“Sarah, I can explain.”
“Then explain! Why are you sitting on our bed? And whose hand is that beside you?”
He said nothing.
At that moment, Ben whispered.
“That’s not Sarah’s hand.”
I froze.
“What?”
“That ring isn’t Sarah’s. It’s a duplicate.”
Mike slammed his fist against the table.
“Ben! That’s enough!”
But Ben was
already standing.
“No, Mike. You’ve forced me to lie for six months. I’m not doing it anymore.”
I looked at my husband.
For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes instead of anger.
“Mike, what’s happening in our house?”
He didn’t answer.
Daniel took a deep breath.
“Sarah, there’s something you need to know. Six months ago, Mike asked me to help him.”
“Help him with what?”
“He wanted you to believe that I was having an affair with you.”
I thought I had misheard him.
“What are you talking about?”
Ben stepped closer to the table.
“Mike was planning to divorce you. But he didn’t want to be blamed in court for destroying the family.”
I sank into my chair.
Twelve years of marriage.
Two children.
A home where we had chosen every piece of furniture together.
And now I was discovering that my husband had secretly
been making plans behind my back.
“Why?” I whispered.
Daniel continued.
“He told us you were seeing another man. He showed us some messages. He said he wanted to collect evidence.”
“I’ve never been with another man.”
“I know that now,” Daniel replied.
Mike suddenly shouted.
“You don’t know anything about our marriage!”
Ben turned toward him.
“Then tell her about Laura, too.”
I recognized that name.
Laura was an accountant at Mike’s company.
She was forty years old, divorced, and had one daughter.
Mike often told me Laura was just a coworker.
Sometimes I saw her name on his phone, but I had never suspected anything.
“What does Laura have to do with this?”
Mike remained silent.
Daniel slowly sat down.
