The Other Man [Book One]

Chapter 40 - Omen

The house was silent and still when I walked in, but for a moment, I stood in the hallway and looked around, wondering why everything seemed... different. Nothing had changed, everything was as I had left it the previous afternoon, but there was something I couldn't put my finger on which made the back of my neck tense.

Eventually, I managed to brush away my sense of foreboding and headed upstairs to our bedroom. Pausing on the landing, I saw the door was ajar, and through the gap came the sound of Will snoring. There were many things I wouldn't miss about him, his snoring among the top five.

I pushed the door open and crept in, despite knowing it was stupid because I was going in there to wake him. He was laying flat on his back, mouth wide open, and one foot hanging off the edge of the bed. It took longer than it should have, but I finally registered the third leg hooked over Will's thigh and the arm thrown across his stomach. Watching them sleep, I felt like an intruder. They both looked so peaceful that I almost considered creeping back out, feeling it would be rude to wake them.

Luckily, I came to my senses and realised what I was seeing before me. I'd had my suspicions. I'd spent months looking for hints and clues to confirm I was right — that my husband had been sleeping with his business partner's daughter, Mia.

What lay before me was the biggest confirmation I needed that my husband was being unfaithful.

What had never crossed my mind was that it wasn't the daughter he was sleeping with, but the business partner himself.

Terry was curled up against Will's side, his grey-white hair dishevelled, and I could make out a sleepy smile on his face. They fit together in a way that gave me a flashing memory of sleeping with Harry, but it faded away quickly as I tried to process what my eyes were looking at. Terry was like a father to me. He was my ally when it came to my husband and mother-in-law. We'd face family events together and make fun of Verity's sour, twisted face. I loved Terry and he loved me. He surely couldn't be the one who Will was cheating with.

Could he?

Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I was stumped, that was for sure. Had I unknowingly been a beard for this man for all these years, or was this a new thing? Was I the only one who didn't know? Was everyone around me laughing at me because they knew?

'Poor, stupid Layla, too blind to see that her husband likes men.'

I'd considered Harry as the other man in my marriage, but as it turned it, it was also Terry.

Rage bubbled up violently. I turned to the bedroom door, grabbed the edges with both hands and threw it open so hard that it hit the wall with an almighty bang. The handle dented the wall before swinging back shut and causing a second, louder bang. They both woke in bleary confusion, and sat up, eyes wide and with at least some decency to look guilty.

"Layla!" Will was up and out of bed first. Naked, he came towards me before realising and grabbed his robe from where it lay on the floor, covering himself up. I briefly wondered if it had been thrown there in a moment of passion. God! Had they had sex in our bed? "We can explain, Layla. Please listen."