AT THE PARTY, MY WIFE JOKED, “MY HUSBAND STILL THINKS I’M INNOCENT.” EVERYONE LAUGHED #cheating — Transcript

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1. 0:00The party was crowded when my wife
2. 0:01raised her glass and laughed. My husband
3. 0:04still thinks I'm innocent. Everyone
4. 0:06around her burst out laughing. I forced
5. 0:09a smile and lifted my drink. Then I
6. 0:11said, "Let her finish. The best part is
7. 0:14coming." The laughter faded almost
8. 0:17immediately. My wife stared at me. "What
9. 0:20does that mean?" she asked. I leaned
10. 0:22back in my chair. "Nothing yet. Keep
11. 0:26talking." She tried to laugh it off, but
12. 0:28her confidence was gone. Her friends
13. 0:31exchanged nervous looks. She had spent
14. 0:33months making jokes about how trusting I
15. 0:36was. That night, she finally discovered
16. 0:39I had stopped believing her. She sat
17. 0:41beside me and whispered, "You're
18. 0:43embarrassing me." I quietly replied,
19. 0:46"You did that yourself." She frowned.
20. 0:49"What are you talking about?" I pulled a
21. 0:52folded envelope from my jacket and
22. 0:54placed it beneath my glass. I didn't
23. 0:56open it. I just left it there. Her eyes
24. 0:59immediately locked onto it. What's
25. 1:02inside? She asked. The best part, I
26. 1:05said. Her friend Jenna leaned forward,
27. 1:07curious. My wife quickly told everyone
28. 1:10it was probably some stupid surprise. I
29. 1:13said nothing. Then her phone buzzed on
30. 1:16the table. She glanced at the screen and
31. 1:18immediately turned it face down. I
32. 1:20noticed the name before she covered it.
33. 1:23Derek. She stood up quickly. I need some
34. 1:26air. I followed her onto the balcony.
35. 1:29Who's Derek? I asked. She crossed her
36. 1:32arms. A coworker? I nodded. The coworker
37. 1:37you told me you barely knew. Her face
38. 1:39changed. Why are you asking me this? I
39. 1:43took out my phone and showed her a
40. 1:44photograph. It showed her and Derek
41. 1:47leaving a restaurant together, holding
42. 1:49hands. She stared at it without
43. 1:51speaking. That's not what it looks like,
44. 1:54she finally whispered. I laughed once
45. 1:57bitterly. You know what's funny? That
46. 2:00sentence is exactly what people say when
47. 2:02it looks exactly like what it is. She
48. 2:04grabbed my phone. Where did you get
49. 2:07this? I took it back from someone who
50. 2:10got tired of watching you lie. She
51. 2:13looked frightened now. Did you hire
52. 2:15someone to follow me? No, I said.
53. 2:19Dererick's fiance contacted me. My wife
54. 2:22went completely still. I continued. She
55. 2:25found your messages while planning their
56. 2:27wedding. Apparently, you weren't the
57. 2:30only person he was lying to. My wife's
58. 2:32mouth opened, but no words came out. He
59. 2:35told you his relationship was over,
60. 2:38didn't he? I asked. She nodded slowly.
61. 2:41He said they were basically finished. I
62. 2:44shook my head. They were planning their
63. 2:47wedding. When we returned inside,
64. 2:49everyone could tell something had
65. 2:51happened. My wife sat down silently. Her
66. 2:54best friend asked, "Are you okay?" She
67. 2:57forced a smile. "Perfectly fine." I
68. 3:00placed the envelope on the table and
69. 3:02pushed it toward her. "Open it?" Her
70. 3:05hands trembled as she tore it open.
