"Wait," Lindsey said slowly, blinking in disbelief. "Ethan… your husband?"
I stared at her, stunned by the sharp edge in her voice. "Yeah," I said, sounding more confident than I felt. "That's Ethan"
She glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable, her mouth opening and closing like she wasn't sure how to say what she needed. My stomach tightened.
Lindsey held up her hands quickly like she was trying to calm the storm before it brewed. "Tessa, nothing happened, I swear. We met on a dating app. It was casual. We went out twice. Just drinks and conversation. No kissing. No sex. Not even a real spark."
My mouth was dry. "When?"
She hesitated, eyes flicking upward like she was searching the timeline. "Maybe… seven, eight months ago"
Lindsey kept talking as if she had to rush through it before I exploded. "The second time we went out, Ethan invited me to this colleague's hangout, like, drinks after work. That's where I met Joel. The one I have been telling you about. They work together."
I blinked. "Wait what hangout?"
She winced. "You didn't know?"
"No," I said, a little too sharply. "I didn't even know they did those."
Silence stretched between us, taut and charged.
"I stopped talking to Ethan after that night," she said, quieter now. "There was just something off about him. Like he was hiding something. Every time I asked him about himself, he'd steer the conversation away or get vague. You know when someone is too smooth to trust? That was him."
I stared at the table, everything tilting slightly.
"I figured he was seeing someone else," she continued. "But I didn't know he was married. To you."
A strange sound came out of my throat. Half laugh, half disbelief.
"I didn't know, Tessa. I swear to you." Her voice cracked. "I'd never go near a married man. You know me better than that."
"I do," I said softly, but the ache in my chest didn't ease.
I looked up sharply. "You're still dating his colleague?"
She gave a small, guilty nod. "We've been seeing each other ever since that night. Ironic, right? Ethan brought me to that hangout, and I ended up leaving with someone better."
My lips curved bitterly. "You got the honest one."
Her eyes softened. "I didn't know any of this, Tess. I never would've"
She reached across the table and touched my hand. "Tess, listen… you're amazing. If that jerk is stupid enough to cheat, that's not a reflection of you. That's on him."
"It's okay," I cut her off gently, even though it wasn't. "You didn't do anything wrong."
Ethan had.
Again.
And worse? He'd been careful. Secretive. A smooth liar. So slick even Lindsey was smart, intuitive Lindsey had felt it.
I swallowed hard, the taste of betrayal sharp on my tongue.
He had invited another woman out while married to me, casually mingled with his colleagues and their families like it was nothing, and I, his wife, had no clue it even happened. No ring on his finger then, probably. No mention of me.
Just a blank slate, waiting to be rewritten for whatever story he needed to sell.
And now I sat across from my best friend, hearing that story for the first time.
When I got home, the silence was deafening. I walked through the rooms with my mind spinning. Every picture on the wall seemed like a lie. Every memory is tainted. I could still hear Lindsey's voice:
"We matched on a dating site."
Was that it? Was that why he didn't touch me anymore? Why he didn't look at me like he used to? Why did he stay out late, come home drunk, and barely speak to me unless it was to bark an order?
I needed to know.
His phone was on the kitchen counter, charging.
My heart started racing. I stared at it for a long time. This wasn't me. I didn't do this. But desperation makes you someone you don't recognize.
I picked it up with trembling hands and pressed the lock screen.
Four digits.
Easy. It used to be my birthday. 0427.
I typed it in.
Wrong password.
I tried again. 0427.
Wrong password again.
My blood turned to ice.
Why had he changed it?
He'd never done that before. Even during fights.
Back then, he would hand me his phone without hesitation. "You can go through it," he used to say, smiling. "I have nothing to hide."
But now… it was locked. Locked away with everything else I couldn't reach.
I set it down slowly, my fingers cold. My legs felt like jelly. I leaned against the counter and tried to keep breathing.
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was for work security. Maybe his company had new privacy protocols.
I was lying to myself.
Because deep down, I knew.
This wasn't the Ethan I married.
This was a stranger. A distant, icy, brooding stranger who didn't come to bed, who didn't laugh with me, who didn't see me anymore. A man who smiled at his phone, but never at me.
But when someone stops touching you, stops talking to you, stops being there… that absence becomes its own form of betrayal.
And today, I got the confirmation.
I sank to the floor, knees pulled to my chest, and let the tears fall.
The moment I realized… it wasn't just in my head.
Something was happening.
Something was wrong.
He was cheating on me. And it has been going on for a while.
I made dinner like I always did. I slipped into my favorite dress, the one he always said hugged me just right, and painted my lips the shade of betrayal: red. I plated the food, poured the wine, and sat down to eat like nothing was wrong. I chewed, I swallowed, I smiled. I even leaned in and kissed his forehead goodnight sweet, soft, innocent. All while planning to burn his whole world down.
He didn't see it coming. That was the beauty of it.
I just needed to think and think fast about how to strike where it would hurt the most.