Revenge

She woke up in the morning, and he had already gone to work, like every other time she had stayed there. He had always told her that he wanted to feel welcome in his home. As she started to get ready she couldn't help but to look around. She wondered for a moment why the place had so little things in it. Though he had told her that he was a minimalist, such an attractive quality she always thought. She wished that she could be more like that, be able to live with less stuff. Maybe he will rub off on me, she thought to herself. As she went to grab something to eat before leaving, she saw a black book on his desk. Something that she had never before. She went to it and thought about looking at it. He must have forgotten it, she thought. But knowing that it was wrong she walked away, she had no reason not to trust him, she thought. She grabbed something to eat and went about the rest of her day.

She knew that David had just signed a very big client at work. And that they were having a little celebration to celebrate it. She didn't want to intrude, but she just wanted to stop by and show her support quickly. She had even picked up some cupcakes to give to the office. As she walked there she couldn't help but to think how good of a girlfriend that she was for doing this and thinking about him. She walked in and there were people everywhere. This wasn't a little party like he claimed, she thought. She suddenly felt very nervous for being there. She stayed by the door thinking that maybe she should just leave right then. Then she heard her call attention to the room. "Everyone, everyone. Thank you so much everyone for all your hard work and dedication through this. I know that this was a team effort to get this, and it took all of you to do so. But of course I mostly want to thank the woman who really let me do this. The woman who let me do so many all-nighters, so many late nights, really put up with so much, my wife," he said the words and then a woman came up to him. She couldn't hear anything after that every moment. As they continued talking she slowly and carefully left. As she was in the elevator on the way down she told herself just breath. He was married? How could he be married? How could she not have seen it before?

She didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day. Though the cupcakes sat on her counter almost like they were mocking her. She had planned to meet up with her friend, Vanessa, for drinks that night. She got ready and couldn't help to keep looking at those blasted cupcakes. Walking there she wasn't sure that she would tell her. She wasn't ready to face the reality that she was in. What was she going to do? Just pretend that it wasn't happening, and she knew nothing. What kind of person did that make her?

She went there, sat down and Vanessa started talking, "There you are. I'm sure you were with prince charming. Thank you for squeezing me into your schedule." "He's married," she blurted out. After a moment pause, her friend asked, "I'm sorry, what?" "He's married, he's married."

"How do you know that?" she looked at her confused.

"They got a big client at his work. I went to surprise him to show some support. And there was this woman. He made a speech and said that was his wife, thanked her for her support," she couldn't help but to laugh. Her friend couldn't help but to just sit there speechless. She didn't see that coming. "Say something," she said.

"I don't know what to say. Didn't think that you were going to say that. Sarah are you okay?"

She took a moment and just answered, "I don't know. I don't know what to do, what to think. I really didn't think that was even possible. We seemed so together, he seemed so there." "Yes, but anyone can lie. Rings come off. Really you have a few options. You can pretend that you don't know or confront him and try to make him leave her." Sarah stopped Vanessa and said, "I'm not staying with him."

"Okay, then you have other options. You can just leave, break up with him. Or..." Sarah looked at her and asked, "Or?"

"Or you can get revenge. Tell the wife." "Tell the wife, are you a crazy person? And say what? Do what?" "An angry woman is a dangerous thing, two are even more dangerous. You guys can think of something between the two of you."

Sarah thought about all night, and barely got any sleep. Luckily it was Friday night, so she didn't have to work the next day. And she knew that David told her that he had a business trip that weekend, a lie she was sure, but she won't hear from him until next week. It gave her a few days to be able to think about what she really wanted to do. In the morning she felt like a zoombie, half awake, unable to sleep but unable to be fully awake either. A part of her was hoping that she was going to wake up and have it all be a dream. Then she heard a knock on her door. Angry at who was at her house so bloodly early on a Saturday she went to the door. Vanessa was there, "You're going to kill me." She said as she came in.

"It is too early for this, what could you have done between last night and now?" Vanessa went to the kitchen and put a folder on the counter. "I found her...the wife. I couldn't sleep last night, and so I did some research and I found her." Sarah stared at the folder, the folder that had all the answers to all the questions that she had been asking herself. She felt herself frozen, unable to move, unable to say anything, unable to do anything.

"Will you say something?" Vanessa asked her. Sarah just stond there looking at the folder. "I know, I'm crazy. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. You might not want to do anything with it, but at least you should know the truth. Just for your peace of mind."

