CHAPTER ONE

RICHARD

"Why? Dammit! Why?" I suddenly cried aloud, in a sudden burst of frustration as slammed my fists repeatedly on the steering wheel.

A horn blared, and I turned to see a driver on the other lane give me a curious look. I stared at the road ahead, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as I drove home. My mind was in a whirl. I glanced at the passenger seat on which were two sheets of paper. The first sheet of was the result of the X-ray I had just done at the hospital. It showed the cancer was spreading really fast. I needed chemotherapy as a matter of urgency. But the cost...

I shook my head. At the bottom of the second sheet of paper, the cost of the chemotherapy was written in bold font. It was a sum I could never afford, certainly not with the job I had. My wife refused to support me in footing the bill in any way. I was at a dead end, and would be a dead man if I could figure a way out.

Finally, I got home. I walked into the cool, air conditioned comfort of the house and mopped my sweaty brow. I was heading to the kitchen to get something that would calm my aching head when two items on the other sofa caught my attention- a handbag I recognized as Amelia's, and a man's jacket lying close to it. Did we have a visitor?

I headed to our bedroom, stopped short when I heard... odd sounds coming from behind the closed door. I pushed open the door, stood stock still with my mouth agape. There, on our matrimonial bed was Amelia, completely naked, with her lips glued to that of an equally naked man.

"AMELIA!" I bellowed.

They sprang apart immediately. Her big, blue eyes opened wide. When she saw who it was, her shocked expression became one of contempt.

"What are you doing back here so early?" she sneered.

I was paralyzed with shock. I couldn't speak, just shook my head. Surely, this had to be some bad dream. This couldn't be happening. With a muttered oath, the man hurried over to the side of the bed, pulled on his trousers.

"Can't someone get a little privacy around here?" he growled, zipping up his fly. “Who is that?”

She gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, James. That’s my wretched husband, Richard, that I was telling you about. I wasn't expecting him back so early."

"You're sorry?" I shouted, finally breaking free of my paralysis. "Amelia! I caught you screwing another man, and you're apologizing to him? Have you no shame? Have you no-"

"Oh shut up!" Amelia languidly reached for a robe hanging on the headboard and slipped out.

"You're the one who should be ashamed," she shot back. "Are you even a man? You don't have a decent job and you can't take care of me. You can't foot a measly quarter of my bills. Hell! You can't even afford to treat your sick self-"

I balled my fists. "Shut up and tell this bastard to get out of my house."

Amelia and James exchanged a look and laughed.

"Your house?" Amelia wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "I think the cancer has knocked a few screws loose from that thing you call a brain. Need I remind you that this is my parent's house? You haven't even been able to afford a decent apartment since you married me. And as for James-" She gave her lover a salacious grin. "-He is twice the man you'll ever be-"

"That's right." James stood up, drew himself up to all six feet of his height. "A man like you who cannot provide for his woman, has no absolute rights over her body. Now, beat it, buster."

I had never been a violent man, but at this point, I would gladly have torn James apart with my bare hands. With a snarl of rage, I ran at him and lunged, striking out with my fists. I gave a savage cry of triumph when my fist connected with his jaw. He gave me several jabs to my ribs, but I kept hitting him relentlessly.

Suddenly, something hit the back of my head and I went down as if I had been poleaxed. I lay there, stunned, staring up at James and Amelia.

"You hit me," I croaked.

She waved the heavy reading lamp she had used to hit me threateningly. "And I'll do it again."

James pressed his phone to his ear, moved away and spoke rapidly into it. In a couple of minutes, two security guards burst into the room just as I was trying to get to my feet.

"Take this piece of trash and throw him out of the house," James barked.

"And if I see him in this house ever again, you'll both loose your jobs," Amelia added.

The security guards nodded, swooped down and grabbed me roughly by the arms.

"Let go of me," I yelled, struggling in their grip. "Get your hands off me. You can't do this."

"Just did." Amelia smirked.

Before the guards dragged me out of the room, James slid an arm around Amelia's waist and began to lead her to the bed. My strength was no match for the guards. They dumped me on my ass outside the mansion and shut the gates in my face. Beside myself with anger, I pounded, and kept pounding on the gates.

"You'll pay for this, Amelia," I raved. "I swear it. You won't get away with cheating on me. Somehow, someway, I'll get back at you for this."

I stopped when my hands were sore with pounding and my throat was sore with screaming. I turned to leave when I suddenly heard a loud buzzing. I gasped, looked around for the source of the sound. It took me a few seconds to realize that the sound was coming from inside my head. It grew louder with each passing second, and I felt as if my skull was about to burst open. I clapped my hands to my ear and sank onto my knees.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" I screamed.

Underneath the buzzing, were sounds of several clicks and beeps.

“New User Detected. System Activated.” I heard just before I passed out on the ground.