I thought about installing cameras.
Then I realized there might be an easier way.
I told Melissa my flu test had come back positive.
“I’ll stay at my parents’ house for a few days.”
She tried to sound disappointed.
“That’s probably safer.”
Within minutes, a message appeared.
Boss is leaving the office tonight.
I stared at the screen.
She had taken the bait.
Chapter 9: The Suitcase
When I arrived home after work, my suitcase was already packed.
Melissa had folded everything neatly.
Shirts.
Underwear.
Toiletries.
Even my phone charger.
She was that eager to help me leave.
That hurt more than I expected.
I told her I would miss her.
She checked her watch twice.
Then she walked me all the way to my car.
That bothered me.
Why make sure I actually drove away?
My father and older brother were parked a block from the condo, watching for Cole’s arrival.
Half an hour passed.
Nothing.
Then the answer came to me.
“He’s already inside.”
My father frowned.
“How?”
“Garage.”
Or stairwell.
Or maybe Melissa had brought him in while I was still at work.
I drove back.
My father and brother followed.
Luis saw me enter but asked no questions.
I moved quietly down the hallway.
Music came from our bedroom.
Then I heard them.
I took out my phone.
Started recording.
Clothes were lying across the small couch outside the bedroom.
His.
Hers.
I opened the door.
And there they were.
My wife of eleven years.
And Cole Hartman.
In our bed.
Chapter 10: D-Day
Melissa screamed and grabbed the blanket.
Cole reacted differently.
He stood and moved toward me.
Angry.
Defensive.
Trying to transform himself from the man caught sleeping with another man’s wife into the most dominant man in the room.
“Get out, buddy.”
That word again.
Buddy.
I held up the phone.
“This is my house.”
He kept coming.
I shoved him backward hard enough to stop his advance and told him once:
“Get dressed and get out.”
He started shouting.
I shouted louder.
Not because I was proud.
Because something inside me had finally snapped after a year of being told I was imagining everything.
My father and brother reached the hallway.
Luis was nearby too.
That changed Cole’s calculation.
He dressed quickly.
I threw the rest of his clothes toward him and watched him leave.
Then I closed the door.
Melissa remained in the bedroom.
I stood in the living room shaking.
Not with rage anymore.