My husband was visiting his mother more and more often. At first, I didn't think anything of it, but one day, out of pure curiosity, I decided to go with him. Had I known the terrible secret I was about to discover, I probably wouldn't have gone.
From the outside, we always seemed like the perfect couple. Friends said we were lucky to have each other and that we were a calm and close-knit family.
But like everyone else, we had our arguments, disagreements, and everyday problems. Nothing serious, until everything changed drastically two years ago.
My husband was disappearing more and more often to his mother's house. He said he wanted to help her with the housework.
She lived alone, without her husband, on the outskirts of a small nearby town. At first glance, everything seemed quite honorable. Helping his mother appeared to be a sacred duty to him.
The town was very close, only a twenty-minute drive away. But that was precisely where the strange thing lay. My husband used to visit every two weeks, but for the last six months he'd been going there almost every day after work and staying from morning till night on weekends.
My friends were the first to ask questions.
"Don't you find it strange that he drives to the next town every day?"
"Something is definitely wrong here."
"Yes, he's hiding something. Next time, go with him and visit your mother-in-law yourself."
Then I had another idea. I decided to drive, but not to tell my husband. I wanted to wait until he was gone and then follow him by car.
On Saturday morning he said as always:
"See you tonight, my love. I'll be back tomorrow."
“Okay,” I replied without hesitation, but inwardly I added something completely different: “No, my love. I’ll see you tonight.”
My husband's hometown was small. Everyone knew everyone else, and it was almost impossible to keep secrets. I arrived at my mother-in-law's house and got into the car. When I saw what was happening outside the window, I was horrified.
How could they do such a thing? It wasn't just my mother-in-law and my husband at home. A young woman with a baby in her arms was next to him.
Later, the full extent of the horror became clear to me. My mother-in-law, who had disliked me from the very first day and never accepted me as her daughter-in-law, had been trying all along to persuade my son to leave me and marry the neighbor's daughter. And finally, she had succeeded.
I found out they had secretly married, and my husband still didn't dare leave me. They already had a two-month-old baby.
During this entire time, my husband lived with both families and visited them daily under the pretext of caring for his mother. He lied to me day after day, under pressure from his mother-in-law and out of self-interest.
I left him that same day. Shortly afterwards, I filed for divorce and have never regretted my decision.
