Chapter 307
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
Only after I swore on God did you finally tell me the secret you hadn’t even told Rupert.
“Rupert has another woman.”
She was younger than you, a girl working at a tavern near the operations headquarters.
“He wasn’t coming home late because of work. He was seeing her.”
Apparently, everyone at headquarters knew except you.
You found out only because an officer tipped you off. He was no better than a beast. After telling you about your husband’s affair, he tried to comfort you by suggesting you sleep with him instead.
“So I confronted Rupert yesterday.”
At first, he denied it. Then, irritated, he admitted it like this, “If you’d sleep with me, do you think I’d go see another woman?”
“…Dana.”
I clenched my teeth in rage at a man who treated you like a prostitute. But you misunderstood, thought it was your fault, and confessed in shame.
“Actually… I’ve never slept with Rupert. I’m the one who refused.”
It was a shocking confession to me. It must be shocking to you now as well.
You had never slept with Rupert…
Rupert, who had so deliberately implied a marital relationship in front of me, and I, who had suffered believing it. How ridiculous we both were.
You didn’t know why I was so shaken, or why I smiled so bitterly. You thought it was because of you, and hurried to explain.
“I know I neglected my duty as a wife. But I had my reasons. What if I got pregnant? This isn’t the right time. That’s why I refused. Rupert was disappointed, but when he stopped asking, I thought he understood.”
“Dana, even God would be on your side in this.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course.”
No. How could I know God’s thoughts?
I was nothing more than a fraud, borrowing God’s name to force my own will on you. I could not under any circumstances watch you give yourself to Rupert just to stop his affair.
“God never said refusing marital relations was a sin. But adultery, He clearly forbade that.”
“That’s true.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. Rupert alone bears the sin. Repentance and restraint are his responsibility. Don’t even think about sacrificing your health to stop him.”
“…My health?”
“You wouldn’t want to catch a disease.”
At my blunt words, your face turned red.
“You could even become infertile.”
This time, something shifted in your eyes, as if someone who had been blind had finally begun to see.
Telling you obvious truths, that he didn’t love you, that he was the one at fault, wouldn’t have worked. So I chose a harsher, more realistic shock.
No matter how much you love someone, no one wants to love them enough to catch filthy diseases for them. In the end, the person we love most is ourselves.
It worked. You didn’t fall for his manipulation. It worked too well, you even began sleeping in a separate room.
Frustrated that you weren’t reacting as he expected, Rupert spiraled further. He started coming home at dawn almost every day, deliberately reeking of another woman’s perfume, sometimes even smeared with lipstick.
He was doing it to hurt you.
And yet you didn’t flinch. Whatever you felt inside, outwardly you were composed.
Watching it drove me mad.
One day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I lied to you, saying I was going to see Miller, and followed Rupert instead.
Late at night, he entered the girl’s house and came out about two hours later. It was a moonless night. He walked alone down a deserted back alley.
I put on a mask I had prepared in advance and approached him from behind, grabbing his shoulder.
“What—ugh!”
I punched him in the face before he could turn around. I didn’t stop at one hit. He fought back, but he never landed a single blow on me.
“How about you try taking me on for once?”
“Go get your mother’s permission first, kid.”
“Why? Afraid you’ll get knocked out in one punch in front of the girl you like?”
Look at you now. The one who got knocked out in the end was you.
I wanted to say it, but I had to hold back. I was supposed to be a robber.
“Stop—please… I—I don’t want to….”
I shoved his face into a trash bin and searched his back pocket. He was crying.
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