Til’ Death Do Us Part….part 1

Rain battered the windshield so hard it blurred the world into streaks of silver and red. The car smelled like wet asphalt and tension.

Ashanti sat in the passenger seat, arms folded over her chest, staring straight ahead while Ashanti crooned faintly from the radio — ironic and cruel at the same time.

Desmond’s hands gripped the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

“It wasn’t what you think,” he said for the fifth time. “I was lonely. You been distant. I felt pushed away.”

“Lonely?” Ashanti’s laugh was brittle. “So loneliness makes you fall into somebody else?”

Thunder cracked overhead.

Before he could answer, his phone lit up in the cupholder.

Marcus – New Hope Church

The name alone made her stomach twist.

Desmond moved too fast, reaching for it.

Ashanti moved faster.

She snatched the phone.

“Shanti, give me that—”

She had already unlocked it. His passcode hadn’t changed. It was still her birthday.

The thread was open.

Marcus: You left your jacket in my office. Smells like you.

Marcus: Sunday service about to start. You coming early like last time?

Marcus: I can’t stop thinking about how you said you never did this before me.

Ashanti’s fingers trembled as she scrolled.

Pictures.

Not explicit — but intimate. A selfie in the church office mirror. Desmond’s hand visible. Marcus’ caption: “My favorite secret.”

The rain grew louder.

She slowly turned her head toward him.

“So you are doing the bending?” she asked, voice breaking under the weight of betrayal.

Desmond’s jaw tightened. “Ain’t nobody bending me over.”

She stared at him.

He swallowed hard. “It ain’t like that.”

“Then what is it like, Desmond?” Her voice rose. “You sleeping with the man from the church? The same church you drag me to every Sunday?”

He slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “It was just talking at first! He understood me. He listened. You don’t listen no more!”

“So you laid with him because he listens?” Tears streamed down her face now. “You let me sit in the front pew while you sneak to the back office?”

He didn’t answer.

The silence said enough.

Her chest tightened. “How long?”

Desmond stared at the rain.

“…Six months.”

The world inside the car felt smaller. Suffocating.

Her phone buzzed in her lap.

She ignored it.

Desmond’s phone buzzed again in her hand.

Marcus: You good? You said she was starting to suspect something.

Ashanti’s breath hitched.

She looked at Desmond.

“You told him about me?”

Desmond closed his eyes.

And that’s when her phone buzzed again.

She glanced down this time.

It was a text from an unknown number.

If you’re in the car with him, you need to leave. Now.

You don’t know the whole truth.

Another message came through.

Check the deleted messages. And check the church security footage from last Wednesday.

Ashanti slowly looked up at Desmond.

“Who else knows?” she whispered.

Desmond’s face drained of color.

The rain kept falling.

And somewhere across town, the church bells began to ring.

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