He treated me differently, not the way he did with her.
Whos she?
Davids phone lay faceup on the kitchen table, and Kate read the popup before she even knew what she was doing. Missing you, love. A heart emoji. A kiss. And an unfamiliar namePoppy.
David whirred around from the espresso machine, a flash of irritation flickering in his eyesnot surprise, but annoyance, quickly masked by his usual lighthearted sigh.
Are you snooping through my phone?
It lit up on its own. Kate lifted the device, swiped to unlock with the familiar gesture. They knew each others passwords. Whos this Poppy?
David turned away, pressed a button on the machine.
A colleague.
Your colleague is texting you missing you, love?
Kate scrolled through the messages, her fingers growing colder with each line. Photos. Voice notes. Weekend plans David pretended to have in Manchester. Jokes that only the two of them understood. The earliest message dated March; now it was September. Six months. One hundred and eighty days of making him breakfast, waiting for him after work, planning holidays, believing they were happy.
Dave, thats half a year of texts.
The coffee maker fell silent. David took a sip, and Kate, with a detached clarity, noted that her husband seemed completely calm.
Dont start, Kate.
Not start? she stared at him, searching his familiar face for a hint of remorse or embarrassment. Nothing. Just the fatigue of a man pulled from his morning coffee.
Youve been cheating on me for six months, and Im supposed to keep quiet?
David set his mug down, ran his hand over his cheek.
Listen, its complicated. Lets talk tonight, Im running late.
He left, grabbed his briefcase, planted a quick kiss on her cheekthe same old gestureand walked out. The door closed with a soft click, and Kate was left standing in the middle of the kitchen.
She replayed the messages over and over, hunting for an explanation. A prank? A misunderstanding? The photos didnt lieDavid with a blonde stranger in a restaurant, on a riverside promenade, in someone elses flat. Selfies with matching smiles and intertwined fingers.
Kate tried to recall when things had first gone wrong. Their morning chats. Shared dinners. Plans to buy a bigger house, maybe get a dog. Nothing had hinted at disaster. Absolutely nothing.
Or perhaps she had simply refused to see it.
Anna burst in forty minutes after the call, flinging a bag of croissants into Kates hands and settling on the sofa arm.
Spill it.
Kate told the story, jumping from detail to feeling and back again. Anna listened in silence, her expression growing ever more serious.
I dont get it, Kate ran her fingers through her hair for the tenth time. Everything was fine. We were happy. Where did this come from?
Anna paused, then asked gently,
Kate, did you notice anything at all? Anything?
No, what could I have seen? Hed come home, wed eat together, weekends wed drive out of town. A normal family!
Anna inhaled deeply, and Kate saw the pain in her eyes. Remember how you met?
Kate blinked.
What does that have to do with anything?
It matters. You met three years ago at a company function. You were on the accounts team, outsourced. And David was marriedto Megan. For two years you dated while he was still married. Then he divorced and married you.
Kates mouth opened, then shut. Her head spun, and the croissants suddenly seemed cloyingly out of place.
Thats different, she managed. We loved each other. With Megan it was over, he told me himself. They just dragged the divorce out.
Annas stare was sharp.
David cheated on his wife. Two years. With you. Why did you think hed be faithful now?
Because its different with me! Kate leapt up, wrapping her arms around herself. Because he chose me. He changed, Anna. When we married, he truly changed.
Anna shook her head.
He didnt change. Hes just you know? David loves only himself. Everything elsewife, lover, jobis just scenery. He takes what he wants, when he wants. Loyalty is boring to him. Limits are for other people.
You dont know him.
I know men like him. Anna reached for Kates hand. Remember how you dreamed hed leave Megan? How you waited for his call, convinced yourself it would happen soon, that youd finally be together?
Kate fell silent. Of course she rememberedevery sleepless night, every lastminute cancelled dinner, every lie she told friends to cover their meetings. Two years as his mistresshumiliating, painful, yet she endured, waiting, believing.
You got what you wanted, Anna continued, soft but merciless. He divorced, married you. And guess what? The mistress slot opened up again. He cant live without that thrill. Youre now the respectable wifea dull routine.
Im not dull!
Kate sank back onto the sofa. Annas words were harsh, but deep down something accepted the truth.
