I simply said that I had everything I wanted and wanted nothing more. My tone told them that their teasing was useless. They didn't tease me anymore, but it seems to have had an effect on my wife. However, she was hiding something. I decided to deal with this later. At that moment, it dawned on me. "What would you do if the child didn't look like me?" The SOB stopped, and surprise appeared on her face again. "I didn't see a condom." I turned to the Anaconda. "Did you use a condom?" "No, I couldn't find one that fit my size." He spoke the truth. I turned to my wife. She was silent for a moment, then said, "I started taking the pills before we started." "Where are the pills?" She looked at me with growing concern. "In my bag." "Show me." As she moved to grab the bag that was lying on the table, she was still holding the sheet over her chest. "Put the sheet down," I ordered in a cold tone. "Please," she begged. "Two men in this room have seen your body. One without the right to do so, but with your permission. To whom do you maintain your dignity?" She shuddered and lowered the sheet. Although her beautiful body might have attracted me at any other time, now it only disgusted me. The fair skin was covered in redness, especially around her breasts and buttocks. "How are you going to explain this to me?" I asked, pointing to the weathered skin. Then it dawned on me that the last month had been periods of sexual lull when she avoided sex, citing reasons ranging from headaches to everything. I didn't insist and trusted. I regretted it. She had the dignity to look bashful. Realizing what I was thinking, she took out a strip of pills from her bag and showed it to me. There were enough empty spaces to convince me she wouldn't get pregnant. "How would you explain PPI?" I asked the next question. Her head jerked so fast I thought it might break. I pointed to the Anaconda. "He's not your faithful husband. Do you expect him to be faithful when other [ __ ] call him?" The look on the Anaconda's face confirmed her fears. "You could get AIDS from him and pass it on to me!" I shouted. "What would you do? Blame me?" Anaconda intervened. "Listen, man, I never felt sick or anything." I turned to him. "What is your education?" I scoffed. Anger flared. "High school." As I thought, I humiliated him. A plan was forming in my head. "I'm sure you don't even know the acronym for AIDS. It manifests itself differently in different people. You can be infected and not know it for years. For others, it may take a few months for it to manifest itself." I got angry. "Of course, I can't blame you. You're a disease in yourself." My wife lowered her head and cried openly. Anaconda looked like he wanted to hit me. "So you doomed our fate for a piece of this disease?" I blurted out at my wife. "I hope you've had enough of the taste, because by next year you may find yourself bedridden. I hope the memories of your 'dianes' will comfort you as you wait to die." "Please stop," she begged. "You should have been the one to stop. Now that we might be infected with the disease, do you want me to stop talking about it?" I spat it out. There was silence for a while before I said, "You're right. You both aren't worth my bullets. You could die yourself." Having said that, I pulled out the pistol's magazine while watching the Anaconda from the corner of my eye. As expected, he rushed at me. I dodged, however, and rolled towards his feet, catching him by surprise. He fell face down. I quickly knelt down, and the next moment I grabbed and hit him. My wife froze in place. She had never seen me even raise my voice since she knew me, and now this. The fact is that I had a difficult childhood. My mother left my father and me in the middle of the night for her lover. We never heard from her again. But the bullies at school made it a point to remind me of this at every opportunity, physically and verbally. Being from a small town, gossip spread like fire and fueled the bullying. When I couldn't take it anymore, I started to resist, and I failed. I lost a lot. Each defeat taught me the lessons I craved. The physical pain was much better than the mental pain. Over time, pain became my stimulus, and I became better and more creative, and bullies began to visit hospitals. It got to the point where the father of one of my bullies ended up in the hospital after he bumped into me on his way home. I continued the stream of verbal attacks until he hit me in front of everyone. I upped the ante, and he hit me again. That's when I answered. Because I was hit several times before I hit back, and I was underage, it was recorded as self-defense. My father understood and sent me to therapy. This helped a lot, and the incident with his father sent a clear message. The bullies left me alone. They avoided me like the plague. I have become a nonviolent being, but not a stupid one. I continued my training in secret. You can't be too careful when you've angered more than one bully. Now I am happy with my decision. I met my wife in my freshman year of college and proposed to her a few months later. She accepted, and we have been a couple ever since. Therefore, there was no reason for her to suspect my cruelty. My wife always had a habit of getting everything she wanted. Although she started out as a sweet girl, in recent years she became angry even at the hint of rejection. I never refused her anything, thus I became a doormat in her eyes.
