Unfaithful: Web Of Betrayal

He first saw his future wife when she set foot on the beauty pageant his company had sponsored. Olivia Harmon was 22 years old; she was a model, freshly graduated from University, where she studied Interior Design.

Her confidence radiated through her wide smile; she was intelligent and witty in answering the questions. Even from a very young age, she had a distinct elegance about her, the way she carried herself was very graceful, and it caught his attention.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

He was one of the most eligible bachelors in Lancaster then, and his face was frequently posted in Lifestyle magazines as one of the most influential people under 30 in the business industry. His family owns one of the biggest diamond companies, and he was appointed to lead one of their affiliate companies at 28.

The stunning beauty didn’t take long for him to get smitten. She was funny, they were compatible intellectually, and she wasn’t intimidated by his reputation; more than that, even though she was younger than him, she was bringing a lot to their relationship and helped him grow as a person. She was exactly what he needed to be his life partner.

After she won the contest, she was involved in many of Declan’s company’s businesses and humanitarian projects. She later joined his company professionally and made a career for herself there too.

They courted for three years. He proposed to her on his 30th birthday and got married on her 25th birthday. They were full of hope, passion, and potential. However, his mom wasn’t Olivia’s biggest fan; she had always wanted Declan to marry into another old-money family. But her son had chosen his equal.

Having Olivia as his romantic partner wasn’t the easiest. There were always men on the sidelines waiting for their relationship to fall apart so they could swoop in and take her away. But Declan didn’t worry about it very much, mostly because of his social status; he wasn’t a bad-looking guy himself. Women were lining up to be with him too. They were what they call a power couple.

After they got married, things took another turn. Her role in the company was gradually reduced because Declan thought she didn’t need to be working anymore. They could very well provide for a family without her having to generate any income; she can enjoy the high society lifestyle and start concentrating on becoming a mother to their children.

They started trying 2 years into their marriage; they bought a brownstone house in the elite urban area where their children could commute easily to the best private school in the neighborhood. They tried to get pregnant for 5 years and failed many times.

Those were the times when their sex life changed and became a chore that they had to do to start a real family. The pressure was higher as the years went by. Getting her period became another frustrating failure they had to overcome month after month. They’ve lost count of how many times they went to the doctor’s office and tested their fertility to find out whose reproduction system was not functioning normally. They tried every trick in the book on how to get pregnant, and none of them worked.

Olivia became sensitive to the news that someone they knew was pregnant. It felt like everyone else was having kids while they couldn’t even get one seed to grow inside her. Everyone made it look so easy while they were at their wit’s end, failing at their every attempt. They had fights about it. One harmless comment from a relative could turn into a huge outburst on their part. It was unfathomable; there was nothing wrong with them; they just couldn’t get pregnant.

Their relationship is strained as a result. They were at their weakest point, and another person came in. Declan was 38 years old, the same age as his wife now. He couldn’t quite explain in detail how it all began. As far as his mind let him recall, it all ‘just happened.’

He felt like he was failing his wife. He came home every day to find her frowning all alone in the house they bought to be a family. They weren’t enjoying their sex anymore because of the compulsion to conceive a baby at the end of every session. She was losing herself, not knowing how to be because she was so ready to be a mother, but no baby was happening in 5 years.

Then a woman came along; she understood exactly what he was going through because she once went through the same thing. She and her husband couldn’t have a child either, and life went on. Declan found comfort in her advice. Not having children was not the end of the world. But Olivia still struggled to accept it; she wanted to try again.

He was looking at his wife in a different light. He saw her as a person who was now against him, blaming him for his shortcomings. He felt like he had done everything he could, but it wasn’t enough. She was unhappy, and he was a fool.

He will never forget the day she found out about his affair. He saw the light on her face disappear. The disbelief, disgust, and devastation that he could never repair. He wanted her to take out all her anger and dump it on him, he was to blame, and he will live to regret it.

It took them three years to fix the damage. Every phone call or text message would prick her ears. Her eyes were looking at him like he was hiding something from him. He had lied to her again and again in the course of two years of his affair; there was a permanent mark on his forehead, a big fat liar. Her lips told him she forgave him, but she was never the same after that.

The past year had been a peaceful period in their marriage. They have finally survived the adversity. A child was still not in the picture, but Olivia had requested that she do something with her life; she wanted to revive her interior design career. Something she had always been passionate about and had only been using her skills for personal use ever since she stopped working. It was a good sign, he thought.

She was looking for alternatives, looking ahead to life without offspring. Her business can be ‘her baby.’ He had given her everything she asked for since his screw-up; whatever she needed to be happy, he would gladly give it to her.

He supported her decisions personally and professionally. He saw how determined she was to open her own interior design firm, putting up all her talents and education to use. She hadn’t had solo travel ever since they got married; he knew how much she enjoyed it and how it may be helpful for her wholesome healing. So when she said she wanted to take a break, he paid for the best of what his money could buy.