The following morning, I discovered that the basement was locked. Those doors were never locked by Tom. On the other hand, this was my grandmother’s house, and I was aware of the location of the extra key.
Upon my subsequent descent, the stain had become less noticeable but was still discernible. It was the trash bag that caught my attention. There were garments inside, including a shirt that belonged to Tom and was stained a dark red color.
Also, a white clothing worn by a woman. Classy and refined. Quite pricey.
Not splattered. My thoughts went to some very dark places. On the other hand, as I brought the fabric up to my face, the pungent and sour odor informed me that it was wine.
If I may inquire, whose clothing was this? After that, I went to see Mrs. Talbot, who is our next-door neighbor.
She is aware of everything. And that was clear to her. She witnessed Tom enter the house with a woman in her twenties on Friday night.
She was in the house at the time. A lady dressed in a white nightgown. She never witnessed her departure.
The following evening, I confronted Tom. He appeared to be unable to escape, and then he acknowledged that her name was Claire. My fellow worker.
To assist him in getting ready for a promotion, she would come over. They had opened the bottle of wine and poured it all over the place. That is the reason why the garments were damaged.
Because of this, he had been vigorously cleaning the floor. The whole thing seemed reasonable. It is too plausible.
As a result, I insisted that we meet with her. Claire recounted the exact same scenario the following evening, while they were eating dinner together. Her manner was one of contrition.
Respectful. She went so far as to assert that Tom had spent the entire night discussing me. The details were all in order.
Still, I couldn’t seem to let go of anything within me. When I got back to my house later, I spoke to Tom in a calm manner and said, “If anything like this happens again—anything that makes me doubt what we have—I won’t give you the benefit of the doubt a second time.” My confidence is not something that can be broken to pieces and then pieced back together again and again. He nodded and asserted that it would never happen.
On the other hand, while I lay awake that night, listening to his steady breathing next to me, I was unable to shake the thought:
Not all of the trust is lost all at once. It becomes frayed. In addition, I was uncertain if mine would ever be complete again.