Let's return to the present. I turned it over and looked at my wife. "You might want to turn around. It will be terrible if you try to run away. You might end up like him." My wife stood like a statue the entire time I was doing my job. Her face was the scariest I had ever seen. Deciding to have some fun, I screamed at the top of my voice, suddenly breaking her out of her trance. "But I still got angry. Now I want you to come here and lie next to him." When her eyes widened, I said, "I promise not to lay a finger on you if you do what I say." She moved like a zombie and lay down next to him. I took her phone and handed it to her. "Take a selfie." "What? Take a selfie? What kind of sick psycho are you?" she cried. "The one who keeps his promise," I said coldly. "Now for a selfie." She took it, her hands trembling. I made her do it again until there was a clear shot. "You can get up, but you can't get out." She received it and went to sit on the best seat. "What do we do?" "He might die." "No, he will live. You see, he is in so much pain that his body has retreated into his mind. In other words, he lost consciousness." I dialed the number on my phone. "I have an emergency at home. I need you to come and bring an ambulance with you. Yes, and bring a female officer." My wife had sex against her will. When I turned to look at my wife, she was trembling with fear and disgust. "You could have killed me. Please kill me. Anything but this." I walked over and sat next to her. She moved away. I grabbed her by the shoulders, and she looked away. "Look at me." Her whole body shook. Before I looked at myself, "How else can I deal with this? We, you, I..." She shook her head in disappointment. "Exactly. He needs medical attention if he has any chance of ever functioning fully again. If I take him to the hospital and tell them the truth, I won't go to jail because it's self-defense. But you, you will be a city [ __ ]." She shuddered. "I smiled. If we say that you were raped and I defended your honor, everyone will feel sorry for you, but they will not consider you so frivolous. Or better yet, we kill him. Then there will be no need for a hospital. The court will consider such cases behind closed doors. What do you say to this? Should I kill him?" I asked, taking the gun out of my pocket. She looked at me in horror. "Are you serious?" "What? Don't tell me you love him?" "No, but you can't kill him. This, this is inhuman." "I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it." "What promise?" "Do you mean my promise to protect your honor that I made at our wedding? Just because you broke your promise not to spread your legs in front of others, does that mean I have to break mine? Never. I will kill to preserve your honor." I pointed the gun at the motionless Anaconda. A full minute passed before she responded. "You can say I was raped. Look at him. He can't be older than us. A bachelor who takes care of his parents. He may never walk again, or if it's worse, he may never use his hands again if the nerves are damaged. And all because you wanted variety." "I s-how can you do this?" she asked through clenched teeth. I then told her my story from my school days. "So you see, my life has come full circle. I suffered because of my mom's infidelity. Or would you rather have me remain the sweet husband you knew and get beaten by him? Because make no mistake, he came at me." She was silent. "I want an answer. A straight answer." She began to shake. "No." "I started to stop him when you shot, so I wouldn't want you to get beaten." She told the truth. I watched her from the corner of my eye. She really started. At that moment, we heard sirens. I went to the closet, took a robe, and gave it to her, which she immediately put on. The first person to rush in was Inspector Ravi. My oldest friend, quickly assessing the situation, asked me, "Will he survive?" "Must." Turning around, he called out, and two orderlies entered the room. As a female officer approached, he pointed to the Anaconda's motionless body. The paramedics ran some basic tests and announced that he should be taken to the hospital immediately, which they did. As soon as they left, looking around the room, his eyes fell on the bullet holes. "Are these bullet holes? What happened?" "I came home to get documents. I noticed someone else's motorcycle in front of the house. When I entered, I heard her screams. Not knowing how many there were, I took my gun and rushed in to find him. After