Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

She woke up in a daze by a beeping sound from the computer. It took a few seconds for her to recall that they had fallen asleep on the floor of his study. Declan was sitting in front of his computer. The look on his face sobered her up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she gathered and put on her clothes.

“Sshh …” he put his index finger to his lips. His eyes were nailed to the monitor as he clicked away with his mouse. “Someone’s in the house.”

Her heart fell to her stomach. “What? What do you mean?” she whispered and hurried to dress.

Declan stood abruptly from his chair and switched the light off.

She looked at the computer monitor to see what he had been looking at from the CCTV, but it was turned off.

“He’s upstairs … he’s going to the bedroom,” he walked back to his desk and got a key from the drawer.

She was numbed by fear. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t reply, but she immediately knew he was going for his gun.

“I think we should call the police. What are you doing?”

He kept silent as he got the gun out of the safe.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

She touched his arm, “Please … stay here … we’ll call the police.”

He turned to her. His face was ridden with worry and anger. “It’s him.”

It was as if she was struck by a thousand volts. It can’t be. She wanted to turn the computer back on. She needed to see it for herself. She couldn’t form a single word.

“He has a gun, and he’s going to our room … there’s no time to call the police … he’ll look for us once he finds out we’re not there.”

His hands were cold.

“No … please … Declan … we’ll just hide … or … we can escape from the back … we’ll sneak out …”

Declan shook his head. He tightened his grip on her hand. “I have to face him … he’d come this far … he won’t stop here if we run away.”

They look at each other in silence. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. He pulled her in and kissed the top of her head. “I love you … stay here.”

“No … I’m coming with you …” she held on to him. “Are you going to shoot him?”

The look on her face said it all. He caught it. She was scared, but most of all, she was scared for Roman. She didn’t want him to get hurt. Even after she knew he had a gun and was going up to their bedroom. She still didn’t want Roman to get hurt.

Declan almost hated her for it.

“Not if I don’t have to,” he said and cocked the gun. He let go of her hand and opened the door as carefully as he could. He gestured for her to stay back, so she fell a few steps behind him.

They snuck out of the study, tiptoed along the corridor, and climbed the stairs.

—

The climb from the first step of the stairs to the second-floor landing was lost in her. She was moving forward by instinct. It was too dark to see. They had spent the entire afternoon in the study and fell asleep. She realized she didn’t even know what time it was.

She heard a faint rustling in the living room upstairs, but her heart was beating louder in her ears. Declan was further up the stairs. Her legs got heavier. She fell behind.

She wanted to shout at him, tell him to stop, tells him to change his mind, and leave the house instead.

Roman with a gun. Declan with a gun. How will this encounter turn out? They were both not in a state of mind where they could face each other with guns between them. She didn’t want either of them to get hurt. How did it come to this?

There was no time to think. She had to be the one to stop the madness. She picked up her pace. She stumbled on one of the steps. It echoed. She stopped breathing. It was dead silence upstairs before a sudden movement was heard. She hurried to catch up with Declan, and when she arrived at the landing … Bang! Bang!

She wasn’t fast enough to stop it but was there in time to see him fall to the ground. Her mouth gaped open. She covered it with both her hands. It felt like her heart was going to escape her. Her mind went blank. He was shot … twice … and then he fell to the floor. There was no movement.