Devoted Husband Reveals Bitter Truth. Cheating Wife Stories, Reddit Cheating Stories, Audio Stories

So, it's time for me to get out of bed and start the day. I have a lot to do today. Is the start you want to know what's starting? So, I begin the rest of my life. First day? Yes, here it is.

So, my life right now isn't much, but it's all I have. I work hard and try to do the right things. I think I was a good father. My children are good. They are young and very active. Keith is eight, Andre is six. They are wonderful children. They like school. Keith is in third grade, Andrea is in first. Children don't deserve what's about to happen. These are the consequences of their mother's actions. Let me tell you in more detail so that you understand what is happening.

So, children, well, children look like their mother. They have her eyes, they have her smile. They don't look much like me, but I'm not the most handsome guy on two legs. I'm not ugly either. I am exactly 6 feet tall and weigh 165 lbs. I run every day and exercise a couple of times a week. In the summer, I engage in cycling at a professional level, and in winter, I ski for fun. I have a full head of dark brown hair, cut fairly short, and all my teeth are in place. My parents spent a lot of money on orthodontics when I was a kid, so my smile is pretty good. I wear glasses or contact lenses depending on what I'm doing. I am 34 years old. My wife, Karen, is the same age as me, and we met at university. I'm an engineer, and she's a web developer. Karen, my children, and I live in Albany, New York. I know Albany, the most boring city in the universe, take my word for it. Life in Albany is peaceful. Oh, don't get me wrong, Albany is a very nice city. I guess the peaceful part is my life. Some, and clearly my wife is one of them, would call me boring. In my defense, I can say that the demands of everyday life, family, work, home, and all these routine things that occupy our lives have shaped me into such a person. When there's time for adventure, we have to squeeze it in with all the other demands. This means that the fun is sometimes limited to weekends and summer.

So, this morning, when I got out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror before running, I thought, "Damn, what should I do? I have a problem." I went for my usual morning run, and while I was running, I decided that I needed to talk to my friend Jordan Walters. We went to school together and grew up on the next street. I know his family well, and they know mine. Jordan is a friend and advocate. His practice focuses primarily on wills, probate, and some corporate law, but he also practices family law. So, I made a mental note to call him.

I got home around 6:30 after running, turned on the coffee maker, showered, and got dressed. Karen was waking up, and the kids were slowly coming to their senses. When I went down to the kitchen, I made school lunches and packed myself a sandwich and a piece of fruit. It didn't take long before everyone was sitting at the counter on the other side of the kitchen island, eating porridge and toast. We chatted a bit about the day, and I was reminded that there would be parent-teacher conferences at school soon. Everything is fine. I kissed everyone except Keith goodbye. Keith and I bumped fists; this is his new greeting. I walked out the door to another day of a wonderful, boring life.

The day of the parent-teacher conference coincided with the day of my own conference. It was a conference between two people: Jordan and me. We met at a cafe that was about halfway between my office and his. We shook hands, having not seen each other for several months, and sat down. We ordered coffee, and I ordered a piece of apple pie. Jordan was always focused, and now was no exception. After the coffee and pie were delivered, he began, "Okay, Mark, what happened? I need your help. I have a problem that I need to solve, and I need your advice before I do anything." "Okay, what's the problem?" "Karen." "Oh, what do you mean? The same Karen you've been married to for, what, 9 years? The same Karen, the mother of your two children?" "This Karen?" I nodded my head, swallowing a piece of pie. "Yes, she is the one." "Gee, what's the problem?" I took a sip of coffee. "It seems that Karen has been involved in some extramarital activity. I don't know how long; I'm just guessing." I spent an hour telling him what I knew. I tried to find a way to maintain my dignity. I was all for it.

Now, I guess I think you need a little background about me and my problem. This is true. I grew up in Albany. He graduated from high school here and received a scholarship to study at Columbia University in New York. I'm a smart guy, and I've always been a good student. I think I'm a good person. I always try to do the right thing. I have a strong work ethic, and I know the value of my family. I come from a good family. My parents taught me a lot about life, and they gave me a strong foundation of values. They taught me to put family above everything else, and with my own wife and two children, I see this lesson every day. My problem is that my wife has different ideas about what is important to us as a family. Karen is seeing another man. I'm not sure I can live with this, but I don't know what to do. This is where Jordan comes into play. I need his advice from both a legal and friendly point of view. "So, what should I do?"

"God, Mark, you're in a tough spot." Jordan took a sip of his coffee and looked at the table. He took a deep breath as he began to speak. "Okay, there are two paths you can choose. The first one I will tell you as your lawyer. The second one as your friend." I looked at him and nodded. "First, and this is the lawyer in me, you will lose if you decide to divorce or separate from Karen. New York family law is almost always on the side of the wife. Karen will most likely get custody of the children and, with it, the house. If you can't prove she's unfit to be a mother, the court will likely award her custody of the children. You can ask for custody, and if she objects, the court will almost automatically give her custody." Jordan took another long sip of his coffee and waved to the waitress for a refill. I was about to speak when he raised his hand for me to wait. "Fresh coffee has arrived. With the kids and the house, you'll be paying a ton of stuff: most of the mortgage is based on your salaries, child support until they turn 21 or graduate from university, and probably Karen's support. It used to be called alimony; now it's spousal support."

Damn, this was getting harder, but the real fun was just beginning. Jordan continued with more information. "I needed to know a quick lesson on divorce in New York. There are seven grounds for divorce in the state:

1. An irreparable break in a relationship for a period of at least 6 months. This ground is usually called a no-fault divorce. To use this ground, the marriage must have been completed for at least 6 months, and all economic issues, including debts, how marital property will be provided, and child custody and support, must be settled.

2. Cruel and inhumane treatment. To use this basis, the judge will look for specific acts of cruelty that occurred in the last 5 years. It's not enough that you and your spouse argued or didn't get along; the cruelty must be so severe that the plaintiff is physically or mentally in danger, and it is unsafe or unacceptable for him to continue living with the defendant.

3. Abandonment. To use this ground, the spouse must have left the plaintiff for at least a year or more. Two examples of abandonment are when a spouse physically leaves the home with no intention of returning or when a spouse refuses sexual relations with the other spouse. This is called a constructive abandonment.

4. Imprisonment. To use this ground, the spouse must have been in prison for three or more consecutive years. The spouse had to be imprisoned after the marriage began. The plaintiff may use this ground while the spouse is in prison or for 5 years after the spouse is released from prison.

5. Adultery. To use this ground, the plaintiff must show that the spouse committed infidelity during the marriage. This ground can be difficult to prove because it requires evidence from someone other than the plaintiff and spouse.

6. Divorce after legal separation agreement. To use this ground, the plaintiff and defendant sign and file a valid separation agreement and live apart for a year. A separation agreement must contain certain requirements in order to be valid.

