The Ultimate Betrayal (7 page)

H
ave you lost your mind?” Melanie shouted. “Really, Brad? Another ten thousand dollars?”

Brad had just gotten home and walked into the kitchen, but he was speechless.

From the time Melanie had entered the house two hours ago and gone through the mail, she'd been livid. In all the years they'd been together, she'd never been in the habit of opening any of Brad's letters, even if she did read through them after the fact. But ever since Brad had lost money last year, she'd sort of been on the lookout for his credit union statements. More so once she'd found out this past weekend that he'd lost another large sum of money. However, not for one moment had she expected to learn that Brad had squandered another ten grand. Normally, his statements arrived the first week of the month, but interestingly enough, this one was a few days late. Actually, she'd been so upset when she'd discovered the one on Saturday, she hadn't noticed that it didn't include the most recent figures.

“So when I asked you about the statement on Saturday, you knew all along that you'd lost more money and the one I was looking at was from last month.”

“You never asked me one way or the other.”

“But when you did all that apologizing, you knew full well that you'd already lost twenty thousand dollars.”

Brad pursed his lips and removed his suit blazer. “I didn't tell you any different because you were already screaming and yelling at me like you were crazy.”

“What did you expect? A kiss on the cheek?”

“Well, I meant what I said.”

“About what?”

“That I was sorry, and I'm done buying stocks.”

“And just like that you expect me to believe you? After you lied to me.”

“I never lied about anything. I told you I was finished with it, and that was the truth.”

“But you also conveniently left out the fact that you'd lost much more than the ten thousand I first asked you about.”

“I made a mistake.”

“How many times are you going to say that? I mean, how much more money will you lose a month from now?”

“None. I already told you this is over. It won't happen again.”

“You need professional help.”

“Excuse me?” he said, frowning.

“You need to see a psychologist. You've got a problem.”

“Woman, please. I lost some money, and now I've got mental issues?”

“You really do.”

“Yeah, right,” he said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water.

“I'm serious. We need to find someone for you to see.”

“I'm not doing that.”

“Why?”

“Because I don't have a problem.”

“You do have one. You might not be willing to admit it, but anytime someone loses twenty thousand dollars in two months, it's time to deal with it.”

Brad scooted back a chair at the island and sat down. He turned up his water bottle and looked at her. “And what about you? When are
you
gonna deal with your problems?”

“First of all, this isn't about me. And regardless of what you think, I don't have any.”

Brad laughed out loud. “Yeah, okay, Mel. Whatever you say.”

“I don't.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why are you trying to turn this whole thing on me?”

“I'm not. Just pointing out the fact that you've got issues, too.”

“I'm fine.”

“Oh, really? Are you fine when you hide your body from your own husband?”

“This isn't about me.”

“Are you fine when you walk around here dieting? Losing a few pounds and then gaining them right back? It's a vicious cycle. I never say much about it, but I'm definitely aware of it.”

“What's wrong with being healthy and wanting to look good?”

“Nothing, if it's within reason. You're trying to lose weight you barely have, and it's all because of your parents. They really messed you up, Mel.”

Melanie glared at him. “Why are you bringing my parents into this?”

“Because it's time you owned up to it. You're so quick to tell me to get help, but you're not even woman enough to handle your own drama.”

“I don't believe you.”

“I'm just tired of you harping on me about these couple of mistakes I made. And it's not like this is
your
money, anyway. This came from my individual account.”

Melanie's laugh was sarcastic. “Oh, so now what's yours is yours, and what's mine is mine? All because you don't wanna hear what I have to say?”

Brad thumbed through some magazines on the island as though he couldn't care less about what she was saying. She'd never seen him so angry and defensive about anything, not since they'd begun dating and certainly not since they'd been married.

“I just think you're taking this judging and criticizing thing too far,” he said. “I lost some money, and there's not a thing we can do to get it back. So to me, it's pointless to keep talking about it.”

“Are you saying you can do whatever you want, and I don't have the right to say anything?”

“No, but I also don't wanna talk about this anymore. I have a lot of work to do.”

