The news that destroyed my peace
My husband, Marcelus, was standing at the stove preparing dinner when a message from one of the employees appeared on his phone.
« Boss, I miss you. »
That’s all.
Four words that in an instant shattered the image of a perfect marriage that we had been building for six years.
The aroma of long-braised oxtails wafted through our luxurious Buckhead apartment. Marcelus stirred the sauce, humming an old R&B song. He wore a navy blue apron I’d given him for our wedding anniversary.
From the outside, he looked like the perfect husband. A successful man, a caring partner, a man who always said that cooking for his wife was a privilege.
Yet, one notification was all it took for everything to start falling apart.
I knew the sender’s name. Kaani was a new intern in his department. Marcelus had mentioned several times that she was ambitious, intelligent, and a quick learner.
However, I didn’t expect their relationship to go far beyond the office.
I didn’t make a scene. I didn’t start screaming. A week earlier, I’d already found suspicious transfers on my bank statement, and from that moment on, I stopped trusting my husband.
This time I needed proof.
I picked up the phone. The code was our wedding date. The irony was almost painful.
I opened the message and replied:
« Come over. My wife isn’t home today. »
After a while I saw a double blue marker.
I took a screenshot, sent it to my phone, and deleted traces of the conversation.
Marcelus didn’t notice a thing. He continued cooking, talking about work, and serving me the best cuts of meat on his plate.
I looked at him and felt more and more that I was sitting opposite a stranger.
Dinner tasted like ash.
He talked about new projects, plans for promotion, and our future together, and I counted down the minutes until the doorbell rang.
Around eight in the evening, the apartment fell silent. Marcelus sat on the couch, scrolling through messages on his phone. He was calm, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Suddenly the bell rang.
Marcelus raised his head.
“Who could that be at this hour?” he muttered, surprised.
I got up calmly.
– Sit down. I’ll open it.
Each step toward the door felt heavy and final. When I unlocked the door and opened it, I saw a young girl in a tight dress. In her hands she held a small box containing a cupcake.
Her smile disappeared immediately when she saw me.
She turned pale.
She looked at me like someone caught red-handed.
Then I heard Marcelus’s footsteps behind me.
– Honey, who came?
I looked the girl straight in the eyes.
– Hello, Kaani. Are you here to see my husband?
That was the moment she realized she had fallen into a trap.