7. Divorce after separation decree. This basis is used infrequently. To use this ground, the Supreme Court issues a decree of separation, and the couple lives apart for a year."

My eyes began to glaze over as Jordan continued his lecture and talked about divorce in the New York way. "So, Mark, the most likely grounds for you, if you choose divorce, are an irreparable breakup or infidelity. To prove infidelity, you will need some real evidence. Either Karen admits that she is having an affair with another person, or that whoever she's having an affair with came and said it, or other evidence to prove it." I took a deep breath and looked at my friend. I knew the expression on my face wasn't the best. Jordan continued, "The other thing is the irreparable breakdown of your marriage. This is the one that most people cite as the main reason for their divorce." He paused for effect. "You might want to think about it before you decide." I was speechless. I didn't know what to say.

Jordan took a deep breath and continued, "Okay, I told you what I had to do as your lawyer. Now I want to talk to you as your friend." I looked up from the depths of the hell I had plunged into. I was hoping for a lifeline. I needed something to tell me that my life wasn't over, that the comfortable life I enjoyed with my family would continue somehow. I had to tell him, "Jesus Christ, Jordan, I really hope you have something in your arsenal that's better than the meager thing you just described."

"Buddy, you need to decide what you want." "What do you mean?" "I want my family. I want my wife, and I want my children. I want my life to continue with them as before." "I get it. So, what I'm going to tell you is, you need to listen carefully and think. You need to decide in your mind what's most important to you. Is it your family, or a little bit of your dignity and ego?" "Um, what do you mean?" "Listen, I see all kinds of people who get very upset and want to go for maximum revenge and destruction. It's the whole scorched-earth thing. They sacrifice everything just to make the other person miserable and end up making themselves miserable." Jordan paused to let this sink in. "The other big losers in divorce are the children. You need to decide how much you want them to suffer." My head lifted, and I looked my friend straight in the eyes. "What?" "Yes, children. Your children. They have the most to lose in this." He paused again. "They'll have to get used to only seeing you a few days a month and alternating holidays. You'll have to get used to being a part-time dad. Karen will get custody, and you'll be spending a lot of time without them. You can count on that."

"Damn it, what should I do? Jordan, what should I do?" I couldn't believe what he just said. "You hear stories about fathers who barely see their children, fathers who are essentially ruined for life because of divorce. I didn't want to be one of those losers." No, Jordan looked at me with a mixture of sadness and surprise. He was a good friend, but he was also a realist and saw the consequences of divorce every day. "Mark, can I suggest something?" "Of course, you can." "What is it?" "It may seem a little strange, but I've seen it work. What the decision is yours and yours alone, but if I were you, here's what I'd seriously consider." "Please tell me." "Nothing. Do nothing." "Go home and pretend you don't know anything. Go home and live your life the way you always have. Go home and enjoy your family. Go home and do all the things you always do. Come home and play with your children. Come home and make love to your wife. Come home."

"I... are you serious?" "Like a heart attack. You told me that you would almost never know that Karen was having sex outside of your marriage. You told me that you never noticed anything different. You told me that she has always been a great wife and a great mother to your children. You told me that she cares about her family and always puts you first. You told me that she is a good wife." "But, but..." "I told you that you should be the one who makes any decision about what you want to do, and that is very true. But you should be the one who decides whether you want to ignore what you have learned for the sake of preserving your family life. Think about it. How badly do you want your family? Is it bad enough to sacrifice your knowledge that Karen is being dishonest with you? Is it bad enough to push aside your knowledge of her affair? Is it bad enough to pretend that everything remains unchanged?"

We both finished our now cold coffees. The waitress gave us side glances, letting us know it was time to order something else or pay and leave so she could make room for paying customers. "Oh my God." "Damn." I exhaled as if I had been holding my breath for hours. "I need to think about this." Jordan stood up. I followed his example. We both tossed $20 bills on the table and headed for the door. As we walked outside, Jordan turned to me and said, "I need to get back to the office. Call me anytime if you want to talk. Let's meet for a beer on Friday after work, and you can tell me what's on your mind. Until then, promise me you won't do anything." "Okay, okay, I promise. Look, thanks for listening and thanks for the advice. I guess I have a million things on my mind that I need to think about." We went in different directions. I walked back to my office and tried not to get hit by a car on the way.

I returned home and took Jordan's advice. I behaved no differently than any other time. I came home from work, I kissed my wife, and talked to my children as always. Karen was the same as usual. We had dinner. I helped the kids with their homework, which these days is usually given at their level, and then we played in the yard, shooting at the basketball net I had set up. Everything was very normal. After the kids got ready for bed and went to their rooms to read, I made it a point to just watch Karen. I tried to remember all the things about her that attracted me: her smile, her figure, her eyes, the curve of her hips, her movements. I loved her from the moment I met her. I knew she was the woman I wanted to spend my life with. She was the woman I wanted to have children with. So, what the hell happened? Where are we lost? Looking at us as a family, no one would ever think we had a problem. We looked and acted like a normal family who loved each other. We held hands in public. We kissed. Children would run to us if they had problems or needed to blow their noses or be tickled. We were having fun. We were a team of four.

I walked through the house and appreciated all the many projects Karen had completed. She was great at home decor and even renovations. The woman was tireless. She went through almost every room in our home and made many changes, from simple paint to trim, custom furniture, doors, and even took on bathroom renovations. I was the main worker for many of these tasks, but she was the brains behind the design. Where did she find time to have sex with other men? Hell, sometimes I barely had time to go to the bathroom. My wife was a master of deception. But want to know how I knew she was getting it from someone else? Fair question. At work, I often meet with clients to discuss their needs for whatever project our company is building for them. Our meetings usually take place in our office offices, or in client's offices, or construction sites. Sometimes meetings take place in other places. That day, we had a meeting in a small conference room at the Hilton Hotel. The clients are not from Albany and were only there for a meeting and staying at the hotel. They set up a conference room. They even organized lunch for us. During this lunch, I decided to go out for a few minutes to get some fresh air. I went for a walk around the block to stretch my legs and think about a problem we had in the design for a building we were about to build. When I was returning to the hotel, a taxi pulled up to the entrance, and a tall man of about 35-40 years old in a very expensive suit got out. A woman followed him. She looked a lot like my wife. I was walking towards the same entrance as them, only about 100 feet behind them. He took her hand, and they quickly walked inside the hotel. I moved quickly enough and almost caught up with them when they entered the elevator. When they got into the elevator, they turned around, face to face. He put his arm around her waist, and I could see very clearly that it was Karen. She said something to him as the doors closed, and he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. My world stopped. I stood there for almost 10 minutes, trying to understand what I had just seen. I shook my head. I had to remember how to breathe. My chest tightened. I thought I was having a heart attack. My legs gave way, and I walked over to a chair and sat down. I sat there until one of the people at our meeting walked by and asked if I would be back for the meeting. I returned but didn't hear a word that was said. It's good that minutes of the meeting were kept so that I wouldn't spoil the contract. I returned home immediately after the meeting ended, expecting Karen to pack her things to leave me. She was there, busy with the kids, and started preparing dinner. She greeted me the same way she did every night. This was a few weeks ago. Since then, I have been tormented by everything: Karen, our marriage, our children, my life in general. How stupid I was. All of this, I was mentally destroyed. And then I decided to start making a plan, but I needed help, and that's when I went to talk to my friend Jordan.