Since April David had been travelling for work every two weeks, sometimes more. She never thought anything of itjust business, late nights, endless meetings, corporate events wives werent invited to.
And the bedroom. Kate painfully recalled the recent months: David came home exhausted, kissed her forehead, turned away to the wall. She blamed stress, age, anything to avoid the truth.
I need to see it with my own eyes.
Surveilling her husband felt degrading but was technically simple. Kate took a sick day and, for three days, shadowed David after work. On the second day luck turned.
He left the office at seven, got into his car, but didnt head home. Kate followed in a cab, feeling like a clumsy detective. David pulled up outside a café in the city centre, and five minutes later a young woman slipped into the passenger seat.
She was about twentyfive, maybe twentysix, a blonde with a trendy haircut and a confident smilePoppy, the name from the messages. Kate recognised her from the photos.
David took Poppys hand, brought it to his lips, whispered something and she laughed, tossing back her head. The gesture mirrored one Kate herself had performed three years earlier.
The same restaurant, the same window table. David ordered, and Kate could read his familiar gestures even without hearing his words. He probably recommended duck breast and a Pavlovastandard British fare. He likely talked about his childhood in Liverpool and a dream to travel the world, while gazing at Poppy with that hungry, promising look.
The scene replayed down to the last beat. David didnt bother inventing a new scriptwhy change a routine that worked?
Kate returned home and waited. He arrived at eleven, smelling of foreign, floral perfume, nothing like hers.
We need to talk.
David sighed, shed his jacket, draped it over the back of a chair.
What now, Kate? Im tired
I saw you today.
David froze a beat, then shrugged.
So you were watching, huh?
Answer me.
Yes, I was with Poppy, he said, crossing his legs, the same sincere, persuasive expression that had convinced her for three years. It means nothing, Kate. Listen. He leaned forward, his face softening into that trusted look. I love you. Youre my wife. Poppy is just an adventure. It doesnt affect us.
Did you feed Megan the same rubbish?
David stiffened.
Thats different.
Really? Kate sat opposite him. You cheated on her with me. Now you cheat on me with her. Whats the difference?
Ive changed, Kate. After we married I really wanted to be faithful. But, he gestured helplessly. It just happened. Ill end it with Poppy. I promise. From today, only you.
His promise sounded rehearsed, smooth. Kate stared at the man shed known for years and saw the emptiness behind his pretty wordsa habit of lying turned second nature, selfishness cloaked in charm. David could not love anyone but himself; he neither wanted nor could learn to.
No.
What? No?
I dont need your promises.
David frowned.
Kate, dont dramatise. Every couple goes through this. Well get through it.
Kate shook her head. Her chest was hollow and cold, yet for the first time in ages it was clear.
Youll never change. Its not a problem for you; its normal. Wife at home, lover on the side. Convenient.
Youre talking nonsense.
Im telling the truth. Kate rose. Three years ago I thought I was special, that youd be different for me. I was just another placeholder for Megan.
She left for Anna that night.
The divorce took three months.
David didnt resist. By November he had moved in with OliviaKate learned this from mutual friends. The new couple looked blissful. Olivia posted pictures with hashtags about love and destiny, planning a wedding.
Anna showed Kate one of those posts.
Look. He says Im the only one hes ever truly loved.
Kate turned the phone away.
Dont you feel angry?
No. It was the truth. I feel sorry for her. In two years shell be sitting with a friend, crying just like I did.
Anna embraced her.
Do you feel better?
Kate thought. Lighter? No. But something inside finally stopped clinging to the illusion of the man shed imagined and loved.
You know the stupidest thing? Kate said with a weary smile. I knew from the start. I was his mistress too. I saw his lies, heard his stories, and still convinced myself it would be different with me.
I fell in love.
I was foolish and blind. Those are not the same.
Anna was quiet.
So what now?
Kate looked out the window.
Now Ill look for someone who doesnt need to be reshaped. Someone whos faithful from the beginning. Do they even exist?
Rain began to tap the glass. Kate watched the droplets run down, and for the first time in months she didnt think of David, their meeting, their wedding, their shared plans.
She didnt know that a year later she would be marrying a man who never looked elsewhere, a man who never left her side. Two years on, they would have a daughter, then a son. Kates family would grow stronger each day, and she would finally understand what a marriage built on genuine love feels like.
