I couldn't suppress the disgust rising within me any longer. I vomited everything in my stomach. Hearing the sound of me retching, he grew anxious on the other end of the phone.
Meanwhile, in the video, he suddenly sat up, holding the girl tightly. A few minutes later, Javier threw his shirt to the girl and said, "My wife's not feeling well. You'll have to go home on your own tonight."
His voice softened afterward, slightly husky from the aftermath, "Take a cab, don't save money. It's dangerous outside."
But the girl, frail after their encounter, was too weak to even get out of the car. Javier, his eyes still red, grabbed her by the neck and kissed her forcefully. "This time, I'll take you home. Don't expect this again," he said.
Watching the dashcam footage on my tablet, I laughed silently. But tears streamed down my face, falling onto the screen.
I had known Javier for fifteen years. My family didn't agree with our marriage. To marry me, he started his own business right after graduating. He used to drink himself into having stomach ulcers for work, the worst time landing him in the ICU.
I cried and begged him not to push himself so hard. But he just smiled, looking content while he said, "Mandy, I know I'm not good enough for you, but I'll work hard. Please wait a little longer for me, okay?"
I waited for him for five years, enduring countless proposals from my parents and mockery from relatives. I accepted it all with a smile.
When I turned twenty-nine, Javier's company went public and he became a rising star in the tech world. He proposed to me and we had a grand wedding.
Afterward, I became pregnant easily and I thought my life was perfect. But Javier turned me into a joke.
I put down the tablet, dragging my exhausted body to clean up the vomit. An hour later, Javier returned.
He was carrying a bag of seafood porridge. He asked me, "Mandy, how are you feeling? Still unwell? There was an urgent matter at work, so I'm a bit late. Please don't be mad," he said, placing the porridge on the coffee table, looking at me with concern.
Those eyes, just like the ones I had fallen in love with years ago. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that the man who once loved me could become this person.
I didn't answer his questions but instead asked, "Javier, why did you change your shirt?"