Bella's voice sounded sad when she spoke, so I did a 180 and went back outside and to my car.

I parked in front of her house, where I saw Bella with her make-up completely smudged, her eyes all red, like she's just been crying.

“Hey, what happened?” I hugged her.

“I found-” as soon as she said that she broke down again, crying.

“What did you find?” I asked, as I held her in my arms.

“Texts,” Bella said before pausing for a second.

“Photos,” she added.

“We have a family and he went and did that.”

Raven's eyes widened as she tried to comprehend what she just said.

“Should we go talk inside?” Raven asked.

Bella shook her head, “I've already put Mateo to sleep, and I don't want to wake him.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I nodded, “Okay, then let's talk here.”

She wiped away her tears, before speaking again, “Nicholas, all of his long trips. He has another woman he is seeing. And she's pregnant!”

The tears started pouring out of her eyes again.

“I can't even divorce him!” she buried her head into my shoulder.

“I am so sorry this happened to you.”

She sighed, “I don't know if I should even bring it up. What if he leaves us? I would have to find a new job…”

“If you split up, you'd get half his money, which should be enough for a little bit, just until you can find one,” I tried to be supportive.

“And what about Mateo? He would have to grow up without his father around. I can't do that.”

Raven didn't know what I should say. She wanted to comfort Bella somehow, yet she didn't know how.

“I just… Don't know what to do. I can't pretend everything is the same.”

There was pain in Bella's words, as she tried to hold back tears.

Bella swiped away her tears and looked at Raven, “Thank you for listening.”

“Of course, anytime.”

Loud crying could be heard from the house.

“Mateo must have woken up. I should go check up on him.”

Raven followed Bella into the house where Bella picked up Mateo and slowly rocked him until he fell asleep again.

“Can I offer you anything? I have tea, orange juice, and water. I would offer you coffee, but I feel like it's too late for that.”

Raven nodded, “A glass of water would be nice.”

Bella took a glass from the cabinet, before opening the fridge where she stored filtered water, which she poured into the glass. Then she handed it to Raven.

“Thank you,” she said before taking a sip.

Bella sat down on the chair by the kitchen table, “Sometimes I wonder if I did something wrong.”

“Don't say that!” Raven quickly interjected.

“I know, I know. It's just-” she sighed, “I don't know. My brain likes to overthink sometimes.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

Raven looked at the clock on her phone. Bella stood up, “It's late, and you have to go to work tomorrow, I shouldn't stall you here.”

“It's fine, I can stay a bit longer,” Raven replied.

“I'm serious, you can go. Actually, I am kinda tired now myself. So…”

Raven drank the remaining water, “I guess I'll go then. Stay safe, okay?”

They hugged and Raven left. The drive home felt so heavy. Seeing her friend in so much pain impacted her as well. But all she could do now was put on her pajamas and fall asleep, which is exactly what she did.