"Jordan, I can't believe the crap Karen is doing." After Mark came to me, I realized that his life would change. I knew he would have to do something. Although I warned him that divorce would take a huge toll on the children and himself, I know that a person can only bear so much. But here's the thing: you need to decide what's most important to you and take care of that first. Everything else comes second. In Mark's case, he decided that his children were most important to him, and his interests came second. So, he tolerated Karen and her other life. I hired my usual detective to do some background research on Karen. I wanted to get a much better idea of what she was doing before I told Mark. If he knew the whole story, it could kill him. "Mark, time heals all wounds and wounds all heels." I heard this somewhere. Not sure if this is true, but I know that I managed to swallow my pride and pretend I didn't know anything. And it's strange; if I hadn't seen Karen getting into that elevator when I did, I might never have known. Karen remained the same as she had always been. She is a wonderful mother and cares extremely about our children. She is organized and works hard. To me, she is the same woman I met and married 10 years ago. But now she's not the same. I still don't know what to do. Should I confront her and kick her out? Should I confront her and try to work through it through couples counseling? What if she's the one who wants to get rid of me? What, what, what about the kids? If Karen is in love with this guy and wants to leave us for him, I'm not sure what to do. This is where Jordan comes into play. He's my trump card here. He is my man to help me get through this hell.

"Jordan," so I instructed my investigator to carry out the work. Wolfie is a very good investigator. Her real name is Hannah Wolfenstein, but her friends and close acquaintances call her Wolfie. She is a former NYPD detective who retired due to a knee injury. She is just over 30, divorced, tall, blond, slim, and very beautiful. She fits well into any environment, so she is very good at observation. It also has a wide range of technical products. She is my main source of information. She rarely disappoints. It's also not cheap, but as they say in this world, you get what you pay for. I called Wolfie and asked her to come to my office. When she came, I immediately felt sexual desire just by looking at her. It has this effect on men, for all men. Her knee is almost completely healed, so there are hardly any noticeable problems when walking. She came in, and after I bought her a cup of coffee, we started. "Gordo, how can I help you?" She calls me Jordo. "I have another wife who cheats on her husband. This wife is one of my best friends." I handed her the folder of files we had collected on Karen. It indicated the place of work, addresses, telephone numbers, a photo of Karen, her car and license plate, and a short biography about her, including height, weight, and anything else I thought would be helpful. These were things I could do legally, but Wolfie was working in a part that was more intrusive. She had the resources to dig deep into other people's lives, including their financial affairs. I took a sip of coffee and continued. "Her husband spotted her at the Downtown Hilton with a man who was much more friendly than a friend should be. This guy is most likely a friend with benefits. I want to know what she's doing and who she's doing it with and for how long. Any information will help her husband decide on a possible divorce and what we use as grounds. The bottom line is that I need to have the upper hand to make sure he gets custody of the kids if it comes down to it." Wolfie nodded and took more notes as I spoke. She had done this before, and I was very confident that whatever Karen was up to, Wolfie would figure it out. She looked at me, "You know I don't work for free. I need my regular advance and my regular hourly rate." She wags her nose. "I'll need at least 3 hours to put together a plan and conduct an electronic search. I'll get back to you in 2 days with my more accurate estimate. Is that okay with you and your client?" "Great. He's a very patient man, but he wants information before he does anything. We'll talk in two days." Wolfie gathered her files and placed them in her large bag and stood up. I was afraid that my partial arousal was visible, and she knew it. As she approached the door, she stopped and turned slightly. "Do you remember that you still owe me dinner?" "How could I forget?" She looked at my groin area and smiled. "Hannah."

"Damn, how I hate stupid women who think they can do whatever they want with their unsuspecting husbands and get away with it. I've seen too many of these spoiled cheat on the men they rely on to support and pay for the life they want. My client is a hard-working and family-oriented man who was stunned when he accidentally saw his wife walking and holding hands with another man and kissing him in the elevator of one of the best hotels in the city center. According to Jordo, he doesn't want to kick her the hell out, but he wants to know what's really going on and wants to know what his options are. I've seen this before. Based on what Jordan said, the client wants to keep his family together if he can, but I know there are limits. I have seen men who are rational and logical and very reserved in their lives go crazy and do things they later regret. Now I need to find out who Karen Francis is. I suspect Mrs. Francis has done this before. She is either very confident in her actions and has become a little lazy in hiding her infidelity, or this was her first time. I'm not sure, but I'll find out. I will send Jordo my estimate, and once he approves, I will start working."

