The Family iPad's Hidden Secret

he family iPad was the fir

dit users pointed out the chilling truth. The message wasn

ard them talking. They were laughing about his

" my son said. "Why don't you

ng for my replacement. My perfect fam

fire in the wreckage of my heart. "Gather pr

re steady as

l me

pte

ra Wrig

structed lie wasn't a lipstick stain or a whiff of unfamiliar perfum

brated architect husband, was on a business trip in Chicago. Jacob, our sixteen-year-old son, was suppo

weather for my morning run. But a banner notification was already the

hinking about that hotel room. You owe me a Round 2... soon. It was fol

gainst my ribs, a f

n, but ultimately good boy. Was he... involved with someone? Someone older? The thought was a bu

sixteen. Sixteen-year-old boys made stupid, hormone-driven mistakes. My mind rac

o immense. It felt like a failing on my part. So I did what any desp

dvice on navigating the teenage years. Using a throwaway account, I la

) is in an inappropriate relationship with someone older. The message mentioned a

y. Suggestions on how to talk to him without b

t landed like a

ld up. You' re assum

did that mean? Of course, it w

fensiveness flaring

arefully. The phrasing. 'You owe me a Round 2.' Does that sound lik

ed back up to my own post, re-reading t

e a credit card and someone over 21 to check in. Can a 16-ye

r-a-day limit that I set myself. He complained about it constantly. He couldn'

as absurd. They were strangers on t

t it was already starting to sprout. The comments kept coming, a cascade

another man i

reen, accusatory and obscene. My

th

lauded in magazines as the ideal husband and father, a visionary architect who s

ous I almost laughed.

own. The commenters were like detectives, pieci

the one that made the flo

tion with certain... performance-enhancing drugs for men. Specifically, the little blue pill. A 16-year-ol

e that started in my fingertips and spread through my entire bod

uldn'

th

rdity curdled into a thick, choking dread. My stomach churned. I felt a wave of n

I told myself. He'

pening made me jump. Keys rat

m home! S

miliar, echoed through the fo

c smile. He was still in his travel clothes, a tailored blazer and expensive j

pping his briefcase and pulling me into a hug. He smelled of expensive cologne and th

s he studied my face. "Hey, you okay

mous Chicago chocolatier. "I brought you

yes that had looked at me across a thousand dinner ta

li

ace feeling stiff and alien.

s touch, usually a comfort, now felt like a cage. "Poor baby. Why don' t you go up and take a hot bath? I' ll handl

test. I leaned my head back against his chest, the rhythm

, pulling away before I shatte

rformance flawless. "Go on, I i

' d left by the counter. My hand was shaking. I felt a pang of

e was dead. "Use mine, honey, check whatever you want." He had nothing to

s being paranoid, driven craz

arried his suitcase into the laundry room. I unzipped the main compartment, pulling

pped the fr

t something small and

led i

rld s

he same brand, I realized with a fresh wave of nausea, that I had found a stray one of in the

lm. The room spun. All the air had been sucked out of my lungs. The Reddit comm

into place with a s

sn' t

never

my hu

it. A new notification from Reddit. I crawled

t message from

it' s your husband, listen to it. And if it is, don' t confron

placed by a glacial calm. The tears that ha

y son, upstairs, being greeted by his deceitful, manipula

ady now. I navigated back to the Re

l me