𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑾𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 (𝑺𝑳𝑶𝑾 𝑼𝑷𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑺)

9

A Broken Echo Of The Shattered Heart

Lisa sat, tears streaming down her face, a familiar ache in her chest. Days blurred into a melancholic haze, each one a painful reminder of the shattered pieces of her life. Five years of love, five years of marriage, and not a single fight. Jennie, her wife, had always been the epitome of understanding, their communication a seamless flow of shared dreams and unspoken promises.

But the foundation of their love, once unyielding, had crumbled under the weight of a devastating truth. Jennie's infidelity, a betrayal so profound it left Lisa drowning in a sea of despair, had shattered the illusion of their perfect world.

**SLAP!

"How long could you keep holding on to a relationship knowing that your wife had betrayed you and has already fallen out of love with you?!" Marcus Manobal voice boomed, his anger a palpable force in the room.

Lisa's gaze met his, her eyes reflecting the storm raging within her. "I'm not going to do that, Dad," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Do you hear yourself?! Your wife cheated on you, she had an affair with Taehyung, and you still refuse to divorce her?!" Her father words were like daggers, each one piercing through Lisa's already wounded heart.

"What did you just say? Taehyung and Jennie?" Catalina, Lisa's mom's voice, laced with disbelief, echoed through the room.

"Marcus, what is happening?" she asked, her gaze shifting between Lisa and her husband.

"You heard me, Catalina. Jennie and Taehyung deceived Lisa. They betrayed her!" Marcus voice rose, his anger reaching a fever pitch.

"I'm not leaving her----MARCUS!" Catalina scream pierced the air as Dad lunged at Lisa, his hand gripping her shirt collar.

"Tell me, did she threaten you? Did she do something?" he demanded, his voice tight with fury.

"No," Lisa replied, her voice barely audible.

"Then why can't you leave her?!"

"Marcus, let her go!!!" The older woman pleaded, trying to push him away.

"WHY?!!!" Marcus voice echoed, his face contorted with rage.

"BECAUSE I WANT HER TO BE MISERABLE WITH ME!" Lisa's voice, a raw cry of anguish, shattered the stillness of the room.

"What?" Her father's voice, laced with surprise, hung in the air, a question mark in the face of her outburst.

"She can't be happy while I'm in pain..." Lisa sobbed, her voice a broken melody of despair. Tears streamed down her face, a cascade of grief that mirrored the storm raging within her.

"She tried to file a divorce, Dad, but I didn't let her... I won't let her." Her words, choked with a mixture of anger and desperation, were a testament to the depths of her pain. "I told her that she couldn't be happy while I'm in pain, Dad." Lisa cried, her vulnerability laid bare before her parents, a fragile soul exposed to the cold light of their judgment.

Marcus slowly released his grip on her daughter, his fingers reluctantly parting from her arm. His gaze, heavy with a mixture of concern and helplessness, remained fixed on her as she wept. The sight of her tears, a cascade of raw emotion, was a physical blow to his own heart.

"Lisa..." Lisa's mom whispered, her hand instinctively rising to cover her mouth, as if to stifle the sobs that threatened to erupt from her own throat. The sight of her daughter in such anguish was a wound that cut deep into her maternal soul.