My Wife Asked for a Break in Our Marriage. Three Weeks Later, She Came Back and Said — Transcript

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1. 0:00"If you're ever going to cheat on your
2. 0:01husband," my wife laughed loudly,
3. 0:03lifting her wine glass as her friends
4. 0:05howled around her, "at least choose
5. 0:07someone richer and hotter." The entire
6. 0:10table erupted in laughter. Then her
7. 0:12smile slowly faded because standing
8. 0:14directly behind her was me. I still
9. 0:17remember the exact expression on
10. 0:18Olivia's face that night. The color
11. 0:21drained from her cheeks so quickly it
12. 0:22looked like someone had pulled the life
13. 0:24straight out of her. 1 second she was
14. 0:27the loudest person in the room enjoying
15. 0:29every bit of attention at her friend
16. 0:30Vanessa's luxurious rooftop party in
17. 0:33downtown Chicago. The next she looked
18. 0:35like she wanted the floor to open up and
19. 0:37swallow her whole. I should have walked
20. 0:40away. Instead, I smiled. Not because
21. 0:43what she said was funny, but because
22. 0:45deep down something finally fell into
23. 0:47place. For months Olivia had been acting
24. 0:50differently. Late-night work meetings,
25. 0:52changed passwords, smiling at texts she
26. 0:54refused to show me. But whenever I
27. 0:56questioned her, she'd kiss my forehead
28. 0:58and tell me I was being paranoid. And
29. 1:01like an idiot, I believed her. That
30. 1:03night I arrived at the party late after
31. 1:06finishing a brutal 12-hour shift at my
32. 1:08construction company. My clothes smelled
33. 1:11of dust and sweat while everyone around
34. 1:13me wore designer suits and expensive
35. 1:15silk dresses. Olivia hated when I looked
36. 1:18too much like a working-class man around
37. 1:20her wealthy friends, but I came anyway.
38. 1:23Big mistake for her. "Oh my god, Ethan,"
39. 1:26she whispered, nearly choking on her
40. 1:28drink. "How long have you been standing
41. 1:31there?"
42. 1:32"Long enough," I replied calmly. The
43. 1:34table fell completely silent. Her
44. 1:37friends suddenly became extremely
45. 1:38interested in their phones.
46. 1:40Olivia forced out a nervous laugh.
47. 1:43"Baby, it was just a joke." I slowly
48. 1:45nodded. Funny thing about jokes, they
49. 1:48usually contain a little truth. She
50. 1:50grabbed my arm so tightly it hurt. "Can
51. 1:52we not do this here?"
52. 1:54But by then, I was already noticing
53. 1:56things I hadn't seen before.
54. 1:58The way Tyler, her handsome corporate
55. 2:00lawyer co-worker, refused to meet my
56. 2:03eyes. The way Olivia panicked whenever
57. 2:05he moved. The way her friends looked
58. 2:07guilty instead of confused. That's when
59. 2:10I knew, not suspected, knew. I left the
60. 2:13party without saying another word.
61. 2:15Olivia chased me into the parking garage
62. 2:17in her heels screaming my name while
63. 2:19rain poured from the dark sky. "Ethan,
64. 2:22stop being dramatic." I slowly turned
65. 2:24around. "Are you sleeping with him?" For
66. 2:262 seconds she said nothing, and silence
67. 2:29can tell the truth louder than words
68. 2:30ever could.
69. 2:32Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
70. 2:35"It just happened once."
71. 2:37"Liars always say that first." I laughed
72. 2:39bitterly.
73. 2:40"You know what hurts the most? Not that
74. 2:43you cheated, it's that you made me feel
75. 2:45crazy for noticing."
76. 2:47She started crying harder, grabbing onto
77. 2:49my jacket.
78. 2:50"Please, don't throw away 5 years over
79. 2:52one mistake."
80. 2:54"One mistake?" I snapped. "You mocked me
81. 2:56in front of your friends like I was some
82. 2:58pathetic joke."
83. 3:00Her expression changed, defensive now.
84. 3:03"You don't understand the pressure I'm
85. 3:04under. Everyone around me has successful
86. 3:07husbands with money and status."
87. 3:09I stepped back as if she'd slapped me.
88. 3:11Because there it was, the truth. She was
89. 3:14ashamed of me. Ashamed of the man who
90. 3:16had worked himself half to death just to
91. 3:18give her a good life. That night, I
92. 3:20packed a bag and left our apartment
93. 3:22before sunrise. Olivia called me 43
94. 3:25times. I counted. I ignored every single
95. 3:28one. Over the next few weeks, something
96. 3:30strange happened. Without Olivia
97. 3:32draining the life out of me every day,
98. 3:34my business exploded. I stopped doubting
99. 3:37myself, focused harder, and landed two
100. 3:39massive commercial contracts worth more
101. 3:41money than I'd ever seen in my life.
102. 3:43Meanwhile, Olivia's perfect little world
103. 3:46began falling apart. Apparently, Tyler
104. 3:49wasn't interested in a real
105. 3:50relationship. Once her marriage started
106. 3:53collapsing, he disappeared completely.
107. 3:56Her friends stopped inviting her out.
108. 3:58The same people who once laughed at her
109. 4:00jokes were now gossiping about her
110. 4:02behind her back. Then came the night she
111. 4:05showed up at my office. She looked
112. 4:07exhausted, smudged mascara, wrinkled
113. 4:10coat, nothing like the polished woman
114. 4:13from that rooftop party.
115. 4:15"I made a mistake," she whispered. I
116. 4:17remained silent. She looked around my
117. 4:20new office in disbelief. "You bought
118. 4:22this place?"
119. 4:24"Yeah."
120. 4:25"And the new truck outside?"
121. 4:27I nodded again. That seemed to break her
122. 4:29more than anything.
123. 4:31Tears rolled down her face as she
124. 4:33finally realized what she had thrown
125. 4:34away wasn't just a husband, it was the
126. 4:37only person who had ever truly loved
127. 4:39her.
128. 4:40"I miss us," she cried.
129. 4:42I leaned back in my chair and looked at
130. 4:44the woman I once would have done
131. 4:46anything for.
132. 4:48Then I remembered her voice at that
133. 4:49party.
134. 4:51"If you're ever going to cheat on your
135. 4:52husband, at least pick someone richer
136. 4:54and hotter." I smiled slightly. "You
137. 4:57finally did," I said softly, "and you
138. 5:00still lost."
139. 5:02Then I stood up, walked past her, and
140. 5:04held the office door open. For the first
141. 5:07time in my life, I watched her walk away
142. 5:09instead of begging her to stay.