Melanie didn't bother saying anything else. She turned and walked out of the kitchen and up to their bedroom. Something wasn't right. Just last night, they'd enjoyed a great evening together, and Brad's attitude had also been good this morning. Now he was talking to her like he couldn't stand her. She understood that he wasn't proud of what he'd done and that he wasn't happy about the way she'd been questioning him. But his tone was curt, and he'd brought her parents into the scheme of things. He'd never done that before, and Melanie wasn't sure how she felt about it. She knew he'd made his comments during the heat of an argument, but he acted as though he was purposely trying to hurt her. Then, there'd been his statement about her barely having any weight to lose. He couldn't have been more wrong about that, and she had to wonder if maybe he didn't care whether she looked her best or not. Melanie had never considered it before, but for all she knew, his late nights at the office had actually become late nights with another woman. She didn't want to think the worst, but Brad was doing and saying things that weren't familiar to Melanie, and she wasn't sure what it meant.

Melanie changed out of her work clothes and threw on some shorts and a T-shirt. She slipped on her socks and gym shoes and went downstairs. She'd already worked out on the treadmill this morning before leaving for work, but she'd decided this afternoon that it was time to double up on exercising. She'd get in at least an hour in the mornings and also in the evenings. She was proud, too, that she'd made it through the entire day with only three shakes. About an hour ago, she'd started to feel a bit hungry, but she'd drunk a bottle of water with Crystal Light, and it had done the trick. She knew tomorrow and the next day might not be easy, but if she could make it past those, she'd be good. If she kept losing at the rate she was expecting, she'd be down to 155 pounds in less than ten days. Maybe sooner. Either way, she'd be back into her size eights and would be happy again. Her mother would be happy, too, and maybe things would be better between her and Brad. Maybe he'd realize that he truly did need help and would get it.

A
licia still wasn't finished reading her manuscript, but she'd driven over to Mitchell for Wednesday night Bible study anyway. After the torturous time she'd spent yesterday and all of today trying to block out her sexcapade with Levi, she was more shrouded with guilt than before. She'd worried herself into a frenzy, and all she could hope was that through prayer, studying scripture, and listening to her father's words, she'd feel better. So far, she hadn't been able to think about anything else, and now sitting next to her beloved fiancé made her feel worse. She had betrayed him in the most malicious way, and she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, begging God to forgive her. She knew she would eventually get past this, but she just wanted that to be sooner rather than later.

Phillip held her hand, smiling, and more guilt slithered its way into her psyche. Then, sitting on the other side of her was Melanie, and Alicia couldn't look her straight in her face either, fearing Melanie might notice something was wrong. They'd been best friends for a long time, and it wouldn't take much for Melanie to realize there was a problem. Thank goodness her father was getting ready to begin, so Alicia could switch her full attention to whatever he'd be teaching.

Curtis stood at the front of the church in a pair of jeans and a powder-blue dress shirt.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening,” everyone said in unison.

“I'm glad you could make it out, because no matter who you are, I think you'll be able to relate to tonight's lesson. The topic is Temptation and the Tricks of the Devil.”

Alicia was stunned. It was as if her father had chosen this subject on purpose and would be speaking to her directly. But there was no way he knew about what she'd done. It was true that her father was well connected and that he could find out just about anything he wanted, but not this. Not about her indiscretion with Levi. Plus, when she'd first arrived at the church an hour ago and had gone to her dad's study, he'd hugged her and welcomed her with open arms the same as always. He'd been happy to see her, and everything had felt normal.

“You know,” Curtis continued, “there are so many times when we've done things that could have been prevented…if only we'd kept our faith in God. If only we had seriously kept Him first in our lives the way we proclaim to others. Maybe if we kept our minds fixed on Jesus and we made a conscious habit of praying without ceasing, the devil wouldn't be able to trick us so often. And let's be clear about something else. Temptation will continue to rear its ugly head until the end of time, but if we trust, believe, and stand on God's Word, we won't struggle with it as much. If we focus on doing what we know God wants us to do versus what
we
want to do, temptation won't have a fighting chance in our lives.”

“Amen,” many of the members said.

“So, if you would, please turn with me to Matthew twenty-six, forty-one,” Curtis said, flipping through his standard print version of the Bible—unlike Phillip, Alicia's dad still preferred paper. He was technologically savvy on all accounts and even owned an Android tablet, but he never used it for Bible study.

“Are you all there?” he asked.

Everyone said, “Yes.”

