CHAPTER TEN

As Bella made her return across town, she contemplated picking up her children from Bree's house. Not only was it out of her way but it would be easier to talk to Michael without having to worry about what words Lana might pick up from their conversation or if Sam would start crying. So she called Bree, promised her it would only be another hour, at the most, and that she would be back for them soon. Bree assured her that they were fine and then wished her good luck. As Bella hung up, she had a feeling that Edward might have told Bree more than she needed to know. Putting it aside, Bella returned to her house, finding Michael's truck parked in the driveway.

"Where in the hell have you been?" he asked, as soon as she stepped inside. He charged into the foyer from the living room, his face red and his hair tousled. He had the phone in his hands and even though she'd turned her cell phone off only five minutes before, she had a feeling that he'd been calling her.

"Out," she said, pushing past him. She couldn't even look at him without feeling an indescribable rage. After everything that she'd sacrified for him, after letting him have everything that he'd ever wanted in life and so much more, she was still not enough for him.

"What do you mean out? Bella, where are the kids?" he asked still angry. He followed after her and she dropped her keys and her cell phone on the table before she turned and looked at him.

"They're with a babysitter," she said, attempting to remain calm.

"Why?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. He was talking to her as if she were stupid when it came to her children, as if leaving them with a babysitter was the worst thing that she could do.

"Because I needed a break," she said.

"A break from what?" he asked. "What the hell have you been doing all day?"

"Crying, Michael!" she cried. It wasn't exactly the approach that she'd wanted to take but it came out of her mouth before she could stop it. His expression softened and he looked at her curiously.

"Why?" he asked. "What happened?" He was so oblivious to himself that it made her sick. Quite literally. She felt her stomach turn over.

"I saw you," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I saw you with that woman today, in front of your building. I saw you kiss her and walk away with her hand in yours, Michael. That is why I've been crying."

He didn't say anything which is what she expected. He just looked at her with sad eyes and then licked his lips. But he still didn't speak and Bella guessed that he was working up a defense his mind. It wouldn't work. He wasn't going to get away with it.

"I…" he started but she wouldn't let him explain.

"No," she said, shaking her head. She knew what she had to do. She moved past him and hurried down the hallway. "I don't want to look at you or talk to you or even think about you right now, Michael. You've hurt me beyond… beyond what I thought possible."

Tears were in her eyes now as she hurried into her bedroom and back to the closet. She began searching for a duffel bag or a suitcase… any kind of bag. Michael stood at the doorway of the closet, watching her with panic written across his face. He'd been caught with his pants down and he didn't know what to do.

"Bella… I'm sorry," he said, as if a simple apology could fix what he'd done. "I never…"

"You never thought that I would find out?!" she cried, finally finding an overnight bag at the base of the closet. She began pulling things off of the hangers and out of the dresser drawers until the bag was full of clothes. Enough clothes to get by for a few days.

"No, Bella, I never…" he started.

"You never what?!" she yelled angrily, interrupting him again. "You never meant to hurt me? You never meant to fall out of love with me or with your kids? What Michael? What can you possibly say that would make this situation better?"

"Nothing," he said, quietly. "Nothing and I know that. I don't… I don't know what to say, truthfully."

"Well, good because I don't want to talk to you anymore," she said, pushing him aside as she charged for the bathroom. She gathered her toiletries and everyday needs before hurrying to Sam's nursery.

"But I do love you, Bella," he said, following her. "Please believe me when I say that."

"You don't fucking love me, Michael, or why the fuck would you be… be fucking someone else?" she yelled, turning to look at him. She held her packed bag from one hand and an empty, child's backpack in the other. She must have looked pathetic and weary but she didn't care what he thought anymore.

"I never said that I was sleeping with her," he said, as if that would somehow make it seem like less of a problem.

"I don't fucking care, Michael! I don't care what you're doing with her, the point is that you're with her… whatever you're doing. It's not with me, your wife and so therefore, I no longer care!" she cried, not sure if she was even making any sense any more. She turned back to the matter at hand and began pulling Sam's clothes and diapers into the second bag. She picked up a few of his favorite toys and his blanket and tried to move past Michael. He stood in the doorway, blocking her way out.

"Bella, you're half of the reason why I even turned to her in the first place," he said. She couldn't believe him. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"You can not blame this on me, Michael, and tell me that this is my fault," she yelled. "I followed you halfway across the country because I love you! You pulled me away from my family and my friends but I didn't hold it against you. I thought that we would be okay out here because we had love and we had each other but you fucked that up, didn't you?"

Michael shook his head and looked down at her with determination.

"You became someone else, Bella," he said. "You changed and you lost that… that… fire that you used to have."

"Well what the hell did you expect, Michael?" she yelled. "I was a sophomore in college when I got pregnant and I had to give it all up. You got to go on with your life and get your degree and have your perfect ending and I got a couple of kids and a husband that turned out to be a piece of shit!"

With all of the strength that she had left, she shoved the heels of her hands into his shoulders and she hit him with enough force that he stumbled backwards into the hall. She had room to pass and she did so gratefully. She found herself in Lana's room next where she picked up yet another bag and began filling it desperately.

"Bella, where are you even going to go? If you leave me, where do you have left to run to?" he asked, following after him. With his words a new realization came into Bella's mind and it broke her heart.

"Did you bring me all the way out here because you knew that if I found out that you were cheating on me, I would be too far away from home to return? How long has this been going on, Michael? Before we moved here? Is she the reason why we're even here at all?" she asked, throwing too many questions at him. He just looked down at her sadly and without even speaking a word, he told her everything that she needed to know.

An audible sob left her lips and Bella gave up on filling Lana's bag. She had to get away from him. She pushed past him again and hurried back to the front of the house where she had left her keys.

"Bella, where are you going to go?" Michael asked, once again, following after her. She knew that he was concerned but she didn't care. He deserved to be worried, to wonder where she was when she wasn't at home with him.

"Away from you," she said, picking up her keys. She pulled the back of her arm across her face and tried her best to balance the three bags.

"That's not an answer," Michael said. "You have my children and I want to know where they're going to be."

"Well, you should have thought about them before you started fucking around," Bella said, pulling open the door. She charged to her car and tossed the bags through the open window on the passenger side. Michael came after, stumbling on the front step. He tripped as she came towards her.

"Bella…" he pleaded, as if the entire argument hadn't just happened. She hurried around the front of the car and when he reached for her arm, she shook him away angrily.

"I could have loved you forever," she said, looking at him once she reached the driver's side door. "Until I realized that there is something else out there besides you, Michael."

"What… what is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"It means that you might want to start thinking about how you're going to go about getting your kids on the weekends when they're in Washington with me," she said, falling heavily into the driver's seat. She shut the door and started the car before he could object. Leaving him standing bewildered in the driveway, she backed out into the street and sped away from her house, her home, and her husband, wishing that she never had to see any of them again.