I have never been a jealous woman. I always believed that if you love someone, you should give them freedom. My husband Marko and I were married for 12 years, we had two children, a stable job and it seemed, a happy life.
But then the little things started. Late arrivals from work. Phone with the screen facing down. Silent correspondence in the wee hours. One evening, while he was sleeping, I took his phone. And she found what changed everything forever.
A message from an unknown number: “Can’t wait to see you again… same time, same place?” My heart stopped. I couldn’t breathe. My whole world collapsed in a second. But I didn’t make a scene. Instead, I decided to follow him. To see how far this lie goes.
The next evening, I told him I was going to my sister’s. In fact, we sat in the same restaurant. Except he didn’t know I was there. And then… I saw him.
He was sitting at a table in the corner of the restaurant, but he was not alone. Across from him was a woman – younger, beautiful, with long black hair. She was smiling as she said something quietly to him, and he was looking at her with that look… a look that used to be reserved only for me.
Everything turned upside down in my stomach. I wanted to get up, to confront him with the truth, to shout, to ask her who she was… but I stayed put. And then I saw something that left me speechless.
Marko took out the envelope and pushed it across the table towards her. She opened it, looked inside and blinked, as if she was going to cry.
And then he said the words that took my breath away: “You know I’ll always be there for you. But this is the last time I’m helping you”. I understood. She’s not a lover. It’s not a secret relationship. She was his daughter.
His secret daughter from a relationship before our marriage. He didn’t tell me for years. He lived with that lie for years. My heart sank as I sat there, unnoticed, watching my husband finish his conversation with the daughter I never knew existed.
And as they got up, I knew, he didn’t deceive me in the way I thought. But he betrayed me in the worst possible way. He lied to me all my life. And now it was up to me to decide, can I forgive this? Or is this the end?