Chapter 2

I didn't confront him right away. I knew I couldn't just rush in. I had to figure things out first.

What was he hiding from me? How long had he been keeping secrets? Who was that woman? What was their relationship? So I held back.

For the next three days, I acted just like I always did.

When he said he was swamped at work, I told him to take care of himself. When he said he had to go on a business trip, I packed his bags. When he said he loved me, I said I loved him, too.

Every word made me want to puke, but I held it in. I had the real phone in my hands.

I found a pro to pull out everything from it, including chat logs, call history, photos, payment records, the whole shebang.

The guy asked me, "Want me to bring back the deleted stuff too?"

I said, "Yeah, do it."

Three days later, he sent me everything, all neatly organized. My hands were shaking as I opened the files.

The first one was the chat logs. I clicked on it and started from the very beginning. The earliest message was from ten years ago, September 8, 2014, exactly three months after we got our marriage license.

His first message to her was: [Miss you.]

Her reply: [Miss you too, Babe.]

Honey? She was already calling him that just three months after we got our marriage license?

I kept scrolling.

[Babe, when can you come over?] she asked.

[Probably tonight. She's working late tonight,] he replied.

[Okay, I'll wait for you,] she said.

The "she" they were talking about was me.

She was working late tonight? That night, I really did work late. I didn't get home until ten.

When I got home, he was already asleep in bed. I thought he was just tired from work, so I even tucked him in. And the truth was, he'd gone to see her.

My eyes stung, but I held back the tears and kept scrolling.

December 25, 2014, was Christmas. He told me he had a company event.

But he texted her: [Let's go out for a fancy dinner tonight. I've already made a reservation.]

She replied: [I am so happy. You're the best, babe.]

That night, I was home alone, eating a sandwich.

February 14, 2015, was Valentine's Day. He told me he had to meet a client.

But he texted her: [Got you a bag. I'll give it to you tonight.]

On that Valentine's Day, I didn't get a single gift.

When I asked him about it, he said guys don't bother with that kind of stuff. I actually thought he was right. But it wasn't that he didn't do it. He just didn't do it for me.

2016, 2017, 2018, every year, every holiday, every single day, he wasn't by my side.

There was always a pattern. Almost every business trip, he was off to see her. In client dinners, he was off to see her. Working late, he was also off to see her.

It was ten years, 3,652 days in total. He saw her almost every week, sometimes two or three times a week.

And every single time, I had no idea.

I kept scrolling. I stumbled on a chat.

She asked: [Dominic, when are you going to divorce her?]

He replied: [Just wait a bit more. The timing's not right.]

She said: [You've been saying that for ages.]

Dominic said: [I will. I always keep my promises to you.]

She replied: [Then I'll wait for you.]

Dominic said: [Be good. You belong to me. She's nothing to me.]

She belonged to him. I was nothing to him. I was nothing to him? I squeezed my phone.

What was I to him? I was his wife. I stood by him, from when he was making just 1.5 thousand a month to when he started earning 150 thousand a year.

I washed his clothes, cooked his food, and cleaned up after him. I served his parents for ten whole years, doing everything for them. And now he said, "She's nothing to me."

So what was I, then? Finally, the tears started to fall. But I wiped them away. I couldn't cry. Crying wouldn't help.

I kept scrolling. The second file was the transfer records. I opened it.

The first transfer was on January 1, 2015, 1.5 thousand.

The note read: [Honey's living expenses.]

Month after month, he transferred money to her, like clockwork, every single month. The amount started at 1.5 thousand, then went up to 2.6 thousand.

From 2015 all the way to 2024, it was ten years straight.

I grabbed my calculator and started punching in the numbers, one after another.

1,500×12= 18,000

2,000×24=48,000

2,300×24=55,200

2,600×60=156,000

The total was 277.2 thousand.

I spent ten years scrimping and saving, never daring to buy clothes over 60 dollars.

But month after month, he sent her 2.6 thousand for her so-called living expenses. He transferred 277.2 thousand to her over ten years.

My hands trembled. But I held myself back.

I kept scrolling. The third file was all about major payments. I opened it.

In June 2019, he transferred 100 thousand. The note read: [Renovation.]

In July 2019, he sent 50 thousand. The note read: [Furniture.]

In March 2021, he sent 60 thousand. The note read: [Car.]

The note kept swirling in my mind. He transferred all that money to her. What did he actually buy for her?

I opened the fourth file. It was the photo album. I scrolled through and found a picture. It was a property document.

The owner was Ava Prescott. The address was an apartment complex on the east side of town. It was 1280 square feet.

I recognized that complex. The going rate was high. It was 1280 square feet, and that was more than 1.3 million right there.

I kept scrolling and spotted the payment records for the house. The down payment was 400 thousand. He was the one footing the monthly payments.

So for the past ten years, it wasn't just him messing around behind my back. He bought the mistress a house.

He got her a car, too. He sent her money every single month for her living expenses. He even paid for renovations and furniture.

I always thought the reason we never had any savings was that Dominic's salary wasn't high enough. It turned out that wasn't the real reason. He was the one sending all our money away.

I always thought our mortgage dragged on forever because we were always strapped for cash. That wasn't the real reason, either. It turned out that all our money went to another woman.

I always thought he was too busy with work to be around because he was hustling for us. It turned out that that wasn't the real reason. He was building a whole other family behind my back.

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned pale.

The fifth file was the restored deleted messages. I clicked on it. The most recent message was from just a week ago. It was from her to him.

She sent a photo. It was a picture of a pregnancy test. Two lines were on the test.

She messaged him: [Babe, I'm pregnant.]

He replied: [Really? That's awesome. We have to make sure nothing happens this time.]

This time? What did he mean? I kept scrolling. Then the answer hit me like a punch.

Back in 2022, she got pregnant, but had a miscarriage. In 2023, she got pregnant again, but lost the baby. And now, this was her third time.

Dominic said: [This time, you need to be extra careful. I'll support you, don't worry.]

She asked: [So, when are you going to divorce her?]

He replied: [Soon. Once the baby's here.]

So once the baby was born, he would divorce me.

I read that and just laughed. So that was it. He had been planning this all along.

As soon as she had the baby, he would dump me and file for divorce. Then he would go ahead and marry her. The two of them, plus their kid, formed one big, happy family.

And me? Ten years, all I ever did was give, spent waiting, play the perfect wife, and in the end, all I got were the divorce papers.

I would be forced to walk away with nothing to my name and leave in shame, head down.

Dominic was just dreaming.