In defense of her own happiness

It's incredible how one's life can change in an instant. If only Sandra knew her world was about to crumble in spectacular fashion, perhaps she would brace herself for the confusion to come.

Sandra was an amazing psychologist. She does therapy for people. She had helped a good number of people overcome psychological issues they were having.

Sandra had a client, Emily who came to her a month ago for therapy. Emily was in a terrible state. Her previous relationship ended horribly despite giving her all. She was going through a lot. Sandra had a lot of work to do on Emily. Over time, Sandra started seeing progress in her effort to pull Emily from the dark.

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One day, during a therapy session, Sandra noticed that Emily was in such a happy mood. It intrigued Sandra. She loved that version of Emily she was seeing.

"You're visibly happy today Emily. What do we owe this to" Sandra asked.
Emily blushed as soon as she heard the question. She couldn't hide her smile.

"So I started seeing someone" Emily said as she smiled, making it obvious that she was thinking about him.

"Wow. That's a big step for you. Are you sure you're ready to love again?" Sandra asked.

"Yes I am. We're actually in love. He is such an amazing person" Emily replied

"I'm happy for you"

"But there is one thing. He is currently married and he is unhappy in his marriage. He intends to leave his wife to be with me" Emily said.

"Don't you think all of this is happening so fast?" Sandra asked out of concern.

"We make each other happy. We're in love. I think this is a right step forward" Emily said.

That night, Sandra got home tired. She met her husband, Steve, sitting on the couch doing nothing, like he was waiting for her.

"We need to talk" Steve said with a serious face.

"Can't it wait? I've had a very busy day and I'm so tired" Sandra replied.
"This is what you do. You always put work above your marriage. We barely talk or spend time together anymore" Steve said angrily.

"Steve, I'm not ready to argue with you tonight" replied Sandra

"I want a divorce" Steve said.
Sandra's heart sank on hearing those words.
"What...what do you mean? You promised you'll never say those words to me. We promised each other. Remember?" Sandra said, visibly worried.

"Our marriage isn't working. I've tried my best to fix things but it's just not working. I met someone else and I don't think it's fair to you that we continue to be together" Steve replied.

"Please don't leave me" Sandra pleaded as she cried.
"I'm sorry. It's too late" Steve said as he left.

Sandra couldn't sleep as she cried all night. She never imagined that one day, she would be facing divorce. She never thought that things would get bad to that extent.

In the morning, she managed to dress up and carry out another therapy session for Emily.

"So my man told me he asked his wife for a divorce last night" Emily said excitedly.

Sandra got interested. This was sounding all too familiar.

"Tell me more" Sandra replied.
"So his name is Steve. He is tall with brown hair. He's been miserable in his marriage. Since we met, I can tell he has been happy when he is with me. So he is moving ahead to divorce his wife" Emily said.

Sandra's heart broke again on realising that Emily was talking about her husband who just asked her for a divorce. Sandra got emotional and ended that day's session immediately.

Sandra rushed home devastated. Because of the confidentiality she had to uphold with her clients, she couldn't tell her husband that she knew who his lover was, and she also couldn't tell Emily that she was dating her husband. She couldn't tell anyone about it in order not to breach her job ethics. Sandra felt she was losing her mind. Her husband and her client were having an affair and she couldn't talk to anyone about it.

She kept it bottled in. Everyday she would contemplate telling her sister about the situation but she held back. Sandra felt like she was going to implode. She found it difficult to accept the fact that her once beautiful marriage was ending based on an affair she couldn't reveal.

Sandra got overwhelmed and decided to take a vacation just to clear her head and recover from the emotional trauma while she finalized her divorce with her husband. It was necessary for her to get her happiness back.