he was done with her, I tried to shoot her, him in anger, but this bastard constantly dodged. He rushed at me, and I attacked. The rest was in a blur. I remember that I hit him, hit him hard. It's only a pity that I didn't come earlier." I shook my head as if tired. "When was your last consultation?" "Yes." Being my oldest friend, he knew everything about me, but my wife seemed surprised that he knew. "You know, it was in the last year of school. I should have asked God." "You beat him up badly," turning to my wife, he said, "I can't tell you how sorry I am for you. I know how traumatic this is, but we have a few questions." My wife nodded without looking at him. "When he came in, what happened?" "He, he came in sometime late in the morning. Morning. He threatened me. He forced me. I, I..." She wasn't pretending. She was just looking at my slightly manic expression. "If you don't feel comfortable talking about this, you can talk to Officer Rita here alone." I shook my head slightly, but my wife didn't notice. She repeated the same thing. "Fine. Are you going to press charges?" "It depends on my wife," I said, looking at her expectantly. She struggled to find words, and I hugged her, making her flinch. "I know her better than anyone. She would like to put it all behind her and move on. Isn't that so, precious?" She nodded, looking the other way. Rita spoke for the first time. "Look, if you leave him unpunished, he and others like him will only become bolder by doing similar things in the future. Who was he? Did you know him?" asked Ravi. "He works as a bouncer at one of the clubs that my wife and her friends frequented," I answered. "He must have been following us and knew this was the easiest place to attack. I'm sure you'll need medical attention," Rita offered reassuringly. "That's what she does." I agreed. "Is there any way this guy can charge me?" "No way. Firstly, this is your house, and he took your wife. This is self-defense." My wife nodded, looking away. "Then this guy will be dead. We will collect and process him. If, in the most unlikely event, he does something stupid like what you said, that will seal the deal." We left for the hospital. On the way, I informed my office that I had personal needs and would be away for a few days. The trip passed in complete silence. The process at the hospital took 2 hours. The STD testing process was automatic, which brought me relief. The return journey was also silent. When we got home, my wife went to the bathroom and didn't come out for an hour. When she did, she dressed comfortably and headed towards the door. When I stopped her, "Where you going?" "I want to be alone. I'm going to the guest bedroom." "I advise you not to call any of your friends at this time. If you call and tell them the truth, there may be confusion, as the police are now involved. I just need time to myself." "Fine." She left, and I was grateful for the solitude because I had to think for myself. Even though I seemed like the guy who was in control, in reality, I was barely coping. When it was close to 6:00 in the evening, she returned to our bedroom. By this time, I had cleaned up the area as best I could, but the bullet holes would need repairs. She stood at the entrance without going inside. "You can come in, you know. I'm not going to bite you." "I don't know what you're capable of now." I looked up from my laptop. "I can say the same." She looked away, offended, which gave me satisfaction. A thought occurred to me, and I laughed, which caught her attention. "Usually, the offended party says to the cheater, 'It's your own fault.' But here, it's literally like that. Think about it. My violent past was just the past. Honestly, I knew I was too lenient with you. If you hadn't had the affair, only this wouldn't have happened." She hugged herself as I spoke and, to my surprise, responded, "You're right. It's my fault. Do, do we have a chance?" I couldn't help but laugh at this, alarming her. "After everything you've seen me do, do you still want us?" She sighed. "Yes. Like you said, I had no idea what you were capable of, and it would have remained that way if it weren't for me." "My answer is no," I said sharply, causing her to freeze. "I have no interest in remaining married to a selfish, cunning, despicable, and ignorant [ __ ]." Her eyes widened in response to my words. "How can you say that?" "I'm not saying that what I did was right, but I don't deserve this," she tried to muster all her dignity. It was pathetically funny. I laughed maliciously. "When you decided and started an affair, what is this if not selfishness? When you started taking pills and did not have sex with me these days so as not to give me the opportunity to find out about your promiscuous body, what is this if not cunning? From the moment I walked in until now, you only cared about yourself, and you did it unconsciously. You didn't consciously think about anything else. What is this if