Her Fantasy, His Nightmare

“My wife, Olivia, had been cheating on me for five years, not physically, but worse: secretly funneling money to her ex-boyfriend, Ben Carter. Every bonus she claimed, every late night at the office, was a lie built on our shared life. Then, she drunkenly confessed Ben was finally free from his marriage, and I unlocked her phone, a device once mirroring our supposed trust. Inside, a hidden album revealed hundreds of photos of Ben, a secret shrine of a love she' d never let go of. The centerpiece was our wedding photo, altered. My face had been meticulously replaced with Ben' s. She beamed, looking not at me, but at him. Her fantasy, her perfect lie, became my shattering reality. Our five-year marriage was a transaction, a prop for her career, while her heart belonged to another. I had tried to fill our empty home with my love, my art, but her smiles were always pale imitations, rationed affection. Why did she need this elaborate charade? Why did she insist on that photo, only to erase me from it? The betrayal cut deeper than simple infidelity. It was a complete annihilation of my existence within our shared life. That night, everything changed. I knew then that love wouldn't conquer anything. It was over. I began the quiet, meticulous work of dismantling our life, preparing to divorce the woman who had never truly married me.”