After the betrayal, my husband left me for my best friend, but three years later, stumbling upon them in a petrol station, I couldnt help but smile.
When my husband began to drift away, I sought comfort from my closest friend. She told me I was imagining thingsturns out, she was lying. Fate had its way of revealing the truth years later, showing me the wreckage of their deceit.
I used to think affairs happened to other peoplesomething you read about in dramatic novels or overheard in hushed gossip. Not me. Not us.
For five years, Edward and I built a life together. It wasnt lavish, but it was oursfilm nights tangled on the sofa, lazy Sunday coffee runs, inside jokes no one else understood.
Throughout it all, there was Charlottemy best friend since school, like a sister. She stood by me in every milestone, even at my wedding, clutching my hands and weeping with joy.
When I found out I was expecting, I thought it would be another beautiful chapter.
Then Edward changed.
At first, it was small thingslate nights at work, smiles that never reached his eyes. Then worse. He barely looked at me. Conversations shrank to single-word replies. Nights spent with his back turned, as if I didnt exist.
I didnt understand. I was exhausted, heavily pregnant, desperately trying to mend what was crumbling between us.
So I called Charlotte.
I dont know whats happening, I sobbed into the phone, curled into a ball in the dark while Edward slept soundly beside me. It feels like hes already gone.
Youre overthinking, she said softly. He loves you. Its just stress.
But the sleepless nights, the loneliness despite being married, wore me down.
Then one morning, I woke in pain. I was in the hospital by evening, watching the doctors lips move but hearing nothing.
No heartbeat.
No baby.
They say grief comes in waves. Mine was an avalanche.
The miscarriage shattered me, but Edward? He was already lost. He sat beside me in the hospital, cold, silent, never taking my hand or offering a word of comfort. Just waiting, as if for a bus, not mourning the child wed lost.
A month later, he finally spoke the words I think hed rehearsed for years.
Im not happy anymore, Emily.
And that was it. No explanations. No emotion. Just empty surrender.
The day Edward left was without arguments, without shouting, without tears. Just icy silence.
Im not happy anymore, Emily.
I blinked at him across the kitchen table, his words pressing against my chest like a weight.
What? I whispered.
He sighed, rubbing his temples as if I were the problem.
I dont feel anything. Not for a long time.
Not for a long time.
I swallowed hard.
Since we lost the baby?
His jaw tensed.
Thats not the point.
The lie was almost laughable.
I searched his face for any signremorse, guilt, anything. But he just sat there, eyes downcast.
Thats it? Five years, and you just walk away? My hands clenched beneath the table.
Another sigh, impatient this time.
I dont want to argue, Emily.
I laughedthe kind of laugh that comes when youre on the edge.
Oh, you dont want to argue? Funny, because I never had a choice in any of this.
He stood, grabbed his keys.
Ill stay with friends.
Before I could speak, the door slammed.
Charlotte, my best friend, followed soon after. She had been my rock, but thengone. No calls returned. Messages ignored. Thenblocked everywhere.
I didnt understand until the truth found me.
My mother called first, voice tight.
Emily, love look at this.
A link to Charlottes Instagram.
And there they were.
Edward and Charlotte. Arms around each other on a beach, laughing like theyd been in love for years.
My hands shook as I scrolled. Photo after photo, week after week. Fancy restaurants, ski resorts, romantic evenings by the fire. All posted openlywhile I was still his wife.
The betrayal burned like acid. But if they thought this would break me, they were wrong.
I took my pain and turned it into power. Edward had been careless, too wrapped up in his fantasy to cover his tracks. In court, his infidelity became my winning card. In the end, I kept the house, half his savings, and the satisfaction of knowing he had to start over.
He took my trust. I took what was mine.
Starting over wasnt easy. But life rewards the stubborn.
A year later, I met James.
He wasnt just different from Edwardhe was everything Edward wasnt. Kind. Present. He never made me feel like too much.
We built a life. A real one, not for show. Soon, our daughter arrivedmy reflection with his smile.
Then fate handed me the perfect ending.
One evening, I stopped at a petrol station. And there they were.
Edward and Charlotte.
But nowno designer clothes, no happy photos. Their car, a rusted wreck. A screaming child. A declined card.
We cant even afford petrol? Charlotte sniffed.
You knew money was tight, Edward snapped.
Charlotte laughed bitterly.
I suppose Emily won this one.
I started the car and drove home. To my real happiness.