not your selfishness, contempt, and ignorance?" [ __ ] A fresh batch of tears began to stream down her face as I spoke, but she stopped herself from sobbing. "Okay, okay. I deserve all this. I slipped. I was a [ __ ]. Call me worse. I'll change." "Stop. Now, you're still in damage control mode. You need to leave." "No, we still need to talk." "Why not now? I admitted my mistake." "You're just repeating what I say. You don't have your own thoughts, do you know why? Because you're afraid to reveal yourself. You don't want to save this marriage. You only want to save yourself." She was silent for a while, her eyes searching for answers. "Okay, I'm officially adding stupidity to your list of qualities." She gave me a searing look but remained silent. I knew it was no good. Years of living by her own rules without consequence had robbed her of the ability to introspect. I decided to end this. "Okay, I'm going to ask some questions, and you're going to answer honestly. If you lie, that's the end of the conversation." She nodded, apprehensive. "Imagine that our positions were reversed. You come home and find me having sex with a charming beauty. I ask you why you are at home when you bump into us. Tell me, how would you feel?" She visibly swallowed. "I, I..." "Be honest." I clenched my teeth. "I would think you didn't respect me." "Next, I asked you, when you came, how would you feel then?" Her breathing quickened. "I would have thought you despised me." "Very well. You're making progress. Finally, I tell you, 'It's not what it seems.'" She shook her head as if she wanted to take away my words. "I, I, God, I don't know what to say." "Okay, understandable for the stupid [ __ ]. Now tell me, at a minimum, what do you expect from me after all these questions?" Her hand went up to her mouth, and she sobbed for a minute before saying, "I, I'm sorry." She continued to cry for a couple more minutes. I didn't feel triumphant. She slowly walked over and sat at my feet, clutching them as she said, "I'm so sorry. I made a terrible mistake. Please forgive me. I let my friend's words get the better of me. I'll make it right. Please." "It still won't work. Even if you do everything you said," I said without thinking. She rounded. "Why not?" "I snorted. Where did your brain go?" "He," she shuddered. "I continued. Did you enjoy sleeping with him?" Fear returned to her face, and she remained silent. "Answer me, and be honest," I growled. "I, I, yes." "Was he better than me?" Her fingers around my feet trembled. "He, I, so he was better than me. It would only be a matter of time before you wanted it again. Since I'm not built like him, I can't give you what you got from him. Now tell me, how are you going to deal with this? And imagine how much it makes me feel like I'm not good enough if I'm going to stay married to you." She leaned forward, resting her face on my legs, crying. "I'm tired of this." "Crying won't save your marriage. You either talk or get out of here. Don't waste my time." She didn't answer. She just continued to cry. "I'm not being cruel. I'm just stating the facts. Either talk or leave. This crying only confirms your selfishness. If you're truly sorry, use your brain." She stood up and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry. I just felt like I had no hope. I didn't know what to do. I felt like my mind was closing." "Welcome to my world. I felt all this and more when I found you having sex this afternoon." This silenced her. "I didn't hear 'we' here. And you say you want to save this marriage, which consists of two people. So what should be 'us'? Where is 'we'?" "What if we go to counseling?" she asked hopefully. "Counseling won't make the space between my legs bigger, nor will it help me grow to 6 feet. Both of those factors were the differentiators when I started the affair. I didn't want more. I just wanted another guy. I wanted to see if there was a difference. As my friend said, 'I don't love him. I love you.'" I sighed. "Do you know what love is? It's when you think about your loved ones before you think about yourself. So where is your love for me in this novel?" She looked in all directions before looking at me. "I felt like I wasn't enough for me, for you, for us." She fell silent. I didn't say a word because those were the first original words coming from her since that afternoon. She continued, "Whenever I went out with my girlfriends, the conversation always turned to sex as they tried new things with their then boyfriends. The accumulation of this overtime made me feel extremely inexperienced. I felt that by the time they got married, they would have had so much experience that their sex life would be great. It didn't help that although our sex life was good, we didn't experiment much. Yes, I could have come to you. Should have come to you, but you always treated me so carefree that I felt we could never achieve such carefree sex. Learn from experience, not thinking