When something big happened in my life, it was just another Saturday afternoon. Dylan, my neighbor’s son, came up to me while I was working in my yard and asked if he could swim in our pool. His question would lead me to the truth of a lie that would change everything.
As Dylan swam, I saw a scar on his back that looked like the one my husband had. It was an odd shape. My mind was spinning as I tried to figure out what it all meant. I tried to act normal, but I was scared and confused on the inside.
I started to look into it because I was determined to find the truth. I got DNA samples from both my husband and Dylan, and the results were a 99.9% match, which was exactly what I was afraid of.
The deception hit me like a tonne of bricks, but I wasn’t going to cry. Instead, I came up with a way to show that my husband was cheating on me. Lisa, Dylan’s mum and my husband were asked to a neighbourhood BBQ, but I didn’t tell them the big secret I was about to tell them.
As we ate, I brought up the DNA test results without meaning to, and I saw the colour fade from my husband’s face. Lisa’s fork slammed into her plate, and she looked back and forth between us in shock.
My voice was as steady as steel as I got up and told my husband to pack his bags. The lawyer I talked to already said he wouldn’t take anything from our marriage. He would not be able to deny betraying us because our talk would be recorded.
He was gone in a week, and his image was ruined. Lisa quickly left because she felt ashamed and embarrassed. But I felt bad for Dylan because his parents had betrayed him without any reason. I made sure his father couldn’t touch the trust fund I set up for him.
I didn’t feel sad or guilty as I watched my husband drive off for the last time. I felt peace. I was in charge, showing him up for lying and keeping myself safe.
“Taylor… how could you?” were his last words, and they still ring in my head. I smiled because I knew I had finished what I had to do. “How could I?” I answered. “Tell me.”
