When a Henpecked Man Finally Sees DaylightChapter 1
Errol's POV
Eight days before our engagement, I stumbled upon an Instagram video of my girlfriend, Sacha Ferguson, with her male best friend, Craig Kinsman. The caption was teasingly cryptic: [There's rain ahead, and he has an umbrella.] In the video, they were dressed in matching outfits, walking side by side beneath a shared umbrella, the chemistry between them undeniable. Against my better judgment, I left a comment: [You two look great together.]
Soon after, the video disappeared, and a drunken Sacha called, accusing me of being petty and once again targeting her male best friend. A few minutes later, Craig posted a picture of them hugging on his feed, the location tagged for all to see. He wanted me to react, to charge over in a jealous rage, and make a scene like I had in the past.
But this time, I didn’t take the bait.
It was already morning when Sacha came back, and I had just finished freshening up by then. The dining table was still set with the dishes I had made, and the unopened bottle of wine was left untouched. Yesterday was my birthday, and she had promised to spend the evening with me. As such, I took the day off and went to the market to buy all her favorite food. When I started cooking the first dish, she told me she was already on her way back home. Yet, she hadn’t shown up until now.
If it weren’t for Craig's post, showing off their cozy evening together, I might have spent the night worrying, imagining her caught in some accident during the mere three-kilometer drive from his place to mine.
“Something came up yesterday, couldn’t make it back. But here’s the cake I got you,” she said with a yawn, tossing a small cake box onto the table like an afterthought. “Let's take a picture, come on. You can post it this time, you know, as a little apology.”
She stretched lazily on the couch, her eyes half-closed, like she was doing me a favor. In the past, I would’ve jumped at the chance to take a photo together, carefully setting the cake and lighting candles, crafting a thoughtful caption for social media. It was a rare privilege, after all. Sacha rarely allowed me to post pictures of us, always claiming that our relationship was private and there was no need for others to get involved as long as we were happy. Over time, those photos had become more of a reward than a shared moment.