"Mark." Jordan called me. His investigator has been working hard and has a report for me. "I hope to hell that what I saw just has an explanation. If it's something more, I don't know what I'll do." When I arrived at Jordan's office, he led me into his small conference room. I could tell by his expression that what I was about to find out was not what I had hoped for. Presentations were made. Jordan started, "Mark, Wolfie was able to find out a lot of information. She'll talk about it, and then I think we'll need to discuss it. In short, you're right in your suspicions that Karen is involved with another man. I'll let Wolfie tell you the rest." I turned to look at the investigator. "Mr. Francis," I began, "researching your wife immediately after Jordan briefed me on what you wanted to know. I was able to learn a lot about Mrs. Francis, and I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your wife has been involved with another man for a long time." I grabbed my water bottle, took a sip, and then ran to the toilet. Water, along with everything I had eaten in the last 12 hours, rose up into the toilet. The toilet was spinning, and I think I even lost consciousness for a few seconds. Next thing I knew, Jordan and Hannah were holding my head. He put a towel under my chin, and she cleaned my face with a wet wipe. It took me a few minutes, but I was able to return to the meeting room. When the world stopped spinning, Jordan asked if I wanted to continue or stop now and do it another time. I had to take a few deep breaths, but I told him I wanted to continue. "It's better to finish it now than to drag it out." Hannah started again. "Mr. Francis, we have conducted a detailed electronic search of your wife. I must say that there is actually very little information about your wife on the internet. I know that she works as a web developer, and therefore she has the tools and ability to control what is known about her. She has a Facebook page, and that's basically it. She doesn't use any other social media. Everything she posts on Facebook is family-oriented. It's all very normal, everyday information. There are a few pictures of you on there, her and the kids, all very innocent and showing you doing something family-friendly. I looked into her friends on Facebook and researched them to see if there was anyone among them who was masquerading." I looked at her with a questioning expression. "What I mean is, is there anyone among your friends on Facebook who isn't who they seem to be? This would give them the ability to send private messages to each other and then delete them so you or anyone else could..." "We didn't find a single person who wasn't real, but that doesn't mean your wife didn't create a fake account under a different name, an alias. It's quite common and hard to detect if she's using that account on a device which you may not know about." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Hannah looked at me and continued, "So, we had to use some old methods. We attached a tracking device to your wife's car and followed her movements. For the first week, we simply tracked the various places she visited and excluded the obvious: work, home, your children's school, the supermarket where you usually shop, places like that. Then we decided when and where we would follow Mrs. Francis and see who she was seeing and what she was doing. That's when we could get down to business." "Oh my God." "In the second week, we installed a listening device in Mrs. Francis's car. It could record everything said in the car. The recorder is voice-activated and configured to filter out normal car noises and road sounds. It is also configured to allow us to access remotely to it to monitor conversations taking place in the car. Thanks to this, we were able to find out that Mrs. Francis was planning a meeting with Mr. Thomas Murray. Do you know him?" I shook my head. "No." She took a sip of water and continued her story about hell. "We investigated Mr. Murray and learned that he is a corporate attorney currently assigned to the New York State Controller's Office. He is assigned to a procurement and contracts project. It appears that the state has decided to seek outside assistance on this project. The rest is not important. We did extensive research on Mr. Murray and learned that he is married to Britney Murray, and they live here in Albany with their daughter, Allison." Hannah gave me photographs of Thomas Murray, Britney Murray, and their daughter, as well as the house in which they live. She asked, "Is he familiar to you, or is the house familiar to you?" I shook my head. "Not really. It could have been the man Karen was with. Honestly, at that moment, I wasn't looking at him; I was looking at her." "We determined from the voice recorder in Mrs. Francis's car that she planned to meet Mr. Murray at a hotel on the east side on Wednesday of last week. We were there to watch them enter the hotel and obtained these photographs of them together." She handed me some photos of Karen with him. They held hands. It looked like they could have sex right there in the hotel lobby. She was holding his hand. Hannah waited until I took it all in before continuing. "Once we knew who Mrs. Francis was dating, we were able to conduct a detailed background check on Mr. Murray. We believe that he and Mrs. Francis were a couple at university before you met her." The world began to spin again. Jordan handed me a paper bag and told me to breathe into it. This helped a little. Hannah looked at Jordan for confirmation on whether to continue. I looked at her. "Continue." "Well, we checked the university records and determined that Mr. Murray was in his third year when Mrs. Francis was a freshman. They dated for 2 years, at one point even living together for a year. That's when they broke up, and Mrs. Francis moved to a hostel, I believe. Not long after that, you met her." "Were you able to find out why they broke up?" "Yes. Mr. Murray went to law school in North Carolina. He met his future wife there, and they married around the time he graduated. Their child was born about 6 months after their wedding. He got her pregnant." "Yes." "When did Karen start seeing him again?" "We're not entirely sure, but when we checked his financial records, we determined that he has a separate bank account that is not linked to his other accounts. I believe he is keeping this account secret from his wife. It is from this account he pays for a hotel room almost every week." "Does Karen have a secret bank account, an account that she hasn't told me about?" Hannah paused a moment before answering. "I immediately knew there would be an answer. Yes, she has one. It's at the credit union near her office. We've determined there's about $40,000 in that account." I looked at both Jordan and Hannah. "How the hell did she get that kind of money? I do my taxes, and it's pretty simple. We save money every month, but in the wrong place." "We believe she was shifting money being paid in two checks: one, approximately 75% of her salary, goes to your joint account, and the other 25% goes to her own account. She also has a separate credit card at this credit union. She also has a spare phone, a slider, which she uses to call Mr. Murray." "Oh my God, my wife leads a double life." "What the hell?" Hannah turned to look at Jordan. He looked back and nodded his head. Then he spoke, "Mark, we have, uh, we have more information you need to know, and this is the hardest part of all." "How the hell can this get any worse?" "Jesus, Jordan, how could this get worse?" "Well, it's not what I was hoping for, but I think you need to know. You have a right to know." Now I was really puzzled. "Okay, tell me what it is." Jordan, with the most dejected expression I've ever seen on his face, said, "Go ahead, Wolfie, tell him."

"Mr. Francis, when I learned that long-term infidelity is involved, I automatically expand my search parameters to include other family members. Last year, you asked the children's school to take cheek scrapings for DNA in the event of a kidnapping or other disaster. Well, we have accessed your children's DNA and compared it to yours and Mrs. Francis's. The results for Mrs. Francis were as you would expect: she is the mother of the children. When we compared your DNA to the children's, we determined that you are not their biological father." "What? What? What?" "Sir, I'm sorry to say, but you are not Keith and Andrea's biological father." I couldn't believe my ears. "It's impossible, you must be wrong." Jordan intervened, "Mark, I know it's hard to believe. We used your DNA from your paper coffee cup the last time you were here, and we ran the tests twice, but we are confident that the children's father is someone else." "My, my planet has stopped spinning again. I couldn't breathe and was ready to faint. The room started spinning again, and I had to lie down on the floor." While Hannah was telling me about DNA testing, my whole world came crashing down. I have an unfaithful wife, and I have no children. As you can imagine, it took me a while to process what Jordan and Hannah told me. She prepared a very good written report and even put it on a flash drive for my use. Jordan had a complete copy for his file; he believed he would need it later for a divorce. I had a question for Hannah. "Were you able to determine who the father of my children, Karen's children?" "We haven't gotten that far, but if you want, we can do certain things to collect another person's DNA and compare it to the children's DNA." I nodded to her. "Please do this. I want to know who the father of these children is." "I'm guessing it's Thomas Murray." Hannah looked at Jordan and then at me. "We believe he is the children's biological father." "Okay, do it. I want to know. I thought for a minute. I don't want to know how you do it, but please find out and tell me." We finished, and Hannah gathered up all her things and put them in a folder and handed them to Jordan. She got up and started to leave. "Mr. Francis, if it cost you anything other than short periods of time with Mr. Murray, I think Mrs. Francis really loves you very much. She has all the outward signs of a woman who loves her husband. I know that it's not a big deal now, but think about it before you do anything. And one more piece of advice, if I may: please don't do anything stupid and end up in jail. It won't help you." Hannah turned and looked at Jordan and motioned for him to follow her. They went out into the corridor outside the meeting room and spoke quietly. I saw her nod in my direction a few times, and then kiss Jordan on the cheek and leave. I assumed they were friends with occasional benefits.

Jordan is back. We sat in silence for several minutes. Then he stood up. "Come on, you will come with me."

