Why I Cheered When My Husband Cheated

Chapter 11

"Yes, I did all of that," Selena hissed. "But compared to you, my actions are just moral failings. You? You're so much worse."

"You used my sister. Slept with her. Then pretended it never happened. You're a piece of trash, Hank."

"She didn't even want anything from you anymore. But when Lily got sick, all she did was ask for a little money to help out, and you refused. Worse, you humiliated her. Are you even human?"

"She never once wanted revenge. But I'm not like her. I've lost everything, Hank. So now, I just want to watch you lose everything too."

Hank's face twisted, a manic edge creeping into his expression.

"What does this have to do with me?" he snapped. "She was an adult. It was all consensual. I didn't ask her to keep the baby, she chose that. And then she had the nerve to come to me for money? What do you think Yara would say if she found out?"

He shoved Selena away and slowly walked toward me. Then, out of nowhere, he dropped to his knees.

"Yara, you heard her. She set me up," he pleaded. "Now that you know the truth, can't we just… not get divorced?"

Selena let out a bark of laughter, loud and bitter.

"Not get divorced? You're about to end up in prison, and you still want to drag her down with you? This is what you call love?"

But Hank didn't even flinch. His eyes stayed locked on mine, full of desperate hope.

I exhaled slowly, feeling like I was surrounded by madness.

"Hank… why are you clinging to this so badly? You don't love me."

"My desire for a divorce was never about Selena. It was never about how many women you've been with. It's about me."

"I've known for a long time that I don't love you. That's why, in five years of marriage, I never gave you a child. Because deep down, I was always planning to leave."

"Hank… let us go. You still have a chance to make things right."

For a long moment, he didn't speak. He just sat there, head bowed, completely still, like he was actually thinking it through. I couldn't see his face.

But Selena wasn't having it.

"Oh, give me a break!" she screamed. "Make things right? Now you're playing the saint?"

"My sister and Lily are dead because of this bastard. I went to the cops, and they told me what he did was just a 'moral issue,' not a criminal one. So fine. I'll make him commit a crime. I'll make sure he goes to jail. He needs to pay for what he's done!"

With a cry of rage, Selena threw herself forward, using the chair she was tied to like a battering ram. But Hank was too far. She crashed to the floor with a painful thud, glaring up at him with a face full of tears and fury.

Looking at her, bruised, broken, but burning with rage, I couldn't help but sigh.

"Hank… when you screw up, the right thing to do is own it. Make it right. Not run from it."