THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER
(Chapter 14)
Lucy left the hospital to her friend’s house…
When she arrived at Rachel’s house, seeking comfort and advice. But as she entered, she was met with a shocking scene. Rachel was cowering in the corner, her husband, Michael, towering over her, his fists clenched.
“Leave me alone!” Michael yelled, his voice dripping with venom. “I don’t want you anymore!”
Rachel begged, “Please, Michael, don’t say that. I love you.”
Lucy stood frozen in the doorway, her mind racing. She had never seen this side of Michael before. She had always thought he was a kind and gentle soul.
Michael turned to Rachel, his eyes blazing with anger. “You’re useless, Rachel. You can’t even take care of our children properly.”
Rachel sobbed, “That’s not true, Michael. I’m a good mother.”
Lucy’s eyes widened as she realized that Rachel had been hiding this from her. She had been giving Lucy advice to leave her own husband, but she was staying in her own toxic marriage.
Lucy stepped forward, her voice shaking. “Rachel, what’s going on? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rachel looked up, her eyes pleading. “I was ashamed, Lucy. I didn’t want you to know.”
Michael turned to Lucy, his expression twisted in contempt. “And you’re coming to her for advice? She’s a hypocrite, Lucy. She’s staying in a loveless marriage, but she’s telling you to leave yours.”
Lucy felt a wave of shock wash over her. She had been blind to her friend’s situation, and now she saw the truth. She realized that Rachel’s advice had been misguided, and she had almost made a huge mistake.
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Michael left them both as lucy’s anger boiled over as she confronted Rachel. “How could you, Rachel? You’ve been misleading me all this while, telling me to leave my husband when you’re stuck in a toxic marriage yourself”
Rachel’s face reddened with anger. “How dare you, Lucy! You have no right to judge me”
Lucy’s voice rose. “I have every right! You’ve been giving me advice, pretending to be some kind of expert on relationships, when in reality, you’re just as lost as I am”
Rachel sneered. “At least I’m not blind to my husband’s infidelity like you are”
Story by amazing pen.
Lucy’s eyes flashed with anger. “How dare you bring that up! You know nothing about my marriage!”
Rachel snarled. “I know enough to see that you’re making a mistake by staying with him. But hey, stay in your miserable marriage, see if I care!”
Lucy’s anger reached a fever pitch. “You’re one to talk, Rachel! You’re staying in a marriage where your husband abuses you, and you’re telling me to leave mine?”
Rachel’s voice rose to a shout. “At least my husband doesn’t cheat on me! At least he doesn’t break my heart every day!”
Lucy’s eyes stung with tears. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Rachel. You’re just projecting your own misery onto me!”
Rachel’s face twisted in rage. “I’m projecting? You’re the one who’s projecting, Lucy! You’re so desperate to hold onto your marriage that you’re willing to ignore the truth!”
The argument continued, with neither woman willing to back down, until finally, Lucy stormed out of the house, leaving Rachel in tears.
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As Lucy drove away from Rachel’s house, she couldn’t hold back her tears. “Why didn’t I see this?” she sobbed, blaming herself for her friend’s toxic marriage. “Why did I trust her advice?”
She thought about all the times Rachel had told her to leave Kelvin, to move on with her life. “But she was just projecting her own misery onto me,” Lucy realized, her tears falling harder.
“Why did I believe her?” Lucy cried out, p******g her fists on the steering wheel. “Why did I think she knew what was best for me?”
She thought about her own marriage, about the problems she and Kelvin had faced. “But we could have worked through them,” Lucy said, her voice shaking. “We could have made it work.”
Lucy’s mind raced with thoughts of what could have been. “If only I had seen through Rachel’s facade,” she thought. “If only I had trusted my own instincts.”
As she drove, Lucy’s tears turned to anger. “How could Rachel do this to me?” she fumed. “How could she pretend to be my friend when she was just using me to make herself feel better?”
Lucy’s anger turned to sadness as she thought about her friendship with Rachel. “It’s over,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Our friendship is over.”
Lucy pulled over to the side of the road, unable to drive anymore. She sat in her car, crying and blaming herself for everything. “Why didn’t I see this?” she kept asking herself. “Why did I trust her?”
As she sat there, Lucy realized that she had been blind to the truth. She had been so caught up in her own problems that she hadn’t seen the signs. But now she saw, and she knew that she had to move on.
To be continued…