about giving or taking, but doing what comes to mind. I knew you would never do it. Therefore, novel." I sat stunned. Women have a knack for mixing two unrelated things and making it seem like they were always together, but this was on another level. "I should have asked. Do you really believe what you said?" Her face showed that she truly believed. "Let me understand correctly. Are you saying that this affair was an extreme training course? An extreme training course to spice up our sex life?" She simply nodded, perhaps with a glimmer of hope that I would understand her logic. Her logic was ridiculous, but I wanted to see how deep it was. "I was unhappy with what I did earlier. How long did you plan to spend on this so-called sex course?" She looked down and rubbed her hands together before answering, "I'm undecided." I rubbed my forehead. "If this affair was about adding variety to our sex life, why has sex become less frequent in the last month?" She hesitated. "I didn't expect Robbie to be so big. Every time I was with him, I was afraid that you would find out because I felt like I was freer, so I avoided sex with you after I was with him." She has become smarter, at least at the level of formulating sentences. She avoided the word "sex" with him as if that could hide the disaster. I shook my head in exhaustion at her convoluted logic. "I can't decide if you're just stupid or crazy, or both." She seemed stunned but wisely remained silent. "Suppose your training experience lasted 6 months, a year, or more. How did you think I would feel about you refusing to have sex with me for long periods of time?" Her breathing quickened, showing desperation. "But you've never pressured me about sex before, remember? When I was on my period for a month, and you were so supportive." I exhaled in despair. "You were going to use my concern for you against me." She quickly turned away and remained silent. "You know that you could become permanently free after being exposed to the python for a long time, right? How were you going to explain that?" "I, I was..." "I don't know," she paused, looking away. "You liked it too much to think about how it would affect your life." I sighed. "Your attempt at reconciliation only makes you dig a deeper hole for yourself." "I see it," she muttered, going back to my original words. "I'm sure you won't be satisfied with me anymore." "Why do you keep saying that?" "When was the last time you took a car or a bus or a train? When was the last time you bought something that wasn't a brand name?" The fact is that my wife came from a real middle-class family. Without our own transport, we always had to use public transport. Each item was purchased only if it was within the budget. This was all before our marriage. After marriage, she quickly got used to the luxurious life and never looked back. "Your equipment is not below average," she stated with sudden, incredible confidence. "Yes, I enjoyed my time with him, but he and I had nothing in common. No love lost. He was too selfish." "How are you?" I interrupted her. "What? How did you interrogate me when I caught you having sex this afternoon?" "I was desperate. I'm still desperate," she admitted, running a finger through her hair. "What I'm trying to say here is that I'm not a fan of size. While I liked what he had, I don't need it as a permanent thing. My constant is the love that only you can give me." I couldn't help but chuckle. She made it sound convincing. "So you want my love, not my money?" She looked injured instantly. "How could you even doubt it?" This made me laugh, which made her even more offended. "[ __ ]. I have every right to question anything about you, your thoughts, your actions, your inactions. You planned birth control behind my back and had unprotected sex with the possibility of exposing us to STDs. That shows that you are cunning and stupid at the same time. Even if you manage to convince me to let you stay married to me, it will be years before I can trust anything you say, perhaps never. Can you live like that?" "I will regain your trust," she started with pain in her voice. "How are you going to do this?" I asked, wanting to know what twisted idea she would come up with. "I'll just take into account all your doubts. Every hour of my life will be taken into account from now on," she said with even more determination. I shook my head in exhaustion. "Marriage is not an office where everything is double-checked in the name of quality control. A marriage should be built on unconditional love and unconditional trust. If I doubt everything you do, I will be unhappy. Imagine I am sitting in an important meeting from which I can't get out of, and I'm starting to doubt what you're doing at this very moment. I won't cope with this in an hour. In your case, it could take years before I stopped thinking like that, by which time I'll be a nervous wreck. Is this what you want?" As I thought, I confused her, but