” What are you on about? Weve been married ten years! What mistress? Youre more than enough for me!”
Emma couldnt shake the feeling deep in her bones that her husband was cheating. The uncertainty gnawed at her. One evening, she finally worked up the courage to ask him straight out.
“Is it true or not?” she demanded.
He just laughed it off. ” What are you on about? Weve been married ten years! What mistress? Youre more than enough for me!”
James sounded sincereno cracks in his smile, nothing off in his words or his eyes. But something still didnt sit right with her.
Emma wasnt one to leave things to fate, so she was determined to uncover the truth. But how?
After scouring the internet for advice, she decided to check his phone first. Nothing out of the ordinaryjust idle chatter with a couple of old schoolmates. Hardly anything to fret over.
James never even bothered with a passcode. “Nothing to hide,” hed always say. No secret chats, no deleted messages. Practically a saint.
Sometimes she wondered if she was imagining it allbut every time he came home late from work, that uneasy feeling crept back in.
Her best mate, Sophie, always told her, “Youre overthinking it! James adores youhed never stray! Youre just sabotaging your own marriage!”
But Emma didnt buy it. Her gut told her otherwise, and the thought of sharing her husband with another woman made her blood boil.
One evening, she even went as far as showing up at his office to check if he was really working or gallivanting about. When he saw her, he was furioussaid she was embarrassing him in front of his colleagues. She spent ages apologising, but, fair play to him, he forgave her quickly.
By all accounts, their life was good. A lovely home in Surrey, two kids, everything sorted. But noEmma had a knack for stirring up trouble where there was none.
As the saying goes, “Seek and ye shall find.” Only, she hadnt found anything yet.
Still, the suspicion ate at hertypical for a woman in her thirties terrified of ending up alone with two kids. On the outside, she seemed calm, but inside, she was a mess.
No lipstick on his collar, no strange perfumes, no sudden lifestyle changesnothing to pin on James. But she *knew* something was off.
If not for sheer chance, she might never have uncovered the truthreal or imagined? Only time would tell.
When their youngest started Year One, Emma decided to learn to drive. She took evening lessons after work, passed her test in three months, and got her licence. James was so proud he bought her a carsmall, but perfect for her petite frame. Easier to park, too.
Not that hed admit it, but hed only bought it so she wouldnt ask to drive his Audi. “You need more experience first,” hed say.
Then, one weekend, Emma woke up early and decided to bake a chicken and aubergine piethe family favourite. But she was out of flour.
Freezing outside, snow piled high, but shed gotten used to winter driving. A quick run to the Tesco Express wouldnt hurt. She went to start her carnothing. Back inside, the house was still asleep. She tiptoed around, not waking a soul.
No way was she walking in that cold, so she took a chanceborrowed James car without asking. Just a mile or twohed never know.
She grabbed his keys and headed out. While the engine warmed, she wiped the windows, reaching into the glovebox for tissues she knew he kept there. Her hand brushed somethinga phone clattered to the floor.
Not his. Shed recognise his phone anywhere. This one was different.
At first, she assumed hed accidentally taken someone elseshe was always doing that. But curiosity got the better of her. She tapped the screen.
The first thing she saw? A text from some woman named *Chloe*.
“*Miss you so much, my love! Come over soonI cant wait!*”
Emma blinked, stunned. No lockshe scrolled through the messages. The car idled as she read.
An entire *lifetime* of texts.
Turns out, James finished work at five but never came home till seven. Emma had never thought to check his actual hours.
Almost *every day*, hed stop by his precious Chloes place for an hour before heading home, acting like nothing happened. The things he wrote to herwords Emma had *never* heard from him.
Photos showed an older womaneasily forty. What on earth did he see in *her*?
Emmas blood boiled.
Just as she was about to storm back inside, she saw James stepping out of their house.
Shed left a note saying shed gone to the shop. He mustve seen his chance to sneak another message to Chloe.
Only now did she rememberJames was always popping out to the car in the evenings. “Forgot my wallet,” or some other excuse. Nearly *every night*, just for a minute. Shed never suspected a thing.
James spotted her in his car and marched over.
“Who said you could take it? We never agreed to this!”
Seeing him only made her angrier.
She buckled up, threw it in reverse, and slammed the accelerator. The car screeched into the fence behind her. A small satisfaction.
Emma stormed out, glaring at her stunned husband. “Go on thenoff to your precious *Chloe*! Lets see how much she wants you *without* a house or a car! Go! I never want to see you again!”
To drive the point home, she hurled his Audi keys into a snowdrift and marched back inside.
The boys were awake now, confused by the shouting. Minutes later, James tried to followbut Emma locked the door.
“Go to *her*! Dont you *dare* come back here!” she yelled.
Defeated, James trudged offslippers, dressing gown, and a thin jacketstraight to Chloes.
Surely *shed* take him in, comfort him.
Chloe opened the doorbut a mans voice called from inside. “Babe, you coming? Ive been waiting!”
James only visited Chloe on weekdaysnever weekends. Turns out, *she* had two men on the go. Why waste a weekend moping?
She gave him an apologetic look and shut the door in his face.
With nowhere else to go, James dragged himself to his mums house two streets over.
Margaret took one look at him and *knew*. She fed him, listened to his sob story about his “horrible wife” kicking him out over nothing, and patted his shoulder.
“Dont fret, love. Who knew your Emma would turn out like this? Your luck will changeyoure only thirty-five! Youll find love again, mark my words.”
So James moved back in with his mum, determined to start fresh. He even felt a flicker of relieffree at last!
Until Emma filed for child support.
*Then* it hit himstarting over wouldnt be so simple. At least his mum hadnt abandoned him. Without her, hed have been *proper* screwed.
