The response came back within seconds, confirming my nightmare. Another photo appeared showing her legs stretched across my sheets, accompanied by the message: “Anything for you, my lion.”
Those words made my knees buckle. “Lion” was our private nickname.
It was our most intimate secret that nobody else in the world knew about.
I dropped the phone like it was on fire. Fifteen years of trust and belief in us disintegrated in two text messages. But I didn’t scream or throw things.
Instead, something cold and sharp settled deep in my bones.
“Two can play this game,” I whispered.
I flew home two days later with my mask of normalcy perfectly in place, determined not to let anyone see the storm raging inside me. The kids ran to me with their faces lighting up with pure joy, their innocent excitement breaking my heart.
“Mommy! We missed you so much!”
“Did you have fun with Daddy?” I asked.
My nine-year-old wrinkled her nose.
“We didn’t really see him much. He said it would be a special surprise and sent us to sleepovers at Lily’s and Sam’s houses almost the whole time.”
Daniel appeared in the doorway wearing that familiar smile that used to make my heart flutter but now made my stomach turn with disgust. “Welcome home, beautiful.” He kissed my cheek with practiced ease.
“How was the trip?”
“Productive,” I said, pulling our youngest into a tighter hug. “Very productive indeed.”
Later that evening, when the kids were finally asleep, I locked myself in the bathroom and let the dam of emotion finally break. Silent sobs wracked my entire body as I slid down the wall to the cold tile floor.
“What does she have that I don’t?” I whispered to my reflection.
Against every rational thought, I opened that photo again and studied every detail like evidence in a crime scene.
The angle, lighting, and the furniture looked familiar, but then something else caught my attention. It was a reflection of her selfie in the mirror.
The hand holding the phone had something that made my breath catch. There, on the right index finger, was a small crescent moon tattoo that I recognized instantly.
