The End Of a Marriage
Chapter 41
Chapter 27
Colette was enveloped in the comforting embrace of sleep, that perfect kind of rest where time seems to stand still. She was certain it wasn’t morning yet- the weight of darkness still pressed against her closed eyelids. Every muscle in her body was relaxed, her mind at ease for the first time in what felt like weeks. She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t want to lose this rare moment of peace. She was home, truly home, wrapped in the safety and warmth of her
husband’s arms.
But something tugged at the edges of her mind, a faint, insistent noise that pricked at her subconscious. It was a subtle sound, like a soft tapping, and it gradually pulled her away from the depths of her slumber. At first, she resisted, desperate to cling to the tranquility that had eluded her for so long. But the noise persisted, growing louder, more pronounced, like a distant knock echoing in the back of her mind.
She shifted slightly, instinctively reaching out for the solid warmth she was sure would be beside her. Her hand moved across the bed, searching for Matt’s familiar presence, but instead, it met with cool, empty sheets. The warmth that she had always found comforting was absent, leaving her with a sudden chill that pierced the peaceful haze she had been wrapped in.
“Matt?” she whispered, her voice breaking the silence of the room. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting slowly to the darkness. The room was cloaked in shadows, the only light coming from the soft glow of the night lamp on the bedside table. The sound of footsteps reached her ears, faint but unmistakable, and her heart quickened. She sat up, her eyes scanning the dimly lit room.
“Matt, is that you?” she called out, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to shake off the remnants of sleep. She squinted through the darkness, her gaze finally landing on the figure of her husband. He was standing at the edge of the room, his back to her, searching for something in the dim light.
He was moving with an urgency that made her uneasy, his hands rifling through drawers, his shoulders tense. The calm she had felt just moments ago was
gone.
Matt’s voice broke the stillness of the room, low and apologetic. “Itty, I’m sorry for waking you,” he muttered, his words barely audible as he rummaged through the nightstand beside the bed. The sound of drawers sliding open and shut filled the room, punctuated by the occasional clink of objects being moved aside. He was searching for something, but what?
Colette blinked, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep as she pushed herself up on the bed. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice thick with lingering drowsiness. Her eyes followed his hurried movements, confusion knitting her brows.
“Have you seen my phone?” Matt replied, his tone tense with urgency. “I need to inform Iri–the office–that I won’t be back tomorrow. Since we stayed the night, they’ll need to cancel the meeting scheduled for the evening.”
Colette’s heart skipped a beat as she caught the slip. He had almost said Iris’s name. The sting of it was sharp, a fresh wound layered over the many others that had been festering beneath the surface. The fact that his first thought was to inform Iris of his absence cut deeper than she wanted to admit. But she forced herself to push the pain aside, focusing instead on the immediate reality: Matt, frantically searching for his phone, unaware that she had hidden it
beneath the bed.
Her pulse quickened as she watched him, the anxiety bubbling up within her.
He rattled through the drawers, his frustration growing as the phone remained elusive. Colette bit her lip, torn between the urge to keep silent and the overwhelming need to speak, to confront him about the slip, about everything. But the words caught in her throat, tangled in the emotions she was barely holding back.
“I know where it is,” Colette said at last, her voice trembling despite her effort to sound firm. Her heart raced furiously in her chest, each beat a reminder of the confrontation she was about to face. She knew that revealing the truth would not be well received, particularly when the phone was filled with countless missed calls from Iris. The bile of anxiety surged up her throat, threatening to choke her.
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11:19 pm G P P P
The End Of a Marriage
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
