Chapter 3

I left the office shortly after Vin had gone. Lily would usually get home about five thirty, at least an hour before I got back from work. Normally she would have started cooking and that would be too domestic a situation for the conversation we were going to have. It was the middle of the afternoon when I opened the front door, plenty of time for me to arrange things. I had left my car in the pub car park, somehow thinking that if Lily didn't know I was home she would be surprised and it would unsettle her. Stupid thought really, she couldn't deny anything; it was all on the DVD. I slotted the disc into the player and pressed pause at the point where they entered the room and sat down. The photos, Vin called them screen grabs, I sorted. I wouldn't need all of them. I picked out the one where Lily was standing on the table naked, then another which showed her spread on the table awaiting their attention. I put them in a spare folder I had brought home with me. There would be no need for any more although Vin's friend had provided plenty. I made myself a cup of tea and sat down to wait.

Lily came in at five twenty-five. She went straight to the kitchen to put the kettle on, and then came into the back room we called the lounge and stopped short as she saw me.

"Chad! You startled me. You're home early, has something happened? Are you not feeling well?" I raised my hand.

"Something has happened and no, I am not feeling well."

"In that case, darling. I am going to call the doctor. This had been going on for too long."

"Yes it has, but the doctor won't be able to cure this. Sit down Lily." She looked at me curiously and sat in the arm chair. I flicked the 'play' button on the remote and the screen lightened and suddenly they were there. I heard a gasp. I let the DVD play for a while. I could hear Lily hyperventilating.

I turned to her. "Interesting this DVD."

She was trying to catch her breath moaning. "No, for God's sake no!" Her hands came up and covered her face and I heard wretched sobbing coming from between her cupped hands. I stopped the DVD and waited for her to recover. It took a while as every time her crying lessened she would lift her face toward me and seeing the stony expression on my face, the tears and sobs would start again. Eventually she could cry no more. She couldn't look me in the eye, her face was blotched and red with tears drying on her cheeks.

"How?" She cleared her throat and tried again. "How d..."

I interrupted her. "It doesn't matter how, it only that matters that I know. That DVD is two and a half hours long, so you understand what it shows. All of it!" I shouted. "Everything!" She burst into tears again.

To give her time to recover I went and made two coffees. I thought that caffeine was needed for this conversation. I carried them into the lounge and brought a warm damp flannel for Lily to wipe her face. She smiled weakly to signify her thanks. She took a sip of coffee.

"I am so sorry, Chad."

I agreed that she was sorry. "Of course you are. Would you be sorry though if I had not found out?" She didn't reply to that question. I didn't expect a response.

"What are you going to do now, Chad?"

"I am not doing anything. You are."

"What do you mean?"

"You are going upstairs and packing your bags. Tomorrow you leave this house, and you will never come back."

"Oh Chad, do I have to? I love you so much." I flicked open the folder and selected the photo where the activity was most closely observed. I put it in front of her.

"Is this how you love me so much?" I shouted. A fresh bout of sobbing ensued. I left her alone for a while. I needed to get myself under control as well. The anger was burning inside of me, but I couldn't give it free rein; I was sure that I would do her harm if that happened.

When I returned she had regained composure. "Are you going to divorce me?" She asked fearfully.

"No, Lily. I am not." She looked up a spark of hope in her eyes that were dashed when I continued. "If you decide that you like the sort of life that Bennington gives you, then you will have to divorce me. I'll use those pictures to defend the action and the likely outcome is that you get nothing. It will probably mean that Bennington will be divorced as well. I would imagine that his wife will leave him destitute, so I doubt that you will have a good life with him unless he pimps you out. You seem to be good at that." Lily blanched as I compared her to a prostitute, but didn't argue. I knew that the DVD and photos would not be admissible in Court as they were obtained illegally. Lily didn't know that.

"I wouldn't be with him. I don't really like him that much." The question in my mind was if that were the case why give him her body. I didn't ask, it would invite her to explain and I couldn't face the humiliation of having her tell me that I was insufficient for her. "Why are you not going to divorce me?"

"There is little point. I am not going to get married again; you seem to have put me off the wedded state. A divorce would cost me; I have worked too hard to put all this in jeopardy. You go. If you have any pride in yourself you will find another job and try to put what you have done behind you. However, I will make you an allowance. You need to open your own bank account as from tomorrow your cards will not work. I will put some money into your account every month. Oh, and you can keep the car."