"Putting on makeup and wearing sexy clothes again? Do I really have to do that again to make Simon happy?" I thought to myself as I looked at my face in the mirror. It seemed like I hadn't changed much since I decided to draw closer to God and distance myself from the glitz and glamour of the world that had once blinded me.

Money and sex-those two things had always been my beliefs, and they had kept me happy throughout my youth. After I got married, I regularly went to church, prayed, and tried to be a good wife. But apparently, that wasn't enough. Just being a good and faithful wife wasn't enough to make my husband want to spend more time with me.

I opened my closet, which held my old clothes-the ones I wore when I was younger and during the first two years of my marriage to Simon. I even found my old nurse's uniform, so tight that it hugged my curves.

I tried it on again, and it still fit me. I realized that my body shape hadn't changed at all, it was the same as before. When I looked in the mirror, I was amazed at myself.

"Is this really me? Did I look like this before?" I thought to myself. It was strange, I felt uncomfortable wearing it. It had been five years since I last wore revealing, sexy clothes, and somehow it felt uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Asked Simon, completely unaware of him entering the room filled with wardrobes.

"Honey? When did you get home?" I asked, surprised, and immediately covered myself with a towel.

Simon frowned, staring at me with a curious expression because I suddenly covered myself as if he were a stranger.

"I called you several times, but you didn't answer. What are you doing? Trying on your old work uniform, hmm?" He asked, stepping toward me.

Simon stood right in front of me, smiling mischievously as he urged me to show him my new look.

"Honey, I-"

"Wow...you're so sexy! How long has it been since you've worn clothes like this?"

"Maybe it's been five years or-"

"Yes, five years. Imagine five years of dressing like a pious middle-aged woman without makeup. You're still young and beautiful, my dear! Dress up and wear your sexy clothes again like when we first started dating!"

"What kind of flashy makeup? Look at you now, you're completely bare!"

"But you said I'm beautiful even without makeup, right?"

"You're very beautiful, Nina! But at least dress up a little and wear more colorful and revealing clothes! What's wrong with doing that to please your husband!"

I was speechless, not knowing what to say to him. I repented and left my past self behind so that karma wouldn't come to me. I believed that if I tried to improve myself, I wouldn't receive bad karma for my mistakes.

"Simon, I-"

"Tch, I know what you're going to say, Nina! Go ahead and pray at church as much as you want! You've even decorated our house with crucifixes and statues of the Virgin Mary. Do whatever you want, but don't blame me if one day I'm tempted by another woman and leave you!"

Simon gave me an ultimatum that felt like a slap in the face. I couldn't understand how he could say such cruel things. I try to be a good wife, is that still not enough?

"Honey, I-"

"Come on, make me coffee! You annoy me every day!"

Simon left in annoyance. I'd been making him mad since morning. I truly was a useless wife. I couldn't even give him a child, and I couldn't even make him smile. Am I receiving karma? Will I still get it even if I've repented and become a better person?

I changed my clothes and headed to the kitchen to make Simon a cup of coffee. I saw Simon's phone on the dining table while he was taking a shower.

I'm not the type of wife who checks my husband's phone, and I almost never check it. My faith in him is still as strong as it was when we first fell in love. But his words bothered me. Could my husband be tempted by another woman? Could I be experiencing what those women experienced when their husbands and their lovers had sex with me?

I reached for Simon's phone, which was lying on the table. It rang. It was an incoming call from Erika Gonzales, my husband's client, whom he called his "most generous."

I decided to answer the incoming call with a strange feeling and a question in my head: What business would he have calling my husband so late at night? It was almost 10 PM, and I didn't think any professional job would warrant contacting a client so late at night.

"Simon, could you come back to my apartment? My anus is sore from using it without lubrication, so-"

"I'm Simon's wife," I said, my breath coming out of my chest. My world was about to collapse, and I was sure I hadn't heard correctly, he'd said something appropriate.

"What's wrong? Who's calling?" Simon asked. He looked at me with a strange reaction because I was talking to someone on his phone.

I was speechless, tears welling up in my eyes. God, please, tell me what I just heard wasn't karma.

***

Seeing me speechless, Simon immediately snatched his phone from my hand. He looked even angrier than before, as if I had crossed a line I shouldn't have crossed.

"Hello?"

"Simon, was your wife the one who answered my call? What now?"

"Calm down, it's okay! I'll be right there, just wait!" He said, ending the call.

I stood there, waiting for his explanation, my heart almost stopping. Simon glanced at me with a look of anger in his eyes. I didn't understand why he was so angry with me? What had I done wrong to make him so cold?

"Didn't I tell you never to touch my phone, let alone answer it!"

