After ten years of marriage, I thought I knew everything about my husband Brian. But one phone call changed everything. It let me see a secret side of my life that shocked me.
It all started out innocently enough. I didn’t think much of Brian’s excuse that he had to go to a work party. It stopped me in my tracks. I could hear Brian’s voice on the other end of the queue, laughing and chatting with someone else. Then I heard him say something that really upset me: “My wife is cooking and cleaning the toilets while I’m here with you, my love.”
It hurt like someone punched me in the gut. What I heard made no sense to me. I tried to figure out how I felt, but all I could think about was being angry with Brian.
I got my keys and drove to the number that was given to me. There were people I didn’t know around Brian when I walked in. He was standing in the middle of the room. As they laughed and drank champagne, he put his arm around a young woman in a tight red dress.
I took a deep breath, picked up a bucket of cleaning materials, and walked into the room. I spoke out loud, “Hi, sweetheart,” so everyone could hear. “You left something at home.”
Brian almost dropped his drink as he stumbled backward and his face went white. In shame, the woman next to him got up and left.
And I said, “Since you like to brag about how good I am at cleaning, I thought you might need these to fix the mess you’ve made in our marriage.”
There was silence in the room, and I could tell that everyone was looking at me. Brainy looked like he had been caught, and I could tell he felt bad about what he did.
I looked at the room and told them, “You know, Brian likes to act like a good husband at home.” You can see, though, that he’d rather play house with whoever makes him feel good.
Brian tried to talk over me, but I wouldn’t let him. “No, Brian, you had a chance to talk.” “It’s my turn now.”
I left by putting the bucket down at his feet. I heard my phone buzzing as I left the room. The number that had changed everything was the same one.
The sound on the other end of the phone was that of a woman. She asked, “Hello?”
“Who is this?” I asked for.
“My name is Valerie,” she said. “Brian and I used to work together. I called you and sent you the text message.
I was shocked. I asked, “Why did you do it?”
Valérie’s speech was very emotional. “Because someone had to,” she replied. “I’ve seen Brian lie and cheat before. I couldn’t let him do it again. You had the right to know the truth.
I felt a wave of thanks come over me. I said, “Thank you,” but my voice was shaky.
Valerie and I talked some more, and I found out that she had been keeping an eye on Brian for months. She even asked a friend to follow him and find out if he was cheating on her.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I felt free and like the problem was over. That I had been living in a dream world when I thought my marriage was great and happy. But now that I knew the truth, I was set on taking back charge of my life.
I packed up Brian’s things and left them outside the door the next morning. I changed the locks and texted him, “Enjoy.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about what had happened in the last 24 hours. That was it! I was free again and ready to begin a new part of my life.