"Karen." "Oh my God, I can't believe the intensity of pleasure Tommy is giving me. He's so good at it. I know what you're thinking: Is it normal to be married and have a lover? Yes, it's normal, at least for me, and quite common as far as I know for married people to love someone other than their partners. It happens more often than you think, but not all people who fall in love with others end their marriages. I love Mark very much. I'm just in love with Tommy at the same time. You think I'm crazy and just a cheating. You can think whatever you want, but this is my life. Mark doesn't know about Tommy, and Tommy's wife doesn't know about me, and we both want to keep it that way. We spend one day a week together. That's all we've been doing for many years. I love Tommy even before we both married Mark and Britany, before we both had children. Tommy met Britney while he was in law school, and she became pregnant. He did the right thing and married her. Our relationship then ended, and then I met Mark. We started dating, and I fell in love with him. We got married, and soon after, I met Tommy again. We kind of started seeing each other again. We never stopped loving each other, but now we both had other commitments and other lives. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't stop seeing Tommy. Mark was my husband, and I loved him very much, but Tommy was, I thought, my true love. The problem is that we both had spouses to whom we were attached, and therefore our love for each other took a backseat. We started meeting once a week, and it became a regular thing. A few months later, I missed my period and realized I was pregnant. Mark was delighted with the news that he would become a father. I didn't know who the father was: Mark or Tommy. At that moment, it didn't matter. Sex during pregnancy was the best. I was so horny the whole time that I couldn't get enough of either Mark or Tommy. I wanted to have sex every day, morning and evening, and I did. After Keith was born, Tommy and I took a break, given the demands of being new parents. Mark became a father like a duck to water. He's a wonderful father. This man knows no fatigue. He would work all day and then come home and take over so I could shower and rest. I got used to being a mother, and soon things got better, and I was able to walk and chew gum at the same time. When Keith was about a year old, I became pregnant with Andrea. These three years were a challenge, but it was a wonderful time. My husband is my hero. He makes my life with him and the kids a joy. My time with Tommy is the distraction I need. He makes me feel good and sexy, and he does what Mark can't do for my psyche. This does not mean that Mark is worse as a husband, person, or man. No, not at all. They are different. I need both. I can only have Tommy in limited quantities. Britney takes up most of it, and rightfully so. I have all of Mark. He shows me every day that he loves me and the kids. I know that we are his world."

"Mark." I had to ask Jordan to drive me home in my car. He took a taxi back to his office. I walked into the house and just walked around, looking at things as if I had never seen them before. I walked into Keith and Andrea's bedrooms and looked at them. I remembered all the times I read them bedtime stories, took care of them when they had colds, changed their dirty diapers when they were babies, carried them around the house, walked with them on the floor at night so that they would fall asleep. They were my children. They bore my last name. My name was on their birth certificates. How could Karen lie to me so much for so long? Why did she do this? If she didn't want to have children with me, why didn't she tell me? Why did we even get married? For what? We have painted and decorated the kids' bedroom several times when they were newborns and then again after they started school. We redecorated the interior, added desks, changed the paint, and made the rooms their own. They could help you choose some furniture. I walked into our family room. The walls were covered with framed photographs of us as a family. Some were from holidays we took, and there were more formal family photos taken at Christmas. It documented the growth of the children and us as a family. Why did she have to ruin everything? Why did she have to turn our marriage into a lie? Why did she have to take away from me what was most important to me? Do I hate her now? I loved her, and now I hate her. Why did she have to be so cruel? I do not know what to do. I have no idea what I can do. Jordan was right.

"Karen." I returned home after meeting Tommy shortly before Mark returned. I always took a shower after sex with Tommy. I can always see where Mark is on his phone. I use Find My application. It works very well, and he always carries his phone with him. I really want to see where he is, especially when he's out with the kids. I'm worried about them. In fact, Tommy and I are only interested in each other for the sake of good sex. I love Mark, and I know that deep down Tommy loves Britney. Getting pregnant wasn't Tommy's plan, but when it happened, he accepted it and did the right thing. She is a very good person, and I know they have a good time together. Tommy and I have the same needs. We both need hot sex, which we don't always have time for at home. Do not misunderstand me; Mark is a wonderful lover. He knows how to please me, but our sex life is largely determined by the problems of family life. We have sex a couple of times a week, usually on the weekends. Mark is not new to his business; he is a very capable lover and gives me a lot of pleasure every time. You want to know why, if my sex life with my husband is so good, I have Tommy as a lover? Good question. It's really simple because I want him to be my lover. I need the attention he gives me. Tommy and I were a couple before Mark and before Britney. He was the man I thought I would marry. I was in love with him and still am, but life doesn't always work out the way you dream. The reality was that Tommy and I were not going to marry each other, so I chose second place. I met Mark and married him. Mark is a wonderful person. He is sweet, loyal, considerate, hard-working, considerate, a great father, and will work until he drops to do anything I ask of him. So, you're asking why Mark isn't enough for me? Why would I have sex with Tommy again? Because I want it. When Tommy and I broke up, it wasn't because I didn't love him. It wasn't because I didn't want to be with him. It wasn't because I didn't want to have a family with him. This happened because he got Britney pregnant, and he had to marry her. Mark and Tommy compliment each other. They both satisfy my needs. They both make me a very happy woman. With Mark, I receive love and respect. He is so good, so honest, and such an ideal husband that any woman would be happy to have him. I'm lucky to have him. The man is thoughtful and attentive, and the physical closeness I feel with him warms me throughout my body. He is the perfect husband, the perfect father, and we have a deep connection that makes him mine. But I also have a deep connection with Tommy. The way I feel when I'm with him is something I don't want to be without. When I feel him touch me, I enter a zone that is unlike anything else I have ever felt. He can do whatever he wants to me, and I'm okay with that. Sometimes he wants me to be hard, fast, and sweaty, and I love those times. Other times, he wants to go slow and gentle, and I like that too. We don't talk about our families that much. Our time together is purely for ourselves, far from everything else, no worries about..."

Family, work, or anything else. Just about the feeling we have with each other during these few hours. Once finished, we shower, get dressed, and return to the reality of our lives. Before I leave Tommy, I always check my phone to see where Mark is. I don't need a chance meeting in a place that's hard to explain. I return to my reality, and Tommy returns to his. This is a routine that has worked well for many years. I don't plan to change it in the near future.

Mark, it's been almost two weeks since Jordan and Hannah told me about what Karen had been doing. Our entire life together, I feel so stupid. I was used to her, and all this time she told me that she loved me. All this time, we shared life, family, home, and future. That's what I thought. My hopes and dreams disappeared like smoke in the blink of an eye. My entire married life has been a lie. Now, the problem is that I don't know what to do. How can I deal with this? When I look at Karen, I see the woman I married. She's sweet and charming, beautiful, talented, hardworking, and a wonderful mother to our children. Our children are no longer our children. Her kids, children of Thomas Murray. I have no children. I feel so violated. I really can't talk about this with anyone. Three days ago, I had a drink with Jordan, and he recommended I see a psychologist. He gave me the name of one and even made an appointment for me. Let's see if this helps.

