Move Forward, Never Look Back

I was almost raped while my husband Jeff Walker was celebrating his secretary's birthday.

Because there were problems with the company's products, I was busy until 10:30 in the evening before leaving the suburban factory.

There were no taxis nearby.

It was 1.2 miles to the bus station.

I called Jeff to pick me up, but he said he was discussing business with a client.

Helplessly, I could only go to the bus stop. There were few people on the road and there were not even street lights.

I didn't know when I was being followed. The gangster suddenly appeared and tried to drag me into a deserted field, but luckily a passerby came by and saved me.

After leaving the police station, I turned on my phone and saw a text on his secretary's Moments: [Thank you, my boss, for spending my birthday with me.]

If it were in the past, I would have made a big fuss, but now I was serene.

I commented under the post: [Happy birthday to you. I give you my husband as a birthday present.]

***

It was already past 1 a.m. when I got home.

I rushed into the bathroom, turned on the hot water and rinsed my body. Thinking of the scene of the gangster dragging me, I couldn't help retching.

Jeff's female secretary was called Vita Miller.

I couldn't remember how many quarrels and silent treatments we had because of Vita.

Two months before, we agreed to travel to the grassland together. The plane tickets and travel guide were all ready. However, before leaving, Jeff said that he had to go abroad to inspect an important project.

I really believed it at the time, until Vita posted a lot of photos of her abroad on her Moments, including a photo with Jeff. Afterwards, Jeff explained that it was normal to take a few photos during the inspection.

A month before, it was his and my 3rd wedding anniversary.

He booked the restaurant where he had proposed to me.

I waited until the restaurant closed, but he didn't show up, so I habitually checked Vita's Moments.

[I was almost dead because of dysmenorrhea today. Fortunately, my boss sent me to the hospital and stayed with me the whole time. What a great boss! I want to work for him forever.]

When he came home, I asked him who was more important, Vita or me.

"Sandy Brown, you are simply unreasonable and heartless." He scolded me.

"Vita was almost dying of pain, so of course the patient comes first.

"She works for me and I am responsible for her.

"We can celebrate our wedding anniversary next year and the year after next."

After taking a shower, I checked my phone and saw that Vita had replied to my comment.

[Sandy, you are kidding. I don't dare to get your husband.]

And she posted a photo on her Moments.

The photo was of a car's center console.

It was along with the text: [Thank you for taking me home.]

At just one glance, I knew it was Jeff's car.

Above the center console hung an amulet that I had obtained from a mosque. An old man said that if I wanted the amulet to be effective, I needed to pray once for each step I climbed starting from the foot of the mountain, all the way up to the mosque at the top of the mountain. I started at three in the morning and followed what the old man said. It was not until after six in the morning that I finally reached the mosque at the top of the mountain and obtained the amulet.

But Jeff thought it was old-fashioned, and only after I begged him again and again did he reluctantly hang it in the car.

I was just about to go into the bedroom when he opened the door.

"I was having dinner with a client at a restaurant today. After the client left, Vita said that today was her birthday. As her boss, I should always be considerate of my subordinates, so I celebrated her birthday at the restaurant. Do you mind?"

Before, I would have looked for his loopholes and tricks from every angle and questioned him, then a quarrel would have broken out, but now I was physically and mentally exhausted, so I was no longer interested in the mess between him and Vita.

"It's your duty to be considerate of your subordinates. I'm going to sleep first."

He took a shower, got into bed, and asked, "Didn't you say that it was hard to get a taxi in the area where you were at night? How did you get home in the end?"

"It doesn't matter how I got home. What matters is that I'm back. It's late. Just sleep."

The next morning, when the alarm went off, I was groggy and couldn't wake up from my sleep even though I heard the ringing.

I was not awakened until Jeff called me unhappily.

After getting up, I almost fell down, and my headache was as if my head was being strangled.

It must be because I was frightened by the gangster the night before that I had a traumatic headache now.

After I arrived at the company, I started to sweat. My face turned red, and my head hurt more and more as if it was about to split. A kind colleague bought me some ibuprofen and cold medicine.

After the morning meeting, Jeff sent me a message: [Are you still angry because I didn't pick you up yesterday?]

I replied: [I'm not that stingy.]

[Then why didn't you make breakfast for me?]

Since I got married, I always made breakfast, even when we had a fight or gave each other the silent treatment. But that morning I had such a bad headache that I didn't make breakfast.

I hadn't had breakfast yet.

It was ridiculous that he was focusing on breakfast instead of me. If he had eyes, he should have seen that I was sick.

When it was almost time to get off work, he sent another message.

[I'll pick you up from get off work.]