I left the house later that morning.
I tried to behave normally.
I washed the coffee mug.
I wiped the kitchen counter.
I put away the things Brad had left beside the sink.
Ordinary things.
That was what made everything feel so strange.
Our home looked exactly the same.
But I knew something had changed.
I kept thinking about Brad's reaction outside.
I'd heard his angry voice.
I hadn't gone to investigate.
I had stayed in the kitchen, telling myself that whatever happened next was his problem.
That was how far resentment had taken me.
I had stopped thinking about him as my husband.
I was thinking about him as the man who had humiliated me.
And I wanted him to feel something unpleasant for once.
Looking back, I wish I'd walked away from that decision.
Not because Brad deserved protection from the consequences of his behavior.
But because I had allowed his betrayal to turn me into someone I didn't recognize.
I eventually picked up my handbag.
I had errands to run.
I needed to get out of the house before my thoughts swallowed the entire morning.
The first stop was a small shop.
I barely remembered what I bought.
The second was a grocery store.
I walked through the aisles without paying much attention.
I kept checking the time.
I imagined Brad arriving at the hotel.
I imagined Chloe waiting for him.
I imagined the two of them laughing about something I would never understand.
Then I imagined him suddenly regretting his decision to meet her.
That thought made me uncomfortable.
I wasn't proud of it.
But I didn't know how to switch off the anger.
Two hours passed.
When I finally returned to our street, I noticed something unusual.
Our front door wasn't completely closed.
At first, I thought I had forgotten to lock it properly.
I sometimes rushed when leaving.
I carried my shopping bags toward the entrance.
Then I stopped.
The door was open just enough for someone to have walked through.
I knew I hadn't left it that way.
A strange feeling moved through my stomach.
"Brad?"
No answer.
I stepped inside.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
I placed my bags near the hallway.
Then I noticed his phone.
It was lying on the floor.
Brad never left his phone behind.
Never.
Even when he went downstairs to collect a delivery, he carried it.
I approached it slowly.
The screen was illuminated.
A new message had arrived.
Chloe.
I froze.
Her name seemed to stand out more clearly than anything else in the room.
I picked up the phone.
There was no lock screen notification hiding the message.
I could read the words immediately.
"I did exactly what you asked me to do. Now you need to tell your wife the truth."
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
My first reaction was confusion.
My second was anger.
What exactly had Brad asked her to do?
And what truth was he supposed to tell me?
Was this about their relationship?
Was Chloe finally asking him to leave me?
Had they been planning to tell me everything?
I looked toward the open front door.
Something had happened here.
Something that had made Brad leave his phone behind.
Or perhaps someone had taken it from him.
I couldn't make sense of anything.
Then I noticed another object on the floor.
A pharmacy bag.
It was close to the hallway wall.
White paper.
Folded handles.
Nothing particularly unusual.
Until I saw the writing on the front.
My name.
Not Brad's.
Mine.
I stared at it.
For a few seconds, I couldn't move.
Why would a pharmacy bag have my name on it?
Who had collected it?
What was inside?
I reached toward it, then stopped.
The message from Chloe was still visible on the phone.
I did exactly what you asked me to do.
The words seemed to become more frightening each time I read them.
I had spent months believing I understood the situation.
I thought Brad was cheating.
I thought Chloe was helping him.
I thought I knew why he was wearing that cologne.
But now there was a pharmacy bag with my name on it.
And a message suggesting that something had been arranged behind my back.
I looked toward the living room.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
The television was off.
The curtains were still open.
A cushion had fallen from the sofa, but I couldn't remember whether it had been there earlier.
I called Brad.
His phone was in my hand.
The call didn't help me understand anything.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I wanted to send Chloe a message.
I wanted to ask what she meant.
I wanted to demand an explanation from both of them.
Instead, I stood in the hallway holding a phone that wasn't mine.
Then the doorbell rang.
Once.
I turned.
Twice.
I slowly placed the phone on the small table.
The third ring came before I reached the entrance.
Three times.
I looked through the glass.
And my heart seemed to stop.
The person standing outside was not someone I expected to see.
I knew that face.
I knew that person had a connection to Brad.
And suddenly, the pharmacy bag became the least confusing thing in the hallway.
Click here to continue reading: PART 3: The Person at My Door Knew Something About Brad That I Had Never Been Brave Enough to Ask
I Thought My Husband Was Meeting Another Woman That Morning, Until One Small Detail Made Me Question Everything
Part 2 of 20
