Chapter 1 The Pandora Box

• Pandora Box
• As I sat there buried in paperwork, overwhelmed with obligations and deadlines, the feeble brightness of my laptop screen cast unnerving shadows around the room. When Charlotte's soft voice sounded from the bedroom like a siren's call in the night, I was tempted to give up my alone and curl up in our bed.
• Come to bed, Jacks. I miss you.
• Grumbling, I looked at the clock; it was already past midnight. Her remarks, however duty demanded, made me long for the little joys of intimacy and affection.
• With remorse, I answered, "I'll be there soon, love." Not many minutes at all.
• My fruitless attempts to clean my disorganized desk were stopped short by a friend request. Curious, I clicked on the symbol and inadvertently let desire and deception into my life.
• The profile featured a familiar face—that of an unidentified woman whose presence revived memories long since forgotten by time. An adrenaline rush rushed through me as I penetrated her virtual world further and untangled a web of lies and longing.
• To my heart racked with guilt, casual conversations became declarations of forbidden love, every word a blade. Her claims, which shattered the silence, threatened to shatter the fragile threads of my marriage—a child, a secret held in the shadows, a testament to our reckless indiscretion.
• Guilty of my betrayal, I cut the link with shaking fingers. For a little moment of passion—Charlotte's trust and her unwavering dedication—I had risked everything.
• I stepped gingerly into the bedroom and heard her breathing quietly, a lullaby of innocence among the tumult of my conscience. I lowered down to drop a gentle kiss on her forehead, my lips just touching her flesh.
• "I love you," I whispered, a petition for forgiveness and an atonement chant.
• Ignorant of the anger boiling inside my mind, she murmured in her sleep, her eyelids fluting and a tiny smile on her lips.
• I grudgingly shut down my laptop, the screen becoming black. But the ghost of my past hovered over our sanctuary like a shadow even as I curled up close to her and took solace in her hug.
• Was this short meeting the preface to a horrific dive into darkness where secrets whispered in the night may kill lives with a single breath? As I got ready for the bumpy journey that lay ahead, I reasoned that time would tell.
• Looking at the television, I felt both astonishment and anxiety. Heart hammered. So many years later, Lucy had found me. Reliving that one reckless evening brought back vivid memories of my past wrongdoings.
• The message flashed, "Jacks, are you there?" each word a tease and a reminder of the secrets we shared.
• Fingers trembling, my thoughts racing with opposing emotions, I answered back. You obtained this number, how?
• She spoke swiftly and with poison in her words. You cannot just erase me from your life, Jacks. There is unfinished business. Is that relevant?
• Her accusation hammering heavily on my conscience, I took a huge swallow. "I can't put my wife Lucy's life in danger."
• Her giggling was a startling reminder of her power over me in the stillness. Funny how, while you were with me, you didn't give that any thought. Or have you forgotten our little secret?"
• Her words sliced like a blade across the air, and my cheeks drained blood. What allowed me to treat her so carelessly? But now, with her there, everything I had painstakingly built threatened to collapse.
• Almost whispering, I said, "What do you want from me, Lucy?"
• A pregnant silence like a passing dark storm. After that came her poisonous and dishonest response. Jacks, I want what is mine. And I'm not going to quit till I understand."
• I could feel it deep in my gut that Lucy was not going to go away quietly. She was a tough rival, a persistent specter from my past.
• As soon as I scampered back into bed with Charlotte, I felt uncomfortable. Before me was a battleground of secrets and lies against love and loyalty.
• I also realized right then that the battle was far from over. We were all about to be swallowed by the hurricane Lucy had unleashed.
• I could still feel disaster coming, as Charlotte stirred next me, her brow wrinkled in sleep. Everything I valued seemed shaky when Lucy was around, like a black cloud.
• Charlotte responded, "Jacks, you sound worried."
• Falsely smiling, I responded, "Just some work stuff, sweetie. Get back to sleep.
• Sleep escaped me, though, as I lay there battling demons I had made. At the moment I thought the darkness could not get any darker, my phone buzzed with a new message, a hint of chaos in the tranquility of the night.
• It was Lucy, her words full of malice. Jacks, I'll see you soon and you won't be able to avoid me this time."
• I stared at the computer, hands trembling with fear and doubt. Just what did she say? How had she found me and what did she want?
• Though another message with a terrible picture of Charlotte sound asleep next to me, unaware of the danger that lied beyond the shadows, emerged before I could think on the questions that were troubling me.
• When I realised how bad things were, my heart pounded in my chest. Not just to me but to all I valued, to the woman I loved more than life itself, Lucy was a threat.
• A sense of dread gripping me like a vice let me realize that the nightmare was far from over. I stared into the gap ahead, unable to turn back, because Lucy's wicked game had only just begun.
• When night came, I was unable to answer. I so got ready for the impending storm, hoping that we would be spared the chaos that was waiting for us in the shadows, devastated and terrified.