William's Secret

He Left

Things between William and I seemed to get more serious.

The two of us didn't even eat together anymore now since our last fight over that lipstick.

He started coming home late, even staying out all night.

He sent a short message in the middle of the night, telling me he would work late.

After about a week, William couldn't bear it.

One day I had just laid down when he walked in with his quilt and pillow.

I turned my back on William. He lay beside me and hugged me.

"Stop the fight, OK?"

His coaxing tone made me uncomfortable, and I shrugged him off.

"No, you left me on the street. I won't forgive you."

William did the same trick again, wrapping his arms around me so tightly that I couldn't break free.

"I'm sorry, honey."

This time I didn't want to hear his explanations. His gentleness was an excuse for cheating. I was the one who got hurt in the end.

Saying that, William slipped his hand into my pajamas.

I sat up at once. "Don't touch me."

William was dissatisfied. "Audrey, I'm your husband. What's wrong with touching you?"

I sneered. "I'm afraid I'm not the one you want to touch."

Hearing my words, William showed a little panic for a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He resumed that expression and lay down.

"How is your body?"

"What's wrong?"

"Mom let us have a baby as soon as possible."

"I can't get pregnant, you know that."

"Why can't you get pregnant?"

William sat up angrily. "You are a woman. Women can get pregnant."

I squeezed the covers harder to keep from shedding tears in front of him.

Seeing that I didn't say anything, William compromised.

"We can do that." With those words, he fell silent, and before long I could hear his heavy breathing.

I looked at the phone beside William and wondered if I should check it or not.

The last time I checked his phone, I got nothing.

He must have deleted the messages completely.

I couldn't even find the name Abril.

I didn't know what name he used for Abril.

But the whole changing passwords thing had made me crazy.

A man's password could only be his lover's birthday.

However, William's password was changed to Abril's birthday date.

What did that mean? It was obvious.

The image of Abril's bulging belly came back into my mind. A wave of vertigo swept over me.

The next day, our fight continued.

William seemed angry. "I'm your husband and a normal man. If I want to have sex with you, you must agree."

I shielded my body with the covers. "Why?"

It occurred to me at this point that Abril was now pregnant.

Sex was not good for pregnant women. So William hadn't had sex for a long time.

He cared about her. He couldn't let her get hurt. He then came to me.

The cry on the side of my mouth dissolved into a mocking smile. I felt so funny, both William and I.

"Besides, how can we have a baby if you don't sleep with me?"

"William," I called out to him.

"Have you ever thought about finding another woman to have your baby?"

To my surprise, William answered me in silence.

It was only after half a minute that he spoke grimly.

"What you have to do is get pregnant. Don't think about other things."

After that, he started to undo his pajama pants. I was finally on the verge of collapse when he pushed me again.

"Pregnant? Pregnant with what? Didn't you tell me you didn't want kids?

"William, from falling in love to getting married, I've been with you for many years. If I wanted to have a baby, wouldn't I have done it so long ago?

"If you want a baby, you can have a baby yourself. I don't want to. Go find another woman then!"

Bang!

I felt a pain in my face, followed by an indescribable soreness in my nose.

"Audrey, that's enough!"

Just now William threw a pillow at my face in a fit of rage.

Because I said something he didn't want to hear.

When I said this, I felt hurt too.

Something seemed to stab in my heart silently.

I didn't know how long it took, but there was a violent knock on the door in the living room.

"Police, open the door!"

William put on his clothes and ran out, changing into a warm and polite look.

"Good evening, what can I do for you?"

My argument and fight with William had scared the neighbors. They called the police.

The policeman looked warily toward the house. "Why are you arguing in the middle of the night? What happened?"

William rubbed his hands together. "Nothing big deal. My wife quarreled with me. Sorry."

He turned to our neighbors again. "I'm so sorry to have disturbed you."

I took three steps forward. "Why am I the one making a scene?"

William gave an apologetic smile. "Look, she's doing it again. I'm sorry."

I rushed to the neighbors and the police like I was crazy. "Why did we fight? Do you dare tell everyone?"

By the time I calmed down, it was too late. I became an irritable cranky woman in front of everyone.

And William, on the contrary, was a good husband.

The police talked to us. We apologized to the neighbors. They all left.

"You want everyone to think I'm crazy, right?"

I grabbed William's clothes. "I'm your wife. How can you do such a thing to me?"

I knew how desperate I was right now. William's tone turned cold as he watched the neighbors go back.

"I don't want to waste time with you. Think by yourself."

He got dressed as fast as he could and walked out. I sat paralyzed on the floor as if all the strength in my body had been taken away with William.

I should find him. If I couldn't find William, I could come to Abril.

In the dim light, I opened Abril's profile once more.

It had her phone number on it.

I kept it in mind and then searched for information about Abril on all platforms.

Finally, I got Abril's Twitter account.

Looking at the pictures, I felt angry at first, and then cold.

How many times did William say he worked overtime? But he was actually with Abril.

Although the pictures showed no faces, I could determine that the one Abril was embracing was William by his clothing and hand.

How many nights before leaving, he kissed me tenderly? And then he turned to indulge in the love of Abril.

I smiled bitterly as I looked at Abril's account.

I was kind of mad.

Just before I turned off my phone, Abril's Twitter was updated.

It was a photo taken under a desk lamp with dim ambiguous lighting.

"It's a great blessing for me that when I think of you, you just show up."

In the photo, Abril snuggled on a man's shoulder, full of happiness on her face.

I knew that shoulder. It belonged to my husband who had just left the house.

William's...