"What would I say to her? What could I say?" Sarah asked. "Just tell her the truth. I know I am your friend, but think about her. This poor woman most likely has no idea that her husband is like this. You didn't know, and you were only the girlfriend. She deserves to know. Clearly he won't tell her the truth, someone should. I know you don't owe her anything, but you should be a better person. Better than him clearly."

She started to step forward and then picked up the folder. She thought for a moment before she opened it. Sarah knew that once she opened it, there was no turning back. She read through the papers, all the information was there staring her in the face. Sarah couldn't pretend that it wasn't happening. This clearly wasn't a dream anymore. As she read, she got to know more about this woman. This woman who she felt she had hurt somehow, as crazy as that sounded to her.

"What do I do now?" Sarah asked her.

"Go to their house. He's on a business trip right?" Vanessa asked and Sarah just nodded to her in response, "So go this weekend while he's gone. She most likely is home. I'll go with you for support. Go before you can change your mind, before he can find out and change your mind. Just tell her the truth, and see what she says." Sarah took a deep breath and then said, "okay."

Sarah knew that Vanessa was right, that she couldn't wait for a second, or she would change her mind. This was totally crazy after all. Who does this? As they went there she wondered what the wife would say, would she hear her out, what was she like. All the questions were going through her head. They knocked on the door and Sarah's heart was pounding. However, there was no answer.

"It is Saturday, she most likely is just out. There's a coffee shop across the street. We can wait for her to come home? She has to come home eventually" Vanessa convinced her.

So they went to the coffee shop and waited. Sarah was grateful that day for Vanessa and her constant talking. Vanessa was able to distract her from why they were really there so that she couldn't talk herself out of it. It felt like they were waiting forever there for her to return, though it really wasn't that long.

"There she is," Sarah said, as she saw the woman go into the house with some bags. Vanessa quickly paid the bill as they both got ready. Vanessa just said, "let's go before you can think." They walked up to the house and Sarah told herself just breath and tried to not think at all. She knew that if she let herself think she would know how crazy this seemed. Before they knew anything Sarah was knocking on the door, trying to stand strong.

"Can I help you?" the woman answered the door, so nice, so polite. Sarah took a deep breath and said, "you don't know me, but I know your husband David." They both looked at her and the woman said, "please come in."

They went inside and sat in the living room. "I thought that this was a private conversation I didn't want to have it on the street. Tell me how do you know my husband." "Well your husband is my boyfriend, to put it straight. I didn't know he was married. He told me that he was single, you have to know that. I won't have done anything if I knew that he was married. I'm not that type of girl, I hope you believe me."

She looked at the girl and then answered, "I actually do believe you. Considering the fact that you are here telling me the truth. That takes a lot."

"I thought you deserved the truth. If I were you, then I would have wanted to know the truth." "So what is the truth?" "I meet him over 6 months ago. He said he was single. We were together so much, that it didn't occur to me that he would have had anyone else. Certainly there were moments looking back, but I never put much thought into them. Then yesterday his work had that work party. Well I was told that it was going to be very little just office. I went to show my support. I showed up and to my surprise heard his speech. I managed to duck out before he could see me, so he doesn't know that I know. I told my friend here who was the one that looked up your information and convinced me to come here. You can ask me anything that you want to know. I thought you deserved to know the truth and the full truth. Clearly he wasn't going to tell you." "I didn't know. We have been married for almost 20 years. I didn't know about you. However, like you, there were always moments. Moments looking back that gave me pause, but I didn't think about at the time. We were married. I trusted him."

They talked for almost an hour. Going over details, we figured that they had to have been more, more than just me. How he was able to get away with so much was the question they both were wondering. She was surprised to find out that the wife was the one that owned everything. She came from money and had her own money before they had been married. She owned the house, the cars and the business. And her parents were smart enough to make her get a prenup. The more information they found out, the angrier the wife got. She was determined to get revenge.

The next day Vanessa and Sarah both went back to the house to help her pack up his things. They put his stuff on the stairs and shared a drink as they waited for him to come home. The locks had already been changed. When he got home he was shocked of course. He banged on the door damanding answers. The wife opened the door with Sarah standing right next to her.

"What's going on?!" he yelled at first. Then saw Sarah and frooze. "I know the truth," the wife said to him, "Sarah was happy enough to tell me what happened, the type of person that you are. So you no longer live in my house, you no longer have access to my bank account and you are fired."

The look on his face said it all, the look of shock and surprise. Sarah felt vindicated. She felt like she had done the right thing, and had taken the power back for both her and this woman. Sarah knew that she most likely was going to have to testify in their divorce to make sure their plan went through. But at least they had taken a big leap to take their power back. No man should ever have total control over a woman.

- T