— Are you unfaithful to me? He said, averting his gaze and looked at the floor.
She did not rush to respond. She approached the mirror quietly, adjusted her earrings, and ran her fingers over her lips, slightly smearing the lipstick. Then she turned towards him.
“— And do you remember how you betrayed me yourself?”
Those words struck him more than if she had just replied, “yes.” They contain truth, vengeance, and an admission all at once.
Igor and Marina lived together for thirteen years. They had two children, a mortgage, a modest country home, and a car loan. They had what is often known as a “typical” life.
Work, school, extracurricular activities, shopping, and an evening movie before bedtime.
They were in love once. Certainly, there had been.
At twenty-two, Igor adored Marina. He chased her as if possessed. He wrote her poems and would spend hours standing near her apartment building. Then he proposed and there was a wedding. A daughter arrived first, followed by a son.
There were times of genuine enjoyment, brilliant and memorable.
They were a full family and a unified team. However, after time, everything became mundane and monotonous.
Igor worked hard. His career was growing by leaps and bounds. At the age of thirty-five, he was already in charge of a big company’s department.
He constantly repeated:
“— I’m doing this for our family, for us.”
But the higher he climbed the career ladder, the further he drifted from home.
Constant delays at the office, frequent business trips, and a perpetual state of exhaustion. He returned home irritable and worn out.
Marina shouldered everything: the children, the household, daily chores, and her own work. Gradually, she ceased to be a woman in his eyes. He no longer found her interesting as a partner.
At work, Lera appeared. She was ten years younger.
With her vivid makeup, impeccable hairstyles, high heels, and always a cheerful mood.
She laughed at his jokes, admired his ideas, brought him coffee, and in the evenings sent messages like “did you forget about the presentation?”, hinting at something more.
At first, he regarded her indifferently.
Then he allowed himself a light flirtation.
After that, the messaging began.
Then secret meetings ensued.
Then came the night in a hotel “under the pretext of an offsite training.”
He che:ated.
And he did it repeatedly, following the same pattern:
“— It means nothing. I just became a little distracted. I won’t inform my wife since I don’t want to hurt her.
I’m not doing anything wrong; my wife will never find out, and I have no intention of getting divorced.”
He never considered the possibility of discovering the truth.
Lera did not intend to damage someone else’s family.
She was convenient, fun, passionate, and youthful.
Next to her, he felt like a real man, not “a father of two children with a mortgage hanging over his shoulders.” He became interesting, confident, desirable.
With Marina, things were different.
He would return home late, haggard and irritable.
Before him was a woman with her hair tied up, in an old T-shirt, with dinner on the table and a children’s cartoon playing on the TV.
He began to nitpick, finding reasons to reproach her:
“— Why have you stopped taking care of your appearance? — Why do you no longer long for intimacy? — Why are you so cold with me?”
She tried to explain her feelings:
“— I’m always fatigued, and no one helps me. I seldom sleep at night and have to do everything on my own. “You are physically present, but it appears that you are not.”
Her comments, however, just reached him as background noise. His life had long been divided in two—between two realities.
Marina, however, was aware of everything. She witnessed each impassioned communication he sent with Lera.
Something inside her broke at that moment. Her husband began to inspire disgust from her, as if he had entirely descended into dirt and was now radiating it.
She did not throw tantrums or cause a scene. She quietly observed what was going on, pretending not to notice anything. Deep down, she hoped that one day he would acknowledge everything, including the affair. But that never occurred. He continued to present himself as an outstanding spouse and parent to friends and relatives.
Then Marina began to alienate herself. As if her life had detached from their shared existence.
She concentrated on her responsibilities as a mother and homemaker. However, she began to pay attention to herself—this time, not for his benefit.
Her smile changed. She started asking fewer questions. She spent more time on her phone. And she was coming home later and later.
Igor reassured himself: “She’ll get through it, it’ll pass—as long as she doesn’t suspect anything.”
But he didn’t understand that Marina had already figured everything out and made her decision.
A year passed.
He gradually cooled toward Lera. Everything began to seem monotonous. And then he decided to pay more attention to his wife.
Marina had transformed: stylish clothes, flawless makeup, expensive perfume, elegant hairstyles.
He thought: “Is she trying to win me back?”
And he allowed himself to relax.
Until one day he accidentally noticed an SMS on her phone: “Waiting for you at the hotel. Today, as usual?”
His blood ran cold.
He decided to ask directly:
“— Marina, who is texting you?”
“— Do you really want to know? Honestly?”
“— Of course!”
“— Then tell me about your lover first.”
He tensed:
“— That is not important right now. I’m asking you.”
And then she took a deep breath and said very calmly, almost in a whisper:
“— Do you want to know if I’m chea:ting on you?”
“— Do you remember how you betrayed me? Maybe we should start with that.”
He was at a loss.
He wasn’t expecting such a change. He expected to be the one to suffer, repent, and ask for pardon. He wanted to win her back!
However, reality proved to be nothing like he had envisaged.
Marina entered the room, and he stood in the corridor.
Suddenly, it struck him how ridiculous his excuses sounded. How long he had lied, hidden the truth, and humiliated her with his silence.
And now, when she perhaps allowed herself the same, does he feel like the victim?
He expected an argument, demanded answers, but received only… silence.
In the evening, they sat down to talk.
“— Is there someone in your life?” he asked.
“— Yes, there is. He said that I’m beautiful. He listened to me, did not cheat, did not lie, just was there.”
“— Was that revenge?”
“— No. I wanted to feel desirable again. I liked him. And then… you became indifferent to me.”
He glanced at her and understood she had left his life permanently.
All this time, he was confident that he had perfect control.
He is “the one in charge,” “a real man,” “someone allowed to make mistakes.”
He never expected his wife to respond in kind.
Six months have gone. They separated and concluded their divorce. He sees the children on a set timetable.
Marina smiles as she comes to take them up. Her eyes brighten, as if she’s discovered a new life—without him.
“And he…” He attempts to find her among other women. He writes messages at night with words like “forgive me.”
He re-reads old dialogues. And he remembers that one singular phrase she uttered that night:
“— And do you remember how you cheated on me?”
His act came back to him like a boomerang.
One short affair destroyed what appeared to be an unbreakable family.
He thought he had everything under control, but reality changed dramatically.