"What's wrong with a wife holding her husband's phone? What did I do wrong?"

"You're making me sicker by the day!"

"You're in a relationship with her? You're in a relationship with Erika Gonzales, aren't you...?" I shouted, filled with emotion, hoping he'd give me an explanation that would make me feel better.

"Are you accusing me of cheating?"

"It's true, you bastard...! Do you think I'm stupid? You went to her apartment to have sex with her, didn't you...?"

"Don't yell at me, you bastard...!"

A hard slap hit me in the face, making me fall to the ground. The slap made me accidentally bite my lip, causing it to bleed.

"Blood?" I muttered. Blood dripped onto the floor, and the pain worsened. I turned to Simon, hoping he'd regret it, apologize, and help me immediately. But instead, I was ignored.

He hurried away, leaving me wounded. I stood up and tried to chase after him. No matter how much it hurt, I didn't want him to see that woman again.

"Simon, wait...! Please don't go!" I said, pulling at his hand. I promised I'd forgive him as long as he stayed.

"Let go of me, I have to go now!"

"Take me to the hospital, please!"

"You're a nurse, you can treat yourself! Erika is in pain, she needs me!"

"I need you more, Simon! I'm your wife...!"

"Let go of my hand, don't you hear? Don't you see what you look like now? Go to church and become a nun, because no man will ever be interested in a boring woman like you again...!"

Simon slapped my hand away and left after shouting at me. I froze on the cold, empty floor of our house. Did I still have the right to cry? Was I allowed to cry? A woman like me, did I still deserve happiness?

***

"Nina, what happened to your lip?" Rachel asked when she saw my face. I smiled weakly and tried to look okay.

David approached me after hearing Rachel's words. The young man stood right in front of me and held my chin to examine my swollen, bruised lip and cheek.

"Did someone hit you?" David asked. He was even more worried about me than my own husband.

"I fell last night," I replied, swatting his hand away. I didn't want to linger, as it would only make them suspicious.

"Really? Your husband didn't hit you, did he?"

"No, David! He couldn't have hit me. My husband isn't a violent man!"

"Okay, then let me treat your wound!"

"That's not necessary, I've already applied the ointment."

"Nina...! Are you here?" Francesca, the head nurse at the clinic, exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm here, Francesca!"

"Okay, can you come to Doctor Pierre's office now? Today we'll have a patient referred for surgery, so this will be his first shift at the clinic. Doctor Hans has assigned you to assist him."

"Me?"

"Yes, considering you're one of the senior nurses and have worked at this clinic before. So Doctor Hans said you're the most skilled and responsive!"

"Wow, Nina, I thought you'd be promoted. You could be an assistant now, right?" Celine teased me.

"How could I possibly be a doctor's assistant? I'm just a nurse."

"By the way, Nina, that new doctor is really handsome. He's so young and incredibly handsome. It turns out not all geniuses are nerdy, huh?"

I responded to Celine's remark with a faint smile, and besides, I didn't have the energy to think about someone's appearance right now. My heart and mind were still in turmoil because Simon hadn't returned until morning. He hadn't even answered my calls or texts.

I walked to the office of Dr. Pierre Alexander, a neurosurgeon who was supposed to start work two weeks ago, but had been delayed until today.

Knock...knock...

"Excuse me, Dr. Pierre!" I said, knocking twice on his office door.

"Please come in!" He replied. I could hear a young man's voice, and as they say, I was a little amazed to see him sitting in his office chair wearing a light blue shirt.

He was a fair-skinned young man, tall and muscular, with dark brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes. He turned to me as I entered and smiled gently.

"Good morning, Nina Meiyer?" He greeted me.

"Yes, Doctor!"

"Nice to meet you. Doctor Hans recommended you to help me with my initial duties." It was unexpected. He was a friendly, smiling young doctor.

"I don't know why I was recommended," I said, trying to smile even though my lips and cheeks were still sore.

"Please sit!"

"Thank you," I said, sitting down in the chair in front of his desk.

He looked at me intently, as if noticing something odd about my face. The cut on my lip and the bruise on my cheek were too obvious to ignore.

"Are you okay? If you're feeling unwell, you can rest, and we can discuss things when you're feeling better."

"I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about!" I said, my voice trembling. My heart felt so fragile, the image of Simon's disgusted face constantly bothering me.

I should have stayed home today, waiting for him and checking for him. I wouldn't be able to work well if my feelings made me feel like I wasn't on the ground.

My tears flowed without me realizing it. I really didn't want to cry in front of someone I'd just met. But I didn't know where to take this pain.

