Tenth Wedding Anniversary
On the day of our tenth wedding anniversary,
I received a photo of my husband in bed with another woman.
His lover flaunted it in front of me,
boasting, "The unloved one is the true intruder."
I laughed so hard I nearly fell over.
She probably didn't know that besides her and the other mistresses, my husband had a true love he'd been hiding in his heart for ten years.
In order to be with his true love,
he even concocted the absurd story that his true love was his aunt.
Morning
After dropping my youngest daughter off at school, I was about to pick up the jade bracelet I had reserved for three months. It was a gift from my husband, Aidan, to celebrate our ten years together.
The saleswoman, Miriam, was smiling so broadly that her eyes disappeared, coaxing me to buy another jade bracelet. Just then, an unexpected photo popped up on my phone.
In the photo, a woman was sweating profusely, disheveled, nestled in the arms of a man, looking delicate and dependent like a little bird. If the man she was leaning on wasn't my husband, Aidan, I might have appreciated the beauty more.
"The one who isn't loved is the real outsider."
A common and cliché declaration from a mistress, something I'd seen in countless romance novels. Nine out of ten mistresses say this.
At my age, love had become a luxury. The only motivation to maintain this family was to give my children a complete home and keep up appearances.
I no longer sought love from my husband. All I needed from him was a steady stream of money and social resources. Our marriage had long been sustained by mutual benefits, an unspoken agreement between Aidan and me.
He was never a faithful man. It was almost an open secret in our circle that high-ranking executives in large corporations had a few confidantes. The unspoken rule was not to bring these women home and to maintain a positive image in front of the children, ensuring the family's integrity.
By letting his mistress cause a scene in front of me, Aidan had broken the rules.