Cast Away The Slipping Sand

On the night of the SAT exam, my childhood sweetheart, Walter Sterling, eagerly coaxed me into sleeping with him.

At the height of passion, his wild and unrestrained motions hurt me.

Later, thanks to a ten-points difference on the exam score, we ended up in a four-year-long-distance relationship.

Walter spent all his allowance on flight tickets to see me.

Whenever we got together, he would physically live out the words, “absence made the heart grow fonder.”

On his birthday, I bought a flight ticket and carried a cake to surprise him.

But when I entered his rental apartment, I saw him and a strange girl intensely doing the deed.

The cake in my hand fell to the floor with a thud. Then, I ran out crying.

Walter’s expression changed dramatically. He chased after me like a madman.

To keep me, he deleted all her contact information in front of me and even dropped out of school.

My heart softened, and I forgave him.

After we got married, he treated me even better than before. The improvement was so drastic that I was constantly on cloud nine.

But when I became pregnant, I once again saw the girl he had completely cut ties with. She was his new secretary.

My husband, Walter Sterling, angrily explained himself to me, “Belle got here because she’s qualified. The company has policies. They can’t just fire people who haven’t done anything wrong.

“She and I are just coworkers. There’s nothing else.”

During his university days, Belle Helm was the girl he had an affair with.

For the sake of the baby growing inside me, I caved again and believed him.

Little did I know that this moment of weakness would later hurt me many times.

After Belle’s aggressive dog chomped down on my thigh, Walter and I had another argument.

Walter glared at me and said, “Scruffy was just playing with you. Why are you making such a big deal over a dog?”

Once again, he ignored my injury and the baby in my belly. He took Belle’s side without hesitation.

This happened countless times. For once, I had enough.

I looked at the man I had loved for nearly a decade and said calmly, “Walter, I want a divorce.”

He snickered and said, “Zara, don’t keep threatening me with divorce. You just want me to pamper you, don’t you? Why don’t you just say so?”

He pulled me into his arms with a playful smile and planted a loud kiss on my cheek.

“Fine! You’re my wife, aren’t you? If I don’t comfort you, who will?”

The bite mark on my thigh hurt so much that I broke out in cold sweat.

I instinctively tried to break free from his embrace, but he held me even tighter.

“Come on, stop being mad already. Didn’t we say we were going to the hospital for your prenatal checkup? I’ll take you there now.”

After we got into the car, Walter could tell I was still upset.