Doctor Pierre rose from his seat and approached me, feeling guilty for confusing him with my behavior. He took my hand and asked me to stand up and look at him.

"I-I'm sorry, Doctor! I-"

Without a word, without warning, he kissed my lips. I was shocked, but my mind felt blank. The suddenness of his kiss actually made me forget my pain.

"Don't cry, Nina! Since when have you become such a weak woman?"

***

I was surprised to hear him address me as if this wasn't the first time we'd met. What was wrong with him? Had we met before?

"D-Doctor Pierre, I don't think we should be doing something like this. We-"

"Why not?"

"Of course, because we're colleagues and we're in the clinic, so-"

"Don't make me laugh, Nina! Isn't the workplace the perfect place to have fun?"

"What did you say?" I couldn't quite understand what he was saying. Doctor Pierre grabbed both of my hands and forced me into his embrace.

The scent of his soft perfume and his warm embrace made me wonder, when was the last time I'd felt a hug that made my soul flutter like this?

I tried not to get carried away, but his embrace tightened, making it impossible to resist. My hands began to caress his back, a signal that I was beginning to be captivated by him.

His hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to accept his kiss once more. As our lips met, I could taste the sweetness that filled my tongue and mouth. It felt so delicious that I couldn't stop savoring it.

His hands began to roam my back. This was our first time meeting, but why did our introduction feel so turbulent?

"D-Doctor Pierre, please don't-"

"Don't stop?"

"N-no, it's not that-"

"You don't like me, Nina?" He asked in a soft tone, making me unconsciously look into his eyes.

"N-no, I-I'm married! I have a husband and-"

"So what?"

"I can't do something like this, I-"

"So what if you do this with me? As long as your husband doesn't find out, it's safe, right?"

"No, Doctor! I can't, I-"

"You used to do this with several doctors, even your patients, right?"

"W-what? I-"

"Almost every day while I was in this clinic, you had sex with some men. Even with my brother and my father," he said. I was speechless at his shocking statement. His father and brother? How could I do that? Who was he really?

Doctor Pierre smiled coldly, his eyes telling me I had no right to refuse him. A few years ago, I had a bad reputation here, but Doctor John kept me around until I finally decided to resign to focus on being a housewife five years ago, though I ultimately decided to return to work to find something to distract me from the deep grief of losing my fetus.

"I don't understand what you're saying, Doctor!"

"You are so beautiful, Nina. And this body of yours makes me unable to forget you even though 10 years have passed since the day we met."

"You? Who are you really?"

"I was one of the patients you treated 10 years ago, a 17-year-old boy you rejected three times. Don't you remember him?"

My mind flashed back to that incident 10 years ago. A teenage patient I'd rejected three times? Of course I still remembered him.

A nerdy boy who'd been in an accident and required minor surgery on his skull, and he'd been hospitalized for two months.

"Really? He was a nerdy teenager back then?" I thought to myself, trying to study the handsome, tall, muscular young doctor standing before me. I could hardly believe he was that nerdy boy.

"You look so different, that's why I couldn't recognize you."

"Everyone changes when they're heartbroken. I was so crazy about you that I'd do anything to make you look at me!" He said. He held my hand, leaving me almost speechless. Indeed, he had now transformed into a young man so handsome that it felt like almost no woman could resist him.

Pierre guided my hand to touch his dick, which was still tucked into his pants. I shuddered, feeling something large and beginning to harden beneath his pants.

"I have a big dick, Nina. It's nine inches, don't you want to feel it?" He whispered, his voice growing heavier and deeper.

My body shivered, I began to feel aroused and curious about his penis. Although I was still trying to hold on and dedicate my life to God and my husband, the pain of what Simon had done to me yesterday seemed to be shattering my faith.

Should I hold on?

Should I hold on to my beliefs?

Should I push away the forbidden desires I was starting to feel now?

Doctor Pierre kissed my lips again, his passion growing increasingly violent and seemingly uncontrollable. I couldn't contain the desire that was beginning to affect my soul. Should I continue to uphold my faith, which I'd guarded for seven years?

I accepted and returned his kiss, while my hands increasingly aggressively squeezed his dick. Doctor Pierre pushed me against the wall and forced me to unbutton my shirt. He lifted my bra to reveal my breasts. He passionately sucked and nibbled on my nipples.

"Oh..." A soft moan escaped my lips. Simon and I hadn't had sex in three months, and for some reason, my body was desperately craving a man's touch.

"Take off your pants, Nina!"

"But we're in rush hour, Doctor! What if someone comes in and sees us doing this!"

"I've locked the door, and no one else can enter without my permission, don't worry!" He assured me. I nodded in agreement, my body unable to hold back any longer.

***