she offered a counter-proposal that I did not expect. "What if I asked my mom to live with us? I won't go out with my friends anymore, and if I go somewhere, it will only be with you or with her. This way, you can calmly know that someone is looking out for me, supervises, accounts for my time without having to check on me every hour." This was the side of her that I had allowed to dominate our marriage since the moment we got married. Her appearance angered me. Her mother was a widow who lived with her son, his wife, and their children. Dear lady, she stayed with us many times, but never for a long time. "I want a wife, not a criminal with a parole bracelet," I said coldly, earning her an offended look that satisfied me. "Listen, I haven't been happy in a long time because of your spoiled [ __ ] behavior. I convinced myself it was my fault until today. I don't need a cheating [ __ ] to control me anymore. I will no longer be a cheater. I will not take anything for granted. I will be the wife I was meant to be, the wife you deserve. I will make things right," she swore with all the sincerity she could muster. "Here it is again. Correction of my situation. And how do you plan to do this?" "I just told you. I will be the wife," she started again, but I interrupted her. "These actions are about correcting your own shortcomings. You become a decent person. Of course, it will be better for me if you do this, but how will it give me back all the time I wasted on your selfishness?" She looked at me as if wondering why I was ruining her attempts. Still, she insisted, "I know I can't, but I'll be the best version of myself, and you'll forget that the worst version of me ever existed." "Easier said than done. How many times have I had to point out the errors in your thoughts? I don't have the patience to do that anymore. Damn it, why do I have to do that?" I tossed it to her. "Because you still love me. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't have helped me see my mistakes. If you hated me, I'd have already joined Robbie in the hospital or worse, I'd be in the morgue," she said almost calmly. I snorted. "I may still have a little love for you, but we're only having this conversation to satisfy my curiosity. I may be a monster, but I only attacked Robbie because he attacked me. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have gotten a scratch." She snorted in response. "He only attacked you because you wanted it. You planned the end result. What normal person would provoke a giant, taunt him by holding him at gunpoint, and then lower his weapon when the giant got tired?" She shook her head, giving me a weak smile. "Robbie fell into your trap, and so did I. So has she seen the light? Good for her. It'll let her know not to cross me." I shrugged. "You haven't convinced me yet on how you'll fix this. What can you give me that I don't have?" She was looking straight at me. "What? You want to catch up? Maybe sleep with one or more of my friends?" "Or destroy them for ruining my marriage," I said this calmly, showing a slight manic smile. The reaction was immediate. The fear in it was absolute. "Please don't do anything hasty. Leave them alone, please." I nodded sadly. "If only you were as concerned about my well-being as you are about your girlfriends." Her lips trembled. "I care about you." "A thought. Prove it. Now," I said, tired of her. "Don't ask me how. I didn't tell you how to have an affair yet. You did. If you really care about me, you should be able to come up with something without my instructions. If you can't do it, leave from here." It was only a second later that she stood up and left the room. I was sad to see her go, but I knew it was inevitable. She returned a minute later, surprising me. She was holding long scissors in her hands. She took her wallet and emptied its contents onto the bed, pulling the credit and debit cards out of it. She cut them up one by one. They were her pride and joy. I still remember the day when she showed her Platinum cards to her friends, making them jealous. After she finished, she picked up her phone and made a call. "Hello? Hello, Mom? How are you?" "I'm fine, Mom. I need a favor. I need you to come stay with us for a while. Everyone has problems. Nothing that can't be solved with effort. I don't want to bore you with the details. I'll figure it out myself, but I need you here with me if I'm going to solve this. I don't know what time it is, Mom. I'll talk to my brother and let you know when I want you here. What? No, I'm not pregnant. Listen, you need to trust me this time. Thank you, Mom. I knew I could rely on you. Bye. Love you too." As soon as the call ended, she called again. "Hi? Hi, Ria? I just wanted to let you know that I don't want to see or hear from anyone from our gang anymore. You can tell the others. No, this is not a joke. I'm completely serious. I'd rather my madness end today. Life happened, okay? I want to