Karen, I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that Mark is very distracted. I have to tell him something several times for him to hear and understand me. He practically does not pay attention. Children, Andrea has to pull his hand so that he pays attention to her. He apologizes for not listening, but then a few minutes later, he goes back into his own world. It seems he began spending a lot of extra time at work and missed school meetings that we had planned to attend together. I walked alone. He gets up very early in the morning and goes for a run. He usually runs for about 45 minutes and then returns home and showers. Lately, he runs for an hour and a half before returning home. He barely touches his food at lunch and doesn't interact with me or the kids more than minimally.

Mark, I went to a meeting with a psychologist, Dr. Marilyn Snow. She is a very nice lady, approximately 60 years old, and has a very calm approach. I explained to her the situation I was in and then told her how it made me feel. She asked if I had any plans for the future. What am I going to do? Am I going to run into Karen? Am I going to file for divorce? Am I contemplating forgiveness? I said I'm still trying to come up with a plan. I told her that my friend and lawyer, Jordan, advised me not to do anything until I was sure of my actions. Dr. Snow agreed that this sounded like a good short-term plan, but what about the long-term? I still didn't have an answer. I knew that if the betrayal had been short-term, I probably would have forgiven it, but to find out that she never actually stopped seeing her real lover and that he was the father of her children, well, that was a punch to the stomach that's hard to recover from. Even if I stayed with Karen, how could I ever trust her again? If I had accepted the way things turned out, I would have been content knowing that I would be her second choice in life, that I raised other people's children, that she had been deceiving me our entire life together. If Murray and his wife divorced, would Karen run away with him? Here's my question: How can I be happy now, knowing what I know?

Jordan, it's been over a month since I last I saw Mark, and today he wants to meet me in my office. He says he wants to discuss his tentative plan for dealing with Karen. I met him at the door, and we immediately went to the meeting room. Mark took off his jacket, and I handed him a bottle of water. He opened it and took a sip. "So, what do you want to talk about today, Jordan?" "I've been struggling ever since Hannah told me all about what Karen was really doing. I went to the psychologist you recommended. She helped me look at things from a different perspective. I tried to be honest with myself. I've been thinking about this whole thing for a long time, and I think I've made a few decisions." "Okay, how can I help?" "Here's my preliminary plan," Mark began to explain in detail what he wanted to do. His plan was straightforward and simple, but at the same time, he had some special issues that required attention. My task was to start processing the documents and be ready to file them in court. Mark has already met with his banker and had a long conversation with his employer. Now, everything depended on these details and timing. "I'll need Wolfie's help in executing the plan."

Two weeks later. Mark, "Oh, Lord Jesus, it's so hot! Turn on the air conditioner." So, two days ago, I took the train from Albany to New York and then the subway to JFK. My Air France flight took almost 18 hours to reach my destination. I had to change planes and had a connection of about four hours in Paris. Welcome to the United Arab Emirates, and to be more precise, to the city of Dubai, my new home for now. I got a new job with an engineering company working on a major project here in the UAE. So, you ask, how this happened? Well, in my field, we are constantly being hunted for engineering projects in many parts of the world. My boss was constantly fighting off people trying to poach his engineers, but there are times when it may be beneficial to have an engineer move to another company for a specific project. This is usually done to gain experience in some area of work, and then this experience is returned to the company. This was such a case. So, I took a job with a British company working on a major construction project in Dubai. The work will be intense, but the rewards will be great. The salary and benefits were crazy. My basic salary was $100,000 per month. This is about $25,000. Plus, there were benefits. The real advantage was that there is no income tax in the UAE. Yes, you read that right, no taxes on income. I don't plan to stay here for more than two years. Culturally, this is not a place where I would feel comfortable long-term, but who knows, things could change. I don't have a set schedule other than to work and make as much money as I can. The climate here is very different from Central New York. It will take some time to get used to. The job includes an apartment and a car. The apartment is ultra-modern in a high-rise building with underground parking and all amenities. Car: Mercedes E450, black, of course, and very fast. It's heaven and earth compared to my old Subaru Outback I had in Albany. The company assigned me an assistant, British. Her name is Amanda. She is about 28-30 years old, tall, slender, with long dark brown hair, black glasses, and attractive in a quietly British way. Her accent suggests that she comes from a more privileged background and is very well educated. She has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in international relations. In addition, she speaks the language of this country. It will be priceless. She met me at the airport and took me to the apartment. I didn't bring many things with me, my old leather briefcase and one suitcase. I decided that if I needed anything else, I would just buy it. On the way to the apartment, she talked almost non-stop about the UAE, the city, and the people here. She was both critical and flattering of the UAE. I realized that this new job would be both challenging and possibly fun. When I left Albany, I knew all hell was going to break loose, but that was no longer my problem. Karen and her boyfriend caused trouble. Let them deal with it themselves. I felt sorry for the children most of all. I would have taken them with me, but I knew that no judge would ever agree to this, separate them from their mother. But you want to know how it ended in Albany.

Jordan, my meeting with Mark took a couple of hours. He brought some notes and a folder of documents to discuss. He wanted me to coordinate several things for him at the same time. So, this is the end for Karen Francis and Thomas Murray. Hannah found out where and when Karen and Murray usually met each week. Sometimes it was a hotel on the outskirts of town, next to a FedEx facility, not one of the big or famous hotels, one that they could afford. The magic of this place was that it was close to the highway and easy to get to. Murray had a friend who would sometimes give him a bedroom in his apartment to keep their expenses down. They loved it, but he didn't provide towels. Mark told me he was going to pack his things in the morning and head to the train station. He is leaving the country. He didn't tell me where he was going, but I didn't need to know as long as I had his email address. He will take the children to school, and after Karen leaves for work, he will return home, take his bag, and call a taxi to the station. This is where Wolfie comes into the plan. She had to have a package of documents and other information for Karen and be ready to deliver them. Mark wanted us to wait until they were in the hotel room, and Murray would probably be in the middle of it with Karen. The plan was to knock on the hotel room door, telling them it was the police, and asking them to open the door. When they open the door, Wolfie will ask Karen for ID, and once she takes a photo of him, will hand Karen a package with the usual: "You have received a summons statement." Wolfie was very good at this and managed to take a photo of both of them before leaving. The envelope for Karen contained the usual divorce papers, as well as copies of DNA test results showing that Mark is not the children's father, but Murray is. There were transcripts of phone calls between Karen and Murray arranging their meetings, and a couple of photographs to let them know they were caught. I should have waited for Wolfie to call and let me know that she had handed over the documents, and then my next task was to call Britney Murray and let her know everything that was going on. I invited her to come to my office and would be happy to brief her on everything we had learned. Mark wanted to sue Murray to get back some of the money he had spent over the past eight years raising Keith and Andrea, but he knew that was unlikely. We talked about the pros and cons of this, and Mark didn't want Britney and her daughter to suffer because her husband was a...

