Chapter 1: Beat Him Up!

Dexter Richmond tiptoed slowly up the stairs, grateful that there was no one around as he returned home from work. He'd deliberately waited until after dinner before he came into the house. Just so he could avoid meeting his in-laws who never hesitated to rain thinly veiled insults on him. They possessed a twenty-four-hour clock of utter disgust for him.

He didn't want to deal with that today. Today was a very special day. Today was his and his wife's third anniversary and he didn't want anything to ruin his mood.

He'd managed to borrow some money to buy his wife something very nice. It was a gown from a designer she loved. He'd been saving money for it since their last anniversary – before the designer released the collection. And now he'd borrowed some money to complete it. It was the most expensive thing he'd ever gotten her before and he was proud that he could give her something like that.

He couldn't help but be bubbly as he imagined the look on her face when she saw it.

According to her schedule, she would be starting her skin care routine at that moment.

He smiled as he made a beeline for their room door.

As he got closer he heard an odd sound. Pausing for a bit he looked around. Nothing. He shrugged and kept tiptoeing – his mother-in-law had ambushed him on one occasion on this very floor so he couldn't be too careful.

The sound became louder as he approached the room.

Was Sandy watching a movie? He wondered.

As he placed a hand on the door handle, he wondered why Sandy was watching a movie so late. And with the volume so loud.

Then he grinned. Given the sounds he was hearing, the movie was probably a precursor to a wild night in relation to their anniversary.

He pushed the door open. He blinked. All of the lights were on in full glow. As his eyes adjusted to the room, his gaze fell on the television in the room first… which was deathly silent and as dark as night.

But the sounds continued.

Dexter's smile disappeared. The package in his hand dropped to the floor and he felt numbness wash over him.

He stood there for a whole sixty seconds. His wife and the man with her didn't notice him.

He swallowed and moved woodenly into the room.

Sandy, his wife was bent over, her back arched deeply as a man who was grunting like his life depended on it, thrust forcefully into her from behind over and over again as his hands squeezed her breasts like they were disobedient squishy toys.

Dexter's throat was dry as he looked on, unable to utter a word.

He reached out, his hand shaking, and pushed an empty glass vase off the closet close to the door.

The crash was deafening. And it was the only thing Dexter heard as the man and Sandy jumped apart and looked at him, the whole scene playing out in slow motion before him as his ears rang and his eyes dazed.

No… it couldn't be. He had to be seeing double.

But he wasn't mistaken. It was Ryan Fendi. His boss. The man who had fired him mere hours ago.

Both their eyes were wide in shock as they stared at him.

Ryan reached discreetly for his pants which had been discarded on a corner of the bed and began to tug them on.

“S… Sandy?” Dexter managed to breathe out.

Sandy didn't say anything, she just sighed and covered her chest with a blanket.

She didn't even look remorseful. She had this look on her face that indicated she was irritated that she'd been interrupted in the middle of her adulterous act.

It made Dexter's heartbreak all the more. If she looked remorseful or was even begging for his forgiveness it might assuage his heart a little, letting him know that she still respected him enough to be sorry for what she'd done.

“Sandy… s– say something.” Dexter pleaded silently.

“I… don't have anything to say.” She muttered, staring straight at him and lifting one of her shoulders in a slow shrug.

Dexter's system couldn't process this. Was this really his wife?

“Sandy how can you… h– how –” his throat cracked. He swallowed,

“I walk in on you having sex with another man on our matrimonial bed and – and you don't have anything to say?”

She sighed again.

“Exactly Dexter. You walked in on me and saw everything. What more is there to say?”

That tone. There it was again. So this was what it all meant?

Sandy had been giving him attitude for a few months now and avoiding physical contact with him. He'd wondered about it but chalked it up to work stress. But now, he realised as she used that same tone with him, that it'd been her distancing herself from him emotionally and physically as she satisfied herself with another man.

“S– Sandy how could you?” He blurted, the pain in his chest multiplying.

Sandy raised her brows.

Then Ryan rolled his eyes.

In that moment, Dexter completely lost it. The animal in him roared and the human in him evaporated as he rushed at Ryan, grasping his neck and pushing him down on the bed. He rained punches on Dexter's face as he landed.

He wasn't in control as he ravaged the man. He didn't hear his shouts or feel his struggles or scratches.

Sandy screamed and tried to push Dexter off. One clean swipe of his fist and she tumbled to the floor four feet away, the blanket around her giving way and the lights shining on her glistening naked body.