“Whats wrong with you? Weve been married ten years! What mistress? Youre more than enough for me!”
Valerie couldnt shake the gnawing feeling that her husband was cheating. Her instincts screamed it, leaving her restless. One evening, she finally mustered the courage to confront him outright.
She asked him point-blankwas it true or not? But he only laughed it off.
“Whats wrong with you? Weve been married ten years! What mistress? Youre more than enough for me!”
On the surface, Edward sounded sincere. There was no faltering in his smile, no hesitation in his words, no shift in his gaze. Yet something still clawed at Valeries mind.
She wasnt one to leave things to fate, so she resolved to get to the bottom of itbut how?
After scouring the internet for advice, she decided to check his phone first. Nothing stood outjust idle chatter with a couple of old schoolmates, harmless enough. So what?
Edward never bothered with a passcode. “Nothing to hide,” he always said. No secret chats, no deleted messages. A perfect angel in human form.
Sometimes, Valerie wondered if she was imagining it all. But every time he came home late from work, that uneasy feeling returned.
Her best friend, Lydia, always dismissed her worries.
“Youre overthinking! Edward adores youhed never even glance at another woman! Youre only pushing him away with your suspicions!”
But Valerie couldnt shake the dread in her gut. The thought of sharing her husband was unthinkable.
One evening, she even followed him to his office, desperate to know if he was really working or sneaking off to meet someone. When he spotted her, he was furioushumiliated in front of his colleagues. She spent days apologising, but Edward, ever forgiving, let it go quickly.
By all appearances, their life was perfect. A lovely home in Surrey, two growing children. She shouldve been contentbut Valerie had a knack for inviting trouble.
As the saying goes, seek and you shall find. Only, so far, she hadnt.
At thirty, with two kids to raise alone if things went south, Valerie was terrified. Outwardly calm, but inside, she was a storm.
There were no obvious signsno lipstick on his collar, no unfamiliar perfume, no sudden changes in his habits. Yet she *knew* something was off.
If not for sheer chance, she might never have uncovered the truthreal or imagined? Time would tell.
When their youngest started Year 1, Valerie decided to learn to drive. She took evening lessons after work, passed her test in three months, and earned her licence.
Edward was so proud he bought her a little hatchbacksmall but perfect for her petite frame. Easy to park, too.
Of course, he never admitted it, but the real reason was to keep her from asking to drive his Audi. “You need more experience first,” hed say.
Then, one weekend, Valerie woke early, determined to bake a chicken and aubergine piea family favourite. But there was no flour.
A frosty morning, snow piled high, but shed grown confident driving in winter. A quick trip to Tesco wouldnt hurt.
Her car wouldnt start.
Back inside, the house was still asleep. She tiptoed, careful not to wake anyone.
Walking in the cold was unappealing, so she did the unthinkabletook Edwards car without asking. Just a couple of mileshed never know.
Keys in hand, she stepped outside again. While the engine warmed, she wiped the windows, reaching into the glovebox for tissues.
Her fingers brushed against somethinga phone clattered to the floor.
Not his. She knew his phone well, and this wasnt it.
Dread coiled in her stomach. Maybe hed accidentally taken someone elsesor so she tried to tell herself.
Her thumb pressed the power button. The first thing she saw was a message from a woman named Jessica.
“*My love, I miss you so much! Come to me quicklyI cant wait!*”
Valerie blinked in disbelief. No passcode, so she scrolled through the messages.
The exchange was endless. A lifetime of lies laid bare.
Edward finished work at fivebut never came home before seven. Valerie had never thought to check.
Nearly every day, he stopped by his precious Jessicas flat for an hour before returning home as if nothing happened. The words he wrote herthings Valerie had never heard in all their years together.
The photos showed a woman in her forties. What did he even see in her?
Valeries anger boiled over.
She was about to storm back inside when Edward stepped out of their building.
Shed left a note saying shed gone to the shop. He mustve seized the chance to message Jessica again.
Now it all made sensehis nightly “errands” to the car. His wallet, hed say, or some other excuse. Quick trips, nothing suspicious.
Edward spotted her behind the wheel and marched over.
“Who said you could take it? We never agreed to this!”
Valerie glared back, fury burning hotter.
She buckled up, slammed the car into reverse, and stomped on the accelerator. The Audi screeched, slamming into the fence behind her. A small satisfaction.
Storming out, she hurled the keys into a snowdrift.
“Go to her, then! Lets see how much she wants you without your house and car! Get out of my sight!”
Back inside, the boys were awake, confused by the shouting.
Minutes later, Edward tried to followbut Valerie locked the door.
“Go to her! Dont you dare come back!”
With no choice, Edward shuffled offslippers, dressing gown, and thin jackettowards Jessicas flat. Surely *shed* take him in.
Jessica opened the doorbut a mans voice called from inside.
“Darling, are you coming back? Ive been waiting!”
Edward only visited on weekdays. Weekends, it turned out, were for her *other* gentleman caller.
She gave him a guilty look and shut the door in his face.
Defeated, Edward trudged to his mothers house two streets over.
Margaret took one look at him and understood. She fed him, listened to his tale of the wicked wife whod thrown him out over nothing, and patted his shoulder.
“Dont fret, love. Who knew Valerie would turn out like this? Your luck will changeyoure only thirty-five! Youll find love again!”
And so Edward stayed with his mother, determined to start freshuntil Valerie filed for child support. Only then did he realise how hard rebuilding would be.
At least his mother hadnt abandoned him. Without her, hed have been truly lost.
