My Husband's Lies, My Departure

When I was three months pregnant, I craved seafood porridge. My husband got up in the middle of the night to buy it for me.

But during that hour when he was supposedly buying porridge, he was cheating with a college girl. In the footage from the dashcam, he gripped her waist, saying harshly, "I don't love you at all. You're just a tool for me to vent my desires!"

The girl burst into tears and then he hurriedly raised his hand to comfort her. At that moment, I knew our marriage was utterly broken.

——

When I was three months pregnant, my morning sickness had eased up a bit. Javier was so happy that he couldn't sleep that night.

He held me close as we reminisced about our past. While recalling memories, he wrapped me tightly in his arms, kissing my hair and said, "Mandy, I'll always love you the most!"

But I never expected that in the brief time he stepped out to get me a late-night snack, he had sex with a female college student. In the dashcam footage, Javier and the girl were clearly visible.

My hand froze on the tablet and my heart began to race. Suddenly, my belly contracted sharply, the pain making me curl up, drenched in sweat.

"I don't love you at all. You're just a tool for me to vent my desires!" In the video, after he said this, the girl began to sob quietly. Then, he pulled her into his arms, slowly licking away her tears. "You are so delicate, what should I do with you?" he said.

On the seat next to them, I noticed the late-night snack he had bought for me, the seafood porridge spilled all over the seat.

In a daze, I recalled how eager Javier had been when he left to buy it for me. He said, "Mandy, I know you're craving it. I'll get it right away!"

But in that hour, he spent 'buying food,' he was entangled with another woman. My stomach churned and the nausea I hadn't felt in a while hit me again. I bent over the sofa, dry heaving, overwhelmed by the sensation.

I lay on the sofa and retched, vomiting until I felt dizzy. My hand accidentally brushed against Javier's contact on the phone.

We had once agreed he would never make me wait more than three rings. This time, the phone rang ten times before he picked up.

"Mandy? What's wrong?" His voice was rushed. But in the video, his expression was far from worried, instead, his face showed satisfaction and pleasure.

I couldn't suppress the disgust rising within me any longer. I vomited everything in my stomach. Hearing the sound of me retching, he grew anxious on the other end of the phone.

Meanwhile, in the video, he suddenly sat up, holding the girl tightly. A few minutes later, Javier threw his shirt to the girl and said, "My wife's not feeling well. You'll have to go home on your own tonight."

His voice softened afterward, slightly husky from the aftermath, "Take a cab, don't save money. It's dangerous outside."

But the girl, frail after their encounter, was too weak to even get out of the car. Javier, his eyes still red, grabbed her by the neck and kissed her forcefully. "This time, I'll take you home. Don't expect this again," he said.

Watching the dashcam footage on my tablet, I laughed silently. But tears streamed down my face, falling onto the screen.

I had known Javier for fifteen years. My family didn't agree with our marriage. To marry me, he started his own business right after graduating. He used to drink himself into having stomach ulcers for work, the worst time landing him in the ICU.

I cried and begged him not to push himself so hard. But he just smiled, looking content while he said, "Mandy, I know I'm not good enough for you, but I'll work hard. Please wait a little longer for me, okay?"

I waited for him for five years, enduring countless proposals from my parents and mockery from relatives. I accepted it all with a smile.

When I turned twenty-nine, Javier's company went public and he became a rising star in the tech world. He proposed to me and we had a grand wedding.

Afterward, I became pregnant easily and I thought my life was perfect. But Javier turned me into a joke.