Left on His Wedding Night, the War God Returned

Chapter 5: The Breaking Point

Sarah's first reaction was annoyance. He'd pulled away from her like her touch burned him. But then his words registered, and guilt wormed its way into her chest.

"Kevin, I know last night wasn't what we planned, but..."

"But nothing." His voice was flat, dead.

Sarah's irritation flared again. Fine. If he wanted to be difficult, she'd make it right. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sleek black box, the kind that came from the luxury boutiques on Via Montenapoleone.

"I got you something. On the way back from the hospital." She opened it, revealing a limited edition watch, the kind with more zeros on the price tag than most people made in a month. "It's an apology gift. Here, try it on."

Kevin glanced at the watch. Barely looked at it, really. Then he set the box on the table without touching it.

"I have no use for it."

The words hit her like a slap. Sarah stared at him, feeling heat rise in her face. She'd humbled herself. Bought him an expensive gift. Like a good wife she apologized. What more did he want from her?

"Why are you acting like this?" Her voice came out sharper than she intended. "I already said I was sorry. I bought you a gift. I'm here now. Why do you have to make such a huge issue out of this and give me the silent treatment like a child?"

Kevin laughed. Actually laughed, but there was no humor in it, just something bitter and cold that made the air between them feel frozen.

"A huge issue?" He looked at her with eyes like ice. "Tell me, Sarah, in your world, is abandoning your husband on your wedding night to spend the entire night with another man a small matter?"

"It wasn't like that."

"Then what was it like? Explain it to me, because I'm clearly too stupid to understand." He stepped closer, and Sarah found herself taking a step back. "We've been together for three years. Three years. If you don't love me anymore, if you've changed your mind about us, just say it. Be honest. I'll let you go cleanly. But what I can't accept, what I won't tolerate, is you getting overly close with another man, favoring him to the point of losing all reason, and then coming back to me like nothing happened."

"I haven't changed my mind. I love you." Sarah grabbed his arm, held it tight. "Kevin, I've never cheated on you. Never ever in my life. I would never betray you like that. Jasper and I are just boss and employee. That's it. I pay extra attention to him because he's physically weak, he doesn't take care of himself properly, but he works so hard for the company. That's all it is.. "

Kevin yanked his arm away. "Then fire him."

Sarah froze. "What?"

"Fire him. Cut all ties with Jasper. That's the only solution here."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm completely serious. He's destroying our marriage, Sarah. You just don't want to see it."

"There's nothing to see because nothing is happening. We're superior and subordinate. That's the entire relationship. You're overreacting, Kevin. You're being paranoid and oversensitive about something that doesn't exist."

Kevin's jaw clenched. "Two months ago. Remember our trip to Lake Como?"

Sarah's stomach dropped.

"You left me standing alone at the airport because Jasper called. Rushed to his house and spent the entire night there. Do you remember that?"

"He'd been in a car accident." Sarah's voice rose defensively. "A work related car accident. He broke his leg and three ribs because he was handling a company project. Was I supposed to just ignore that and go enjoy myself on vacation?"

"One month ago. The company celebration banquet."

"Kevin, don't."

"In front of every single employee, you and Jasper embraced each other. He kissed you. Kissed you, Sarah, in front of everyone. That's not normal boss and employee behavior. That's not professional. That's intimate."

Heat flooded Sarah's face. "That was an accident. Everyone was drunk. Jasper lost his balance and pulled me down with him when he fell. The kiss was accidental. He explained and apologized afterwards. You're bringing up old things that have already been resolved just to be petty."

Something in Kevin snapped. She could see it in his eyes, the way they went from cold to burning.

"So tell me something, Sarah. When you eventually sleep with Jasper, will you call that an accident too? Will you forgive him after he cries and apologizes? Will you tell me I'm being petty for minding that my wife fucked another man?" His voice was vicious now, cutting. "Why wait for that inevitable drunken accident? Why not just divorce me now and marry him instead? Save us all the trouble."

Sarah felt like she'd been punched. Her face went white, then flushed red, then white again. "You're insane. You're actually insane."

"Am I?"

"Yes. The fact that you would say something like that to me, humiliate me like this, it makes me furious and disappointed. I can't believe you'd speak to me this way."

"You know exactly what Jasper is doing to our marriage." Kevin's voice dropped, went cold and final. "You know, and you keep choosing him anyway. So I'm telling you right now, if you continue this, if you keep letting him come between us, divorce is the only option left."

Sarah's mouth fell open. "You're threatening me with divorce? On the second day of our marriage? Over this?"

"If you actually cared about me, you'd know what you need to do."

They stood there staring at each other, the space between them feeling like a canyon. Sarah's expression hardened, went as cold as his.

"You need to calm down," she said quietly. "Because I haven't done anything wrong. And I'm not going to change anything about how I run my company or treat my employees just because you're jealous and insecure."

Kevin looked at her for a long moment. Then he turned and walked toward the door.

"Think carefully about your choices, Sarah."

The door closed behind him with a soft click that felt louder than a slam.

Sarah stood frozen in the middle of their apartment, surrounded by half packed moving boxes for a house they were supposed to move into together. 

Then her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the sofa, staring at the closed door.

Irritation and frustration churned inside her like a storm. She'd apologized. She'd bought him a gift. She'd explained everything. 

What more did he want? Why couldn't he just understand that she was trying to balance everything, that she had responsibilities beyond just being his wife?

Jasper needed her. The company needed her. And Kevin was acting like a jealous child who couldn't share her attention with anyone else.

She pressed her hands to her face and breathed hard through the anger building in her chest. 

This was ridiculous. 

All of this was ridiculous.

 Kevin would calm down eventually. He always did. They'd talk, they'd work it out, and everything would go back to normal.

It had to.