I was walking past my brother’s place and thought I’d drop in.
We hadn’t caught up in a while, and it was right on my way home. I figured we’d sit down like we used to, share a coffee, talk about life.
But the moment I stepped into the driveway, I stopped cold.
There, parked right in front of his house, was my wife’s car.
For a few seconds I just stared, unable to process what I was seeing. I tried to rationalize it — maybe she was delivering something, maybe there was some perfectly normal explanation. But the longer I looked, the heavier my chest felt.
I took out my phone and called her.
“Hey, where are you right now?”
“Oh, I’m at a friend’s,” she answered casually. “Just chatting a bit. I’ll be home soon. Don’t worry.”
A friend’s house.
She lied without the slightest hesitation.
My stomach tightened. If everything was innocent, why lie?
I walked toward the window quietly. A warm light glowed from inside. I leaned closer — and what I saw nearly made my knees give out.
My wife was on the couch, crying, her face streaked with tears. My brother was beside her, holding her hand, speaking softly to her.
“I can’t hide it from him anymore,” she sobbed. “It’s wrong. The child isn’t his… He could find out any day.”
My brother gripped her hand tighter and whispered:
“You say nothing. If you tell him, it will destroy him, your marriage — and everything we have.”
My whole world blurred. I don’t know how my fist ended up slamming against the glass, but the sound made them both jump.
She went white. He froze.
For a moment, we just stared at each other — the three of us, trapped in one awful truth.
Now I don’t know how to breathe, how to think — or how I’m supposed to live after this.
