HHWM | Chapter 17: His Wife

Greg woke to an empty bed. Selene’s departure without a word left a hollow ache in his chest—a cold dread that whispered this wasn’t an ending, but a volatile beginning.

When he returned home, the air was different. He was greeted by the sweet, melodic laughter of his wife and child echoing through the living room. It should have been a homecoming; instead, it felt like a trespass. His heart hammered against his ribs, heavy with a conscience that had begun to rot.

In the past, he would have swept them into his arms without a second thought. Now, he couldn’t even manage a convincing mask. He tried to smile at his son, but Mayette’s eyes—keen and full of light—caught the fractured expression on his face, the haunted lines he couldn’t quite smooth away.

Later, in the sanctuary of their bedroom, the silence became a weight. Greg offered the tired excuse of exhaustion, wanting only to disappear into sleep, but Mayette felt the shift. She knew how hard he worked for them, yet she mourned the simplicity they had traded for this life. She waited until the lights were low, the unspoken promise between them—never go to bed troubled—hanging in the air.

“Hon, I’m worried about you,” Mayette whispered, her voice a soft anchor in the dark. “You know I’m here, right?” Her trust was absolute, a pristine thing she offered him daily—unaware that he had already dismantled it years ago. He had first tarnished their life the moment he touched Selene, and every day since had been a lie. Looking at Mayette now, the weight of a half-decade of deception pressed against his lungs, making it hard to breathe in the face of her innocence.

Greg pulled her into a desperate embrace, shielding his face. “Hon, I want to take that overseas offer. Would you… would you be willing to start over there? Just us?”

The weight of the question hit Mayette hard. It meant abandoning the career she had spent years building in the Philippines. They had danced around this before, but she saw the frantic necessity in his eyes now.

“You know I’ll support you in whatever you decide,” Mayette replied softly, “but give me a little time? The baby and I can follow once I’ve settled everything here. If you think a new life abroad is best for us, we’ll go. As long as we’re together, Greg, that’s all that matters.”

Greg buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her familiar, clean scent. Mayette was the dream he had achieved. As long as she was beside him, he was on the right path. So what demon had possessed him to betray her?

The fear was a physical thing now. If he couldn’t forgive himself, he knew Mayette—with her pure heart—never could. The mere thought of her looking at him with loathing instead of love felt like a death sentence. He tightened his grip on her, terrified that if he let go, the love and trust he didn’t deserve would vanish.

“Hon?” Mayette murmured, cupping his face in her palms. “If you’re struggling because of me, don’t. I will always choose you and our child.”

They sought refuge in each other’s heat. Ever since the birth of their child, Greg had been delicate with her, mindful of the toll the pregnancy had taken on her body. Though Mayette sometimes missed the raw, unbridled intensity they once shared, there was a profound sweetness in the way Greg worshipped her now.

He moved over her slowly, his body a warm shroud. He pressed kisses to her neck and shoulders, hovering just beneath her ear, trying to drown out the dark shadow of his sin.

“Hon…” he whispered, a plea for redemption.

Mayette bit her lip, her fingers curling into the pillow in anticipation. When he pressed a tender, reverent kiss to the center of her being—a silent tribute before joining with her—a soft moan escaped her.

He entered her with painstaking slowness. Inch by inch, careful and deliberate, until Mayette felt every fiber of him. It felt less like a physical act and more like he was stroking her very soul.

“Oh, Greg…” she breathed, her voice thick with an agonizing innocence.

Greg looked into her eyes. Even through the fog of his secret, he saw the fire of her devotion. Soon, the gentleness evolved. The rhythm deepened, the care giving way to a desperate need. Each thrust felt like a vow, a silent litany of loyalty repeated in the sweltering heat of their union. Their hips locked in a cadence that sent shivers racing down Mayette’s spine.

“Hon, faster… please…”

He moved with her, his tempo rising until their breaths were ragged and synchronized. He cradled her face between his palms and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss. As he reached his breaking point, a final groan of surrender tore from him, and he felt the warm, overflowing release deep within her.

When they finally broke apart, their breathing was heavy in the cooling air, the ghost of their passion lingering in the quiet.

Greg lay still long after, his arm tucked under Mayette’s head as she drifted into a deep sleep. Her steady, rhythmic breathing was a lullaby that tried to calm the storm in his chest. She was his sanctuary. His foundation.

But as he finally closed his eyes, a foreign shadow flickered in the dark. The image of Selene—the scent of her skin still clinging to his memory, her gaze both lethal and intoxicating.

His hunger for Selene was a mirror reflecting the darkest, most hidden parts of his soul.

He pulled Mayette closer, a cold realization settling over him. His betrayal wasn’t just a mistake he could move past; it was the resurrection of a side of himself he could no longer bury. He hadn’t just broken a vow; he had invited a darkness back into his life that might just consume them all.