71. 3:07Inside were printed copies of messages
72. 3:09between her and Derek. Plans for secret
73. 3:12dinners, lies about where they were. One
74. 3:16message made her stop breathing. Once I
75. 3:18marry you, nobody will ever know about
76. 3:20us. I looked at her. That was his
77. 3:23message to you 3 days before his fianceé
78. 3:25contacted me. My wife whispered, "I
79. 3:29thought he loved me." I answered
80. 3:31quietly. He loved having you believe
81. 3:33whatever he told you. Dererick's fiance
82. 3:36had already confronted him. She had also
83. 3:38sent me everything because she wanted
84. 3:40the truth out. My wife looked around the
85. 3:42room, realizing everyone was watching
86. 3:45her. The same people who had laughed at
87. 3:47her joke now sat completely silent. Her
88. 3:50sister finally asked, "Is this real?" My
89. 3:53wife began crying. "I never meant for it
90. 3:56to go this far." I looked at her. "It
91. 3:59went this far because you kept choosing
92. 4:00it." She covered her face. Nobody moved
93. 4:04to comfort her. The joke from earlier
94. 4:06suddenly felt cruel enough to fill the
95. 4:08entire room. Then my wife's phone buzzed
96. 4:11again. Derek had sent a message. She
97. 4:14stared at it and refused to open it. I
98. 4:17reached for my own phone and said, "Read
99. 4:19it." She shook her head. "Please don't."
100. 4:22Her sister took the phone from her and
101. 4:24looked at the message. Her expression
102. 4:26changed. He says he's ending everything.
103. 4:30My wife started sobbing. Dererick had
104. 4:32written that his fianceé knew everything
105. 4:34and that he wanted no further contact.
106. 4:37My wife looked at me desperately. I have
107. 4:39nowhere to go. I replied, "You had
108. 4:43somewhere to go. You just didn't realize
109. 4:45it wasn't waiting for you." She looked
110. 4:47down at the envelope. After the guests
111. 4:50left, she begged me not to make a
112. 4:52decision that night. I told her I
113. 4:54wouldn't, but the next morning, I moved
114. 4:57my important documents and personal
115. 4:58savings into a separate account. She
116. 5:01watched me carefully. "Are you really
117. 5:03leaving me?" she asked. You left first,
118. 5:06I said. You just kept sleeping in the
119. 5:09same house. She cried and promised she
120. 5:11could change. I told her change wasn't
121. 5:14something she could announce after
122. 5:15getting caught. It was something she
123. 5:17should have chosen before destroying my
124. 5:19trust. She asked if I still loved her. I
125. 5:22answered, "Honestly, I love the woman I
126. 5:25thought you were. I don't know the woman
127. 5:27you became." Two weeks later, she moved
128. 5:30into her sister's guest room. We began
129. 5:33discussing separation. She wanted
130. 5:35counseling, but I needed distance first.
131. 5:38Meanwhile, Dererick's wedding was
132. 5:40cancelled, and his fiance eventually
133. 5:42sent my wife one final message. I hope
134. 5:44you understand what your choices cost
135. 5:46everyone. My wife never answered. One
136. 5:50evening, she came back for the last of
137. 5:52her belongings. She stood in our bedroom
138. 5:54holding an old photograph from our first
139. 5:56anniversary. "Can we go back?" she
140. 5:59whispered. I shook my head. We can
141. 6:02remember it. We can't return to it. She
142. 6:05cried quietly as she placed the
143. 6:07photograph in a box. Before leaving, she
144. 6:10stopped at the front door. Why did you
145. 6:12let me keep talking at the party? She
146. 6:14asked. I looked at her and remembered
147. 6:16her laughing when she called me naive.
148. 6:18Because I wanted everyone to hear your
149. 6:20version before they heard mine. She
150. 6:23lowered her eyes. And the best part, I
151. 6:26added, "You thought I was going to
152. 6:28expose you?" She looked confused. I
153. 6:31opened the door. I didn't have to. The
154. 6:34truth did that for me. She walked away
155. 6:37carrying the life she had chosen. I
156. 6:39watched until she disappeared down the
157. 6:41driveway. The party joke was over, but
158. 6:44the consequences had only begun.