“They’ve been together for a year, Sarah.”
Everything seemed to go dark around me.
I remembered Mike coming home late.
The unexpected business trips.
The way he carried
his phone into the bathroom.
My birthday, when he told me he’d been called into work for an emergency.Plan a Birthday
That evening, I had blown out the candles alone.
I thought he was simply exhausted from working so hard.
But in reality, he was with another woman.
“And the bedroom photograph?”
Ben answered.
“It was staged. Mike wanted the photograph to somehow appear on his phone, as though someone had sent him evidence of his wife’s affair. Daniel was supposed to be the other man.”
I stared at Daniel.
“And you agreed to this?”
He lowered his head.
“At first, yes. Mike convinced me you really were cheating on him and that this was just a way to make you confess. But later, I realized he was using us.”
“You’ve been to our children’s birthday parties. You’ve sat at our dinner table. How could you do this?”Plan a Birthday
Tears filled Daniel’s eyes.
“
I made a terrible mistake.”Get Writing Tools
Then I remembered the words of the message.
“What we did in his bedroom.”
I turned toward Ben.
“Did you send me that photograph?”
He nodded.
“Yes. I saw that photograph a few weeks ago and learned about the plan. I sent it tonight because Mike was supposed to take the fake evidence to his lawyer tomorrow.”
“And whose hand is in the photograph?”
Ben hesitated.
“Laura’s.”
I went completely still.
“She’s been in our bedroom?”
“Yes.”
I looked at my husband.
“You brought her into our home?”
Mike finally spoke.
“Sarah, it’s not what it looks like.”
I smiled bitterly.
“Then what is it, Mike? Your mistress was in our bed, your best friend was sitting beside her, and somehow you’re accusing ME of cheating?”
He stepped toward me.
“I just wanted the divorce to go smoothly.”
I still remember that sentence word for
word.