gather my shit and do it myself. No, he didn't force me to do it. I do everything myself. Yes, I know what I'm doing. And now, bye." She ended the call. She and her gang had been together since kindergarten. It must have been hard. If she wanted to go through with it, I reluctantly agreed. She looked at me. "I no longer have any means of making money other than the money you can give me. There is no longer a titled [ __ ]. My mom will be here as soon as I let her know. No more freedom to do whatever you want, [ __ ]. There are no more friends, no one to show off to, someone other than you. Do you trust me now that you're the only one I care about?" I shook my head and chuckled. "For all I know, this may well be a temporary solution." She looked angry for a second, but before she could say anything, I continued, "But I'm ready to give you a probationary period." Her shoulders relaxed. "That's all I ask." That night, her friends came to our house, but she didn't let them in. That night, she woke up screaming from a nightmare. I knew this would happen. She was remembering the day I beat the python. I had to rush from the bedroom to the guest room where she was sleeping and hug her to calm her down. It would be a long time before she stopped having these nightmares. She never said a word about them. Once she sobered up after waking up the next day, her mother moved in with us. To her credit, she never asked me what happened but continued to be the same sweet woman as always. When her friends came to me the next day, I told them that I didn't force her to do anything. It took me a while, but they left me alone when I kept repeating the same tune. The STD test came back negative, which was a relief for both of us. The police kept this case in the strictest secrecy, and it was never published in the newspapers. We went to counseling. This was the same counselor who helped me with my violence problems. I didn't trust anyone anymore. I expected it to be difficult, but it turned out to be more difficult. While the main issue was her uncertainty about her sexuality, we also had to figure out how I could communicate without being suspicious or judgmental. Although she tried her best to be frank beyond my expectations, I still found it difficult to trust her. She never complained and always had a knowing smile. It helped that her mother was with us. My wife was right when she said I would calm down. I also couldn't fly off the handle like I wanted. I had to take the counselor's advice and breathe deeply when I got angry with her. When her mother did not see her grandson, my wife accompanied her to her brother's house. The visit always lasted only one day, and they always returned by nightfall. It took about 3 months before we could sleep in the same bed and 6 months before we had sex. When we did, this I became furious and continued to slam into her and spank her. I was so rude. This could be considered abuse. She fell asleep crying. I didn't apologize or hug her. The next morning, I saw her undressing. The bruises were much worse than I had seen on that fateful day. If, if her mother saw her struggling to walk or sit down, she didn't say anything, at least not to me. That night, my wife surprised me by having sex. "Aren't you afraid of a repeat of last night?" I asked, surprised by her actions. She smiled sweetly at me. "If it helps you release your anger, I welcome it." For the rest of my life, she returned to the task with enthusiasm. We made love like never before. I never got angry during sex again. This night also renewed my trust in her. It was also the day I forced her to delete the cruel selfie that until that moment had been a painful reminder of what led us to this point. It seemed as if she had become almost a recluse overnight. Almost a year passed when I realized that she had not bought a new dress or any accessories. Also, her expenses dropped to almost zero, except for necessary purchases. During consultations, the psychiatrist explained that her actions of cutting up credit cards and ending friendships had a cathartic effect on her. Essentially, she got rid of all distractions in her life. The act of bringing her mother into the room together had a mindfulness effect. It took us a few years, but we got it done, and I have to admit, it was mostly because my wife wanted it. She seemed to stop thinking about herself after that fateful day. Python, yeah, python. He had to spend four months in hospital before he could walk and do his own things on his own. Even after that, he had a hard time finding a job due to all the injuries and difficulties in doing the job. Last I heard, he was a dishwasher. I was in my office working on a proposal when I received a message that took my life to the next level. It read: "I'm pregnant. Subscribe to our channel so that your second chaff doesn't cheat on you and go ahead and listen to the next story because this story is nothing compared to the next one."