Mark called me yesterday and told me that today was supposed to be D-day. Mark called it that because it was the day he was leaving. He will go to his new life. I call it "walie." Immediately, she will come to my office first thing today to get the paperwork packages and finalize her plan. Wolfie was very excited when she received my office. I smiled at her and asked, "What's got you so excited?" She grinned widely. "This is about to learn the consequences of sex with a man who dedicated his life to her and what he thought were his children. She deserves every bit of what she's going to get." We sat at the conference table, and I put everything in large envelopes and marked names on them. Wolfie and I chatted for a bit, had some coffee, and then she went off to look around the building where Karen worked. Shortly afternoon, she called me and told me that Karen was leaving. All I had to do was wait and be ready to call Britney Murray.

Karen, I pulled into the hotel parking lot and saw that Tommy was already there. His SUV was parked at the edge of the parking lot. I parked and got out of the car. He came out, and we met at the side door of the hotel. He already had the room key. I kissed him on the lips, and we, holding hands, went inside and took the elevator. As soon as we entered the room, Tommy and I began to undress and pulled back the blanket on the bed. I wanted him inside me as soon as I could have him today. Mark had barely spoken to me over the past few weeks, and I was desperate for Tommy. The feeling of his hands as they touched my skin was like electricity. We stood near the bed, and he pulled me close, kissing my neck and shoulder. His hands cupped the cheeks of my ass and kneaded them like dough. We pulled back, and then I was on the bed with Tommy on top, kissing me down to my chest, and then down to my stomach. And then there was a loud knock on the door. I heard in a very loud voice, "Mrs. Karen Francis, I know you are there, please open the door." We both stopped and looked at each other, and then at the door. "What the heck?" "Mrs. Karen Francis, open the door, or the hotel security will open it." "Oh!" Tommy tried to find his pants and shirt. I grabbed everything I could find and started getting dressed. The knocking continued. "Mrs. Francis, we'll open the door now." "Wait, wait, I'll open it." Tommy actually opened the door, but left the chain on so it couldn't open more than a few inches. As he did so, we heard, "Mr. Murray, please open the door all the way, or we will open it for you." Tommy looked at me, and when he saw that I was almost dressed, he closed the door, took off the chain, and opened it a little wider. The woman who had been banging on the door and yelling at us came inside and looked at me. "Are you Mrs. Karen Francis?" She had some kind of badge on her belt. I nodded. "I need you to say yes or no, please." "Oh, yes." She came closer. "I need to see some form of identification." I looked around and found my bag and took out my driver's license. She took a photo of them with her mobile phone, then she handed me a large envelope. "You have been served with a subpoena." She turned to Tommy and handed him an envelope, saying, "Mr. Thomas Murray, you have been served with a subpoena." She stepped back and took a quick photo of both of us, then turned and walked away. "What the hell was that?" I looked at the envelope, and I knew my world had just collapsed. I realized that Mark found out about Tommy. His silence over the past few weeks now made sense. Suddenly, the room began to spin, and I seemed to lose consciousness. The next thing I remember is that I came to, lying on the bed. Tommy sat on a chair, looking at his cell phone. I stood up and hurried to the bathroom, rushing there. As soon as I reached the toilet, I waited there until I could get up, and then went back to the room and gathered my things. "I have to go home." I left the room without even looking at Tommy. Somehow, I made it home without causing an accident and went inside. "Mark! Mark! Mark! Where are you, dear?" I went through every room in the house looking for him, even in the children's rooms. He wasn't there. I returned to the kitchen, and that's when I saw a white envelope placed on the island with my name on it. I opened it, and there was one piece of paper and Mark's wedding ring. Crap. I unfolded it and read:

"Karen, by now you should know that I know the whole truth about your long-term affair with Thomas Murray. I know that you and he were together before we got married. If you have not yet looked at the documents you were given, you should do so soon. There you will see that I know that I am not Keith and Andrea's father. You gave this honor to Thomas Murray. This is what hurts the most: not being the father of the children I tried to love and raise. Your deception was what ruined everything. For this, I will never be able to forgive you. What are our paths now? Well, I left. I took little with me, so the house and everything else is left to you to decide. Jordan has some paperwork for you later, but I have given up my interests in the house and all our other things. Considering how well you have deceived me for so long, I assume you want to know how I found out about you and Thomas Murray. It happened completely by accident. I was at a meeting at the same hotel where you and he used to meet for sex. I was walking during a break and saw you and him get into the elevator. You turned to kiss him. The expression on your face was the same one you sometimes gave me when I thought you loved me. How wrong I was. I will never contact you again in any form, so that you can move on with your life and I can move on with mine. I'm sorry that Keith and Andrea will suffer the most from all of this. Your secret life will affect them. Perhaps they will be able to recognize their real father, and he will be a good father to them. I will truly miss them. Goodbye, Mark."

I dropped the letter on the tabletop and sat down on the sofa in the living room. I took out my cell phone and called Mark. "The number you dialed is not in service. Please check the number and try again." Crap. I called his office. The girl answering the phone told me that Mark had left the company. She didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do. Crap. I called his mother. She had no idea what I was talking about. I thanked her and hung up. Crap. Finally, I opened the envelope with all the documents and started looking through them. Everything was there. All my stupidity from the last 10 years or more laid out in black and white, along with a couple of color photographs. There were also DNA test results. I never had the children's DNA tested, but I knew they were Tommy's when they started to get older and their facial features changed from those of a baby. What have I done?

Mark, Jordan emailed me and reported on how the discovery of Karen's affair went. It was a difficult time, but I knew that my life with her was over. I could never look at her again and believe that she ever truly loved me. I was her second choice. When I found out that Murray was the father of the children, well, that solved everything. I should have walked away and not looked back. I've been in the UAE for a month now and have practically adapted. I called my mother and father and told them what had happened, and although they were saddened by it all, they understood that I could not tolerate being humiliated by Karen. I'm still young. I will find a new woman to share my life with. Jordan said the situation with Thomas Murray and his wife, Britney, was tense. She called Jordan and then came to his office, and Jordan told her everything he had learned about her husband's long-term affair with Karen. She had not yet made up her mind, as far as he knew, about kicking him the hell out. For now, Karen came to Jordan and demanded to know where I was. He didn't know himself, of course, so he didn't have to lie to her. Jordan made her sign some documents to submit to the court: divorce papers and one specific request I wanted the court to grant. I wanted the court to order my name removed from Keith and Andrea's birth certificates. I wanted Thomas Murray's name on there. After some haggling with the judge and the presentation of DNA test results, the court granted my request. This meant that there would never be any legal issues regarding who was responsible for them.

