I walked in the front door, tired from taking care of my sick mother for three weeks. There was something in my living room, though, that made my heart skip a beat. Not more than four years old, a boy sat on my couch and watched cartoons. “Hi, my name is Jason,” he said with a smile. This is where I live.
I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. Jason told me his parents were down the hall when I asked him where they were. I was nervous as I walked to the bedroom, and my heart was beating fast with excitement.
I was completely shocked by what I found in the bedroom. Ian, my husband, was sleeping with someone else. It looked like they had been caught red-handed as they jumped apart. Sophie, the woman, looked at me with shock and shame in her eyes.
Ian stumbled over his words as he tried to describe what was going on.
I found out that Ian had lied to both Sophie and me as the truth started to come out. Sophie had heard him say that I was dead, and he was dating under a fake name. It felt like the world had turned upside down.
Sophie and I became close because we had both been hurt and betrayed. We decided to do something about it ourselves, so we made a fake dating page to catch Ian in his lie.
Ian took the bait, and our plan worked. We found proof that he was cheating on his wife and being dishonest and sent it to his boss. Ian was fired right away, and he had to deal with the pain of what he did.
When I looked at Ian, I felt like everything was over and I was strong. I knew I was worth more than a guy who would cheat on me and lie to me. Sophia and I found strength in each other, and we were ready to rebuild our lives and move on.
While the event was painful, it taught me something important. I knew how to stand up for myself and ask for what I wanted. Three weeks ago, when I walked through the front door, I wasn’t the same person. I was smarter, stronger, and able to handle more.
