How to Divorce Gracefully
Emma discovered her husband’s affair entirely by accident. She was working on their home computer when her browser froze. So, she switched to the browser her husband, Tom, used. Whether he deliberately left his social media page open or forgot to close it, Emma didn’t know. Just as she was about to find what she needed, a message popped up for Tom. The contents left her stunned.
“Can’t wait to see you in the storage room. I’ve got a lacy surprise for you.”
The message was quickly deleted from Tom’s device, but Emma remembered who had sent it.
Naturally, work was forgotten. She could finish it later.
Emma had seen this woman, a colleague of Tom’s, at a couple of company parties where she accompanied her husband. The woman was married; Emma vividly recalled the tall, intriguing man she had seen her with.
Emma found no incriminating messages in Tom’s chats. Apparently, Tom was diligent about deleting everything. But the message she had seen was enough, and suddenly, everything made sense.
Tom had been coming home late more frequently. Once, Emma found an earring in his car. Tom calmly said it probably belonged to a colleague whom he had given a lift during a rainstorm.
Emma remembered how he casually added, “You know, the one who was at the party with her husband, the doctor, right?”
And Emma did remember. Mentioning the husband seemed to cleverly put her mind at ease, though she now realized it shouldn’t have.
The question remained, what to do. Her first instinct was to cause a scene, throw a fit, and toss his belongings from the balcony. And then file for divorce.
However, after some thought, she realized she didn’t want Tom to get off so easily. Nor Lisa, the other woman. Emma wanted revenge, for Tom to suffer as she had, to feel the same pain and fear. It also seemed unfair that Lisa’s husband wasn’t aware of this situation.
By the time Tom got home from work, Emma had devised a plan. It was slightly devious, but Emma thought it was justified. She hoped that Lisa’s husband would agree to participate.
“Evening, love,” Tom said as he entered their flat. He approached Emma and kissed her cheek. She detected a faint scent. It wasn’t noticeable enough to be perfume—Lisa seemed cunning—more like a body lotion.
“Hi, dear,” Emma replied with a smile, secretly wishing she could claw at his face. “How was your day?”
“Exhausting,” Tom sighed, taking off his shoes.
“Exhausted…” Emma thought, fully aware of how her husband relieved workplace stress.
They had dinner and went to bed. Tom didn’t notice anything different about Emma. After he fell asleep, Emma unlocked his phone with his fingerprint and began hunting for evidence. She found it in regular text messages! Apparently, Tom deleted messages from social media and messenger apps but neglected his texts.
Saving everything to her phone, Emma went to bed, seething with a mix of anger, jealousy, and anticipation. Tomorrow, maybe she’d begin to take her revenge on her unfaithful husband and his wretched lover.
First thing in the morning, Emma found the mistress’s social media profile, and soon after, her husband’s. Before messaging him, Emma carefully considered everything. Maybe a simple divorce would suffice. But she didn’t want Tom and Lisa to get away with it so easily. Anger was driving her to take risks.
“Good afternoon. My name is Emma, the wife of Lisa’s colleague. I have some intriguing information for you. Can we meet?”
The man took a while to reply, leaving Emma to wonder if he hadn’t taken her seriously. But by evening, she received a response.
“Good afternoon, yes, I remember you. You’ve piqued my curiosity. Shall we meet at six tomorrow evening?”
The first step of the plan was complete. Now Emma hoped that Jack—Lisa’s husband—would agree to help her.
Jack listened without interrupting as Emma laid everything out. With every word, he grew more stern.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’re being fooled,” Emma concluded, showing Jack all the messages she had found.
“I’m filing for divorce today!” Jack barked, signaling a waiter. Soon, their table was set with something stronger than tea.
“Isn’t that too easy, though? They humiliated and betrayed us, and all we’re going to do is divorce?”
“I could kill them!” Jack muttered, downing his drink.
“Murder is going too far. But punishing them isn’t a bad idea.”
“What do you suggest?” Jack asked, intrigued.
Emma first checked if they had any children. She didn’t want to involve innocent kids.
Fortunately, neither Emma with Tom nor Jack with Lisa had children, simplifying their plan.
Then Emma asked another question.
“Jack, does your wife have her own savings?”
“She might,” he replied. “We have separate finances, actually. I pay for everything and don’t meddle in her money,” he grimaced. “I might have been supporting your husband, for all I know.”
“Don’t worry about that. He’s an adulterer, not a moocher. He also has a large sum saved for a car.”
“What’s your point?” Jack inquired.
“I think it’s only fair for us to claim some moral compensation from them. So here’s what I propose…”
The plan was simple. Emma would visit Tom at work and place a small camera in his office. Once they collected incriminating evidence (and they would), Jack and Emma would message their deceitful spouses from a new account, demanding hush money.
“So, we’re blackmailing them to keep us from hearing about their affair?” Jack laughed.
“Exactly.”
“And if they don’t pay?”
Emma pondered. Since Tom hadn’t mentioned divorce, he wasn’t planning on leaving. Lisa likely wasn’t planning to either.
“I think they’ll pay.”
They didn’t have to wait long for evidence. The next day, Emma visited Tom at work, took a glance at the woman who was her husband’s mistress, and set up the camera. It was surprisingly easy. That evening, she watched the footage of Tom and Lisa kissing in his office.
She sent the images to Jack, noting that it was time to act.
Emma watched with satisfaction as her husband’s face changed when he received the anonymous photos. Then came a message saying he and Lisa needed to pay a million pounds for silence.
“I need to step out and make a call,” Tom said nervously.
“Everything okay?” Emma asked innocently.
“Yes, yes, everything’s fine.”
As Tom went to the kitchen, likely to call his mistress, Jack messaged Emma.
“Lisa’s panicking. Your husband is calling her now.”
“Perfect,” Emma replied.
Watching her husband squirm, Emma felt justified. Her pain from his infidelity was immense (and ongoing). Now it was his turn to squirm.
They had a day to transfer the money to an online account. Apparently, Tom and Lisa decided their quiet life and keeping their affair secret mattered more than money. By evening, Emma had the funds.
The second act of their play was about to begin. Jack and Emma planned to spend the money celebrating. A sweetener to the bitterness of divorce.
The next day, Emma and Jack took a week off work without pay. Interestingly, their respective flats belonged to them. Perhaps this influenced Lisa and Tom’s decision to pay; nobody wanted to be out in the cold.
A day later, both filed for divorce and then met at the airport. A week of sun, sea, and fun awaited them.
They informed their spouses of their actions once they arrived. Creating a group chat, they sent a video message, reminding them to vacate their flats within a week.
While it would be nice to claim Emma and Jack became a couple, they remained good friends. Even when new partners came into their lives, they continued their friendship, reminiscing about their fantastic holiday punctuated by betrayal—and the shocked faces of their former partners when they realized how cleverly they’d been duped.
