Chapter 28
Colette reached out, her hand trembling as she grasped Matt’s arm in a desperate attempt to stop him from packing. “Matt!” she cried, her voice filled with a mix of fear and pleading.
But it was as if her words fell on deaf ears. Matt wrenched his arm free with a force that startled her, his voice cold and unyielding. “Let go of my hand!” he snapped, his tone laced with barely restrained anger. “And don’t come any closer, Colette. Don’t force me to do something I’ll regret later!”
“Regret?” Colette’s voice rose in defiance, her heart pounding in her chest. “Do you even know the meaning of that word, Matt? Because your actions right now are exactly why I hid your phone last night! One call—just one call from her—and here you are, running back to her side like a pet lap dog! Do I have no say in this? No right to be in my own husband’s life?”
“You had every right to be by my side,” Matt retorted, his voice sharp and unforgiving. “As my wife, living in my home, sharing my bed! But you’ve already abandoned me there. And what you did last night…” His voice faltered, the fury in his eyes intensifying. For a moment, Colette thought he might actually strike her. “It was unforgivable! Your jealousy toward Iris is so strong that you’ve lost all sense of right and wrong, haven’t you, Colette?” His grip on her arms tightened painfully, shaking her as he spat the words out. “Isn’t it, Colette?”
Colette’s mind raced, but the sight of his raw, unbridled anger shocked her into silence. She had imagined countless retorts, hundreds of angry words to hurl back at him if he condemned her for hiding his phone, but nothing had prepared her for the intensity of his rage. His fingers dug into her arms, the pain shooting through her bones, but it was the sight of his eyes—wild and filled with accusation—that terrified her the most.
“Tell me, Colette,” Matt’s voice was a harsh whisper, each word laced with venom, “why did you sleep with me last night? When you’ve refused to come home for the past week? Was it to distract me? Some twisted game in your head where you’re trying to compete with Iris?”
His shouting reverberated through the room, each accusation slicing through Colette like a knife. “Matt, please!” she cried, her voice breaking as she tried to pull her aching arms from his grip.
“Yes, ‘Matt, please,’” he mocked bitterly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Isn’t that what you said last night as you let me fuck you, all the while planning to hide that damn phone?”
Colette gasped, the crude words hitting her harder than the physical pain. She recoiled, her breath catching in her throat as he finally released her, the sudden absence of his grip leaving her feeling cold and hollow. She barely had time to regain her composure when a knock sounded at the door, startling them both.
Matt stormed over to the door, yanking it open with such force that it rattled on its hinges. Standing there was Roxy, her face a mask of concern, with her husband Roger close behind. “Is everything alright?” Roxy asked cautiously, her eyes flicking between Matt and Colette.
“Everything is fine!” Matt’s voice was strained, as if he were forcing himself to remain calm when all he wanted to do was tear the room apart. “There’s an emergency at the office, I need to leave,” he finished, his teeth gritted, the tension in his body palpable.
Colette watched him, her eyes welling with tears that she struggled to hold back. She had tried—God, how she had tried! But every effort, every attempt to save their marriage, had ended in failure. How pathetic could she be? Begging for scraps of his affection, only to be kicked aside every time. Love, hate, anger, betrayal—she had felt it all for Matt before, but now, in the suffocating silence of that small, congested bedroom, with witnesses to her humiliation, a new feeling took root: bitterness. A bitter resentment that no matter what she did, this man would never change. Shame clung to her like a shroud, the shame of realizing that she had allowed herself to be reduced to this—begging for a love that was no longer hers.
“Matt, what’s going on?” Roxy asked, her voice tinged with worry as she glanced at the scene before her.
“There’s a fire at one of our prime locations,” Matt replied curtly. “I need to go.” His tone was final, leaving no room for argument.
Colette didn’t try to stop him. In fact, she didn’t want to stop him anymore. She wanted him gone, out of her sight, out of her life—at least for now. She stood there, numb, as Matt continued to pack his things into the duffel bag, discarding her clothes without a second glance. Roxy’s worried gaze flickered between them, her concern growing.
“Have you two had a row again? Is that why he’s leaving?” Roxy bit her lip, watching her son descend the stairs with his bag in tow. “Colette?”
Colette let out a bitter laugh, the sound harsh and grating even to her own ears. “I don’t have the power to make him sneeze, Roxy, let alone the power to get him up in the middle of the night and leave the house.”
Matt didn’t pause, didn’t look back as he walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him with a resounding finality. A few seconds later, the roar of his car’s engine echoed through the silence, the taillights fading into the darkness as he sped away.
Colette stood there, the tension in her body slowly unraveling as the reality of the situation settled over her. Relief and pain warred within her, each battling for dominance. She had wanted him gone, but now that he was, the void left in his absence was deeper and more painful than she had anticipated. But the truth was undeniable: he had abandoned her in every sense that mattered.
And with that realization, Colette knew—this night had changed everything. The man she once loved, the marriage she had fought so hard to save, was gone. And all that was left was the bitter taste of betrayal and the hollow echo of what could never be repaired.