Life here so far is pretty good in the UAE. Karen, being a single parent, isn't all it's cracked up to be. I still have a lot to do to take care of the children and the house. Without Mark, I have no one to share my work with. My dad would come over to do some minor repairs that Mark would do. Dad comes in, does what he came for, chats with the children if there are any, and leaves. He hardly talks to me. My mother and father found out why Mark left. They knew I was in love with Tommy before Mark, but they decided it was all over when Tommy married Britney. They had no idea that I had been dating Tommy this entire time. Tommy is on a very short leash himself. I haven't been with him since that day at the hotel when everything went to hell. I don't know what to do. If the children get to know him, is this even a good idea? The house and most of our savings are mine. I still need to work and pay bills. The court found that Mark was not financially responsible for the children because they were not his, and I kept this a secret from him. As for my support, the money in the bank belongs to me, and I can use it as I wish. Plus, I still have my secret bank account. Well, not so secret. Mark knew about this. I think I really screwed up here. What should I do now?

Six months later. My life went on. I miss Karen and especially the children, but when I think about her, I'm just angry at her and at myself for screwing up our entire marriage. So, I try my best to stay busy and not think about her. My social life resumed slowly, but it happened. I've gotten to know a lot of the people I work with and discovered some very talented people who work here for a variety of reasons. Many are here for the money, many came here to experience a different way of life and culture, and some came here to recover from a bad experience. I'm here for all these reasons. Last month, I took an adventure ride through the desert to an oasis on a motorcycle I bought. I bought a used BMW F800 GS and equipped it with some touring options. There is a motorcycle club here that organizes weekend trips, so I signed up and went to have fun and see more of the country, not just an overpriced city. Amanda told me that she really wanted to do something like this, so I invited her to come with us. She had never ridden a motorcycle before, and this was my first time taking a passenger. Oh, what fun! We had a great time. The organizer thought we were a couple, so when we got to our destination, there was only one room with one bed available for us, and the hotel was full. We had to share. It was a little awkward at first, but we managed. I suggested sleeping on the floor, but she told me that was ridiculous and that we should sleep in the same bed. In the morning, I woke up hugging her waist. I didn't mean to do that, but that's how we ended up. The most important thing for me was that I was excited. Very. It won't go away. I tried to think of anything to make it go away, but to no avail. Amanda was still asleep, but she was moving a little, and her ass was rubbing against me. I slid back into bed and went to the toilet before anything really awkward happened. When I left, she was already up and getting dressed. She didn't wear a bra under her t-shirt, and her breasts moved when she moved. She looked at me, noticing my gaze, and said, "Have you never seen a half-naked woman before?" Then she took off her t-shirt and went to the bathroom. I heard the water turn on, and then, "Are you coming or not?" This was the beginning. After that, everything changed.

Eighteen months later. Amanda, Mark, and I returned to London to visit my parents. They actually met him last Christmas when we came over for the holidays. My father is a banker, and my mother is a teacher. They are wealthy people and are approaching retirement. They were interested in learning more about the American I was going to bring home to introduce to them. My dad wanted to get to know Mark better, so they went to the local pub for a beer or two and to talk. A couple of hours later, they returned, and my father was smiling and noticeably better about Mark. I'm sure he shared what he learned with my mom. So now it's summer, and we're here again with big news for my parents. Mark and I are moving back to the UK. Well, not back for Mark, since he's never lived here before. He has a new job at the company, a major construction project in the Cotswolds. The pay is great, and we decided to rent a house first and then maybe buy a place in a couple of years, depending on where we are. Then we want a house with at least three bedrooms, and I'd like a house with two bathrooms so we don't have to share with guests. I'm so selfish. The other big news is that I'm pregnant and due in November. Therefore, we want to move and settle down. Settle medical issues. Oh, yes, and get married. Yes. And it is also car.

And I have looked for Mark on the internet almost every day since he passed away. I still have the letter he left in the kitchen for me. The children were devastated that the father they knew had left without a word to them. What could he even say to them to explain? "Sorry, children, but I'm not really your father, but your mother is a lying useless, and I'm leaving." Yes, that would work well. I know I made this mess. I started seeing a therapist once a week and will probably continue as long as my health insurance covers it. She says I was fooling myself into thinking I could have both men at the same time without consequences. She said that I had set Mark up to fail as a husband and father, and that was why he was doomed to leave. She advised me to apologize to Mark and my children. It would be nice if I could find him. I don't have the money to hire a private investigator, so I ask his family from time to time if they could kindly tell me how to contact him. Mark's father tells me to go to hell. His mother doesn't talk to me at all. We moved to a smaller house, cheaper to maintain. The kids don't like this place, but it's what we can afford. I drive Mark's old Subaru. It is still reliable and works well.

Mark, I tried very hard to forget the period of my life when I thought that I was the happiest person on Earth. All this continued until it happened. If it weren't for my ex-wife's chance encounter with her lover that day at the hotel, I might never have known the truth. But I found out, and I had to do something. Ten years of deception is not enough. How can you do this and look into the eyes of another person day after day, say that you love him while betraying him, taking away his love and giving it to another? How can you lie to your own children? I'm certainly not perfect, and many will criticize me for the way I handled Karen and her betrayal. It was the only thing I could do and still be myself. My biggest regrets are the children, Keith and Andrea. I hope that they were able to know their real father and that he could love them the same way I loved them. Karen killed my love. She poisoned this source. I couldn't look at Keith and Andrea knowing that their only reason for existing was to deceive their mother. They deserve better. I will do my best every day to be a good father to my child.

Jordan, Mark's actions were radical. I thought he would regret leaving the children, even though they weren't his. He was in the delivery room when they were born, and he raised them. He was the man they called Dad. He changed dirty diapers, fed them, rocked them to sleep, and was there for their first words and steps. But I saw a friend who was deeply, deeply hurt by the betrayal of the woman who promised and swore to love him. She betrayed him in the most fundamental way. The only way it could have been worse was if she took the gun and shot him in the head. I understand why Mark left. As his friend and lawyer, I supported him. I still get calls from Karen asking me to tell her where he is and asking him to call her or come home. I sent a few of them until Mark told me to stop sending them, and that's what I did. Every three to four months, I receive a short email from Mark to find out where he is and what's going on in his life. I know that he is leaving the UAE for the UK. I know he has a new woman in his life, and her name is Amanda. I promised not to tell Karen anything. I'm happy for Mark. He set up an education account for Keith and Andrea to help pay for college or university when the time came. I am a confidant. I'll make sure they get the money when the time comes. Personally, I got married. Yes, you guessed it, Wolfie. Well, my family and her name is Hannah. She's pregnant, and we're having a baby in December. It's better to forget her nickname by the time our child begins to understand what it means. We don't want to scare the baby.

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