When my wife cheated on me with my stepfather, a man who raised me as his own, I thought that was the worst betrayal I would ever survive. Then they invited me to their wedding. I showed up with a gift that made my ex-wife scream while the shocked guests reached for their phones.
My mom had me when she was only 19, and for the longest time, it was us against the world.
We were a team. She worked two jobs to keep us afloat, and I tried to be the easiest kid possible.
I never knew my biological father, but I never felt like I was missing much.
Mom was my anchor, my best friend, and my entire world.
Then, when I was 14, Michael entered the picture.
I wanted to hate him right from the start. I was convinced he’d end up breaking Mom’s heart.
But Michael was kind, reliable, and he looked at my mom like she was the only woman on earth. He earned my respect.
Eventually, he earned my love, too. He became the father I never had.
Life was good for a long time. I grew up, went to college, and met Iris.
She was beautiful, sharp, and seemed to get me in a way nobody else did.
We got married, and for a few years, I thought I had it all.
What I didn’t know then was that two of the people I trusted most would eventually turn my family into something unrecognizable.
A year ago, everything shattered.
My mom had a heart attack. There was no warning, and no chance to say goodbye.
Losing her nearly broke me. Iris was my rock through it all.
“Let it out,” she told me after the funeral.
“I understand that you’re hurting, and I want you to take all the time you need to mourn.”
I spent almost the whole year in a fog. I don’t even remember most of it.
But when the fog started lifting, I noticed Iris had changed.
Iris wasn’t home as much.
She stayed late at work nearly every evening.
Then she started disappearing on weekends.
“I have urgent errands,” she would say, not looking me in the eye.
Something about it felt off, but a part of me thought it was just me, that the depression and pain of the past few months were clouding my judgment.
When I finally decided to ask her what was going on, I expected her to say she was stressed or that we needed counseling.
I didn’t expect the ice-cold look she gave me.
“I don’t want to lie anymore,” she said.
My brain stopped working.
“Someone else?”
“What was I supposed to do? You completely forgot about me over the past year!”
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