“And it reads like this: ‘Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,'” Curtis said. “Now, to me, this scripture tells you very clearly that we'll always be tempted by something because our flesh is weak. With food, sex, money, alcohol, drugs, you name it. But just knowing that if you have a faithful spirit…if you truly want to uplift God, then the only way to accomplish that is by watching and praying. You have to be mindful of your thoughts and desires, particularly if those thoughts and desires are sinful.”

Alicia's eyes filled with tears, but she stopped them from falling. If only she'd thought long and hard before going to meet Levi, and she had prayed a little more than she had, asking God to give her strength. If only…but she hadn't.

“I'd also like you to turn to First Peter, five and eight,” he said, waiting a few seconds for the members to locate the scripture. “Here, the Bible says, ‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.' In other words, the enemy ain't no punk. And yes, I said ‘ain't' and not ‘isn't,'” he said, laughing, and so did the congregation. “But in all seriousness, the enemy is cunning and he's always on the lookout for his next victim. Take me, for example; you all know my history and that for many years, I was nothing nice. I stood in the pulpit on Sundays and did whatever I pleased as soon as I walked out of it. But thank God, today, I'm no longer allowing the devil to devour
me
. He still prowls around, trying to destroy me and my family, but I'm always aware of it. Sometimes I can feel his presence, and when I do, I remember Ephesians six and eleven. You don't have to turn to it, but it says, ‘Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.'”

A middle-aged woman raised her hand.

“Yes, Sister Marshall,” Curtis said.

The woman stood up. “First, I just want to say how happy I am that you're talking about temptation tonight. As you know, I've been clean and sober for five years, but lately it's really been a struggle. I don't want to use again, but sometimes I can hear a voice in my head, swearing that if I take just one hit, I'll be able to walk away and never do it again. I'm still going to my meetings, but my thoughts have really started to scare me.”

“That's understandable, and the reason the enemy is speaking to you and trying to trick you is because he knows what your weakness is. He's feeding you every lie he can conjure up, waiting for you to fall prey to his deception. And all this means is that you're going to have to pray even more diligently and frequently than you have been. In addition to that, I, along with Pastor Sullivan, will also pray with you before you leave here this evening.”

“I really appreciate that, Pastor.”

“That's what we're here for, and thank you for standing up and being honest. I realize that's not always easy to do, but being transparent is the only way any of us can get the help we need. The other thing, too, is that you can best believe you're not the only person in here struggling with temptation. Wondering what to do and how to fight it. But the God we serve is true to His Word, and that's what we're going to stand on.”

Sister Marshall took her seat, and Alicia tuned her father out altogether. She could barely sit still because during her drive over to Mitchell, she'd heard a voice telling her that maybe Levi was right. Maybe being with the man she was most attracted to was the right thing to do—being with the man who drove her wild with the kind of pleasure and excitement she couldn't seem to get enough of. She'd dismissed that voice and continued on her way, but now, as she sat between Phillip and Melanie and looked toward her father, she heard the voice again.
Everyone deserves to be happy. Follow your heart. Do what makes you feel good. Call Levi and tell him you want to see him.

Alicia wished she could run out of there. Wished she hadn't bothered to come to Bible study period. She'd thought her dad would make her feel better, but if anything, all he'd done was convince her that the devil was after her and he wasn't going to let up. She wasn't sure how to deal with something like that because the scripture he'd just read, Matthew 26:41, described her far too well. Her spirit was indeed willing, but her flesh was weak. And she couldn't help the way she felt. She didn't want to care about Levi, or actually be with him for that matter, but she was drawn to everything about him. The way he treated her, the way he talked to her, and how good he looked. She'd been trying to deny her real feelings for him, but somehow sitting here in the Lord's house, of all places, she'd discovered what the truth was.

Alicia snapped out of her trance and heard her father reading out loud, “‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.'” Alicia recognized Romans 12:2 right away, as her father had recited that scripture on many occasions. He'd always loved the entire book of Romans—his favorite was chapter 7—because of the way he identified with Paul.

Alicia watched her father and everyone else studying scripture and discussing the topic of the devil and temptation, but all she wanted was to head back to Covington Park. She knew Phillip would want her to spend the night there in Mitchell, but she couldn't take the chance of his seeing how bewildered she was. There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to listen to that relentless voice in her head, but there was also the part of her that loved Phillip—the part that was indebted to him for forgiving her, loving her, and trusting her again.

So what was she going to do? How was she going to get herself out of this mess of a situation? She had no answers, and she guessed only time would tell.