You made choices. Those choices have implications beyond just getting to sleep with my wife. And I'm the one who gets to decide what those implications are. He closed the folder, pushed it away like it might contaminate him. Rachel said you were being vindictive.
I didn't believe her, but maybe she was right. Vindictive would be ruining your life because you ruined mine. What I'm doing is giving you the same choice I gave Rachel. Cooperate with an honest dissolution of this mess or watch me make it as painful as possible. I pulled the folder back toward me.
So, here's what's going to happen. You're going to give me a full written statement about your relationship with Rachel, dates, locations, the truth about when it started and how it developed. Every relevant detail. Why would I do that? Because if you don't, I'll subpoena you for the divorce proceedings.
I'll put you on a witness stand and make you answer these questions in front of a judge and court reporter. Your name will be in public records forever as the man who broke up a 12-year marriage, or you can write it down privately. Give me the closure of knowing the complete truth, and we can all move forward quietly. He stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time. You've really thought this through.
I've had a lot of time to think. 14 days alone while you and Rachel were in paradise. Weeks before that, when I started suspecting something was wrong, hours and hours to sit with betrayal and decide how to respond to it. I stood up, left money on the table for my untouched coffee. You have until Friday to email me that statement.
After that, I file the atfall divorce and let the courts handle everything. And if I send you the statement, then what? Then we're done. You get Rachel, I get the truth, and we never have to speak again. I walked toward the door, then stopped and turned back.
One more thing, Marcus, that story about Rachel being lonely and invisible, you might want to ask yourself why she told you that. Because in my experience, people who cheat don't usually start with, "My marriage is perfect. They start with stories that justify what they're already planning to do. " She told you what you needed to hear to make yourself feel better about pursuing her, and you believed it because you wanted to. I left him sitting there with the folder and the truth and the slowly dawning realization that maybe, just maybe, he'd been played as much as I had. The email arrived Thursday night, 30 hours before my deadline.