After My Husband Cheated, I Fell for My Younger Trainer Chapter 03
The first time I met Kyle was on a rainy day.
At the time, Ethan and Lily were probably still testing each other, caught in that secret, not-yet-public stage of their affair.
The secrecy often made both people even more invested.
I had seen movie ticket confirmations on his phone.
His bank statements showed two purchases from the same jewelry store.
A luxury personal shopper had appeared in his contacts, and Ethan had ordered a designer bag through them.
None of it was for me.
Sometimes he came home late at night.
Sometimes he did not come home at all.
There was always the scent of bitter-orange perfume clinging to him.
Whenever we argued about it, he claimed the gifts were for clients.
When I asked him to prove it, he accused me of deliberately creating problems.
After that, he stopped letting me touch his phone.
He even took it into the bathroom when he showered.
I started following him, trailing his car at a distance.
The third time I followed him, I saw him and Lily walking out of a restaurant together at ten at night. I went home and smashed the fourth set of dishes and the second television I had bought during our three years of marriage.
I yanked our wedding portrait off the wall behind the couch and threw it onto the floor.
He called me unstable and insane.
I still remembered the way he looked at me.
There was nothing in his eyes but disgust.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me in front of the mirror.
With his other hand gripping my jaw, he clenched his teeth and leaned close to my ear.
“Look at yourself. You look completely deranged. You seriously need to get your head checked.”
Then he shoved me aside and left again.
I collapsed onto the floor and cried from nightfall until sunrise.
By the time I finally had enough strength to stand, the mirror showed me a woman with hollow cheeks, sallow skin, and a body so thin that I could barely recognize her.
I knew Ethan was right about one thing.
I needed to go to a hospital.
I left the hospital with a diagnosis of moderate depression.
The doctor asked, “Did anyone come with you?”
I looked at my message thread with Ethan.
The last conversation had been a week earlier.
I had asked when he was coming home.
He replied, [Busy.]
I locked my phone and told the doctor, “No.”
The rain was pouring that afternoon.
I did not call a cab, and I did not go home.
I walked through the streets alone for a long time.
The wind nearly ripped the umbrella out of my hands.
Water soaked into my shoes, my hair clung to my face, and my clothes were drenched through.
I must have looked miserable and exhausted.
When I reached the entrance of a shopping mall, someone handed me a flyer.
“Want to learn to swim? I guarantee I can teach you. If I can’t, you get a full refund.”
I looked up.
The young man in front of me wore an athletic tank top.
He had broad shoulders, long legs, and eyes that crinkled when he smiled.
He had probably never seen a potential client look quite as miserable as I did, because his smile quickly faded.
“Are you okay?”
I lowered my gaze to the flyer.
It read: Kyle Bennett, Private Swimming Instructor.
I asked him, “Do you really guarantee I’ll learn?”
He nodded immediately.
“I do.”
I asked another question.
“Can you make me happy too?”
He froze for a moment.
Then he answered with complete seriousness.
“Yes.”
That was how I signed up for lessons.
The first time I entered the pool, my legs were so weak I could barely stand.
Surrounded by all that water, I felt the same crushing breathlessness I always felt when I faced Ethan.
Kyle steadied me by the upper arms, his voice patient and steady.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m right here. I won’t let you sink.”
I was in terrible shape back then. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and after only a few minutes in the water, I would struggle to breathe.
Kyle noticed something was wrong, but he never pushed me to explain.
The first time I tried floating, he held my hand the entire time.
As I held my breath beneath the water, a terrifying thought suddenly appeared and grew stronger.
I’m going to die.
I have to save myself!
I clutched Kyle’s hand as tightly as I could.
It felt as if I were already drowning and his hand was the only thing keeping me alive.
But I made it through.
By my third lesson, I could float on my own without sinking.
Kyle told me that the water would support my body.
All I had to do was relax and stop pushing myself so hard.
After every session, he placed a bottle of warm water in my hands.
“You did well today. You swam two yards farther than yesterday.”
I asked, “Does two yards really count?”
“Of course it counts. Even half an inch farther counts.”
The first time I swam a full length of the pool by myself, I sat at the edge and burst into tears.
Kyle did not ask why.
He simply draped a towel over my shoulders.
“Cry it out before you leave. It’s windy outside.”
I cried so hard that day that I must have looked awful.
He crouched in front of me and handed me tissues, one after another.
Finally, he asked, “Erin, has it been a long time since anyone truly took care of you?”
The moment I heard those words, I could no longer speak.
Ethan had always been popular.
There had never been a shortage of women who liked him.
Back in college, my family was wealthy and my grades were good, but whenever I stood beside him, someone always said I was not good enough for him.
To make him choose me, I learned how to cook.
I stayed up all night helping him revise his résumé.
I memorized everything he liked.
On his birthday, I waited outside his dorm for three hours just to give him a scarf.
When he took it, all he said was, “Don’t wait this long next time.”
I convinced myself he was worried about me.
Before the wedding, my mother asked, “Erin, are you sure about this?”
I held Ethan’s arm and smiled with complete confidence.
“I’m sure.”
After we married, my family paid for the apartment and all the renovation costs.
My father introduced Ethan to an old friend and helped him secure his first real career opportunity.
At the time, I believed we were husband and wife, and married couples should not keep score over who gave more.
But I had forgotten something important.
A relationship required effort from both people.
I had done everything I could for our marriage. Ethan had not.
