Slowly falling apart

Jennie grabbed the bag and opened it. She took out the box and removed the cover. One look at the phone made her burst into tears. It was a white phone with tiny yellow writings on the frame saying, "I love you."

The loneliness in the living room made Jennie feel extra awful as she stared at both phones on the table. She only desires to own one, which is the phone Jackson bought. However, she could not reject the other since it will be at the cause of exposing her secret.

"Okay, Jennie. You can fix this problem. All you need to do now is to work out everything one step at a time. Let's start with a thank you and see where the conversation goes." Jennie told herself.

Jackson sat at the counter, eating a hot bowl of noodles. He sensed a presence in the kitchen and figured it was his wife. Jackson lifted his head and gazed at Jennie for a short while before focusing on his food.

"Thanks for the phone, babe," Jennie said as she stood in the kitchen doorway.

"UMM," Jackson mumbled as he put the chopstick wrapped with noodles into his mouth.

Jennie came closer and took a seat. She laid the phone he purchased for her on the table and held the other in her hand.

"I love the little details on the phone frame. I love that you know exactly the things I like, and I love you." Jennie stated.

Jackson banged his chopstick on the table, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arm. All he wanted was to eat in peace and alone, but Jennie was making it hard for him to do so.

"I am glad you like it. We have been arguing a lot these days, and I wanted you to have a reminder that I love you even if I don't say it sometimes. But that does not matter now since you got some fancy phone." Jackson stated.

He then picks up his chopstick and continues eating his meal. After a few minutes, Jackson's eyes caught a gaze at the other phone, and the detail finally seized his attention.

"Wait, is that iPhone 6 Pink Diamond?" Jackson replied in shock.

Jennie drew her hand from on the table and rested it on her lap. She felt extremely worried as she realized that this was another foolish idea she had made by bringing this other phone with her to the kitchen.

"How many loans did you take to purchase such a phone?" Jackson asked, looking her straight in the eyes to see what better lie his wife would come up with this time.

Jennie! You've started this story, and you've got to stick with it.' She thought. There was no backing out of this argument, and Jennie recognized that. All she could do now was to tell another lie and hope that her husband could overlook it.

"Oh, this is not the original model. It's a duplicate of the original." Jennie said, trying to stay with her lies.

"Ha! Can I see it then?" Jackson replied. He wondered how long she could endure this act. Being with Jennie for twelve years has made him know his wife as he knew himself, and Jackson could tell her words were all lies.

'Well, this is not going as I planned.' Jennie thought as she hesitantly handed over the phone to her husband. At this point, Jennie did not know what to expect, seeing how calm yet cold Jackson's expression seemed when he examined the phone.

"It looks like a real diamond to me. So do you want us to try this again?" Jackson said when he got done inspecting the phone and placed it on the table.

"All that I have said before is the truth!" Jennie replied with a bold expression, but deep inside, she felt disgusted with herself.

Jackson stood up in anger. He grabs the glass of water and throws it at the wall. "Clash!" The sound echoes before the glass smashes into pieces, and the water spills on the floor.

"Damn it, Jennie! I am sick and tired of your lies. I don't know who the hell you are right now, but you are not the woman I fell in love with, and you are not the beautiful soul I entrusted my heart too from the beginning of our relationship. And now I don't even recognize you. I can't even tell your lies from your truth anymore because your words are full of so many deceptions." Jackson shouted.

He felt so mad and hurt by the fact that silence was the only response Jennie gave him after his statement. His heart kept beating faster, and his hands were trembling from rage. Jackson could not calm down, no matter how hard he tried to suppress his anger. Jennie has been pushing him against his will for the past few weeks, and now Jackson could not subdue those emotions anymore.

"AHH!" he screamed as he sent a dozen glasses that were on the counter, falling to the floor with the broken piece flying to every angle of the room. Jackson then pushed the ten plates off the shelf and onto the floor. Broken bits of dishes were everywhere in the kitchen.

Jennie jumped back in fear. She stood against the wall with tears pouring uncontrollably from her eyes. Her body was shivering, not because she fretted that her husband would hit her, but it was the reality that she was the reason he was behaving this insanely.

"I need you to return this phone from wherever you got it from!" Jackson ordered. He bent against the counter and kept his hands pressed firmly on the surface of it to stop himself from destroying any more stuff in the room.

"I can't do that. I am sorry!" Jennie cried. Her lies were destroying her slowly, and now that she told the truth, she still felt worse because it was not the fact she wanted him to hear. Jennie knew Jackson being mad over the phone was preferable to that man coming to her house and ruining what's left of her marriage.

Jackson did not reply. But he had this crazy look in his eyes when he stared at Jennie, and she knew he would do something insane. Her eyes widened in disbelief as Jackson grabbed the phone he had purchased for her and crushed it on the wall.

"No!!!" Jennie shouted as she painfully stared at the broken phone among the pieces of shattered dishes.

The situation escalated faster than Jennie expected, leaving her speechless and emotional.

"You have made your choice. I will take the guest room, and you can take our bedroom. I am exhausted from all these shady acts, deceitful words, and never-ending arguments. Until now, I have given you the time you needed to be honest with me, but this is my limit." Jackson stated.

He grabbed his bowl of noodles, his chopstick, and a box of juice from the refrigerator and walked out.

"Babe, wait!" Jennie cried as she ran after him. She did not like the bitter expression Jackson had when he said he had reached his limit. Jennie felt like her husband would leave her at any moment, and that truly scared her.

"Don't address me if you are not willing to be truthful with your words, I don't need to hear any more lies!" Jackson replied before continuing his walk down the hallway towards the guest room.