Motherhood had exhausted me, and my husband seemed to understand. Every evening, he took our baby for a walk so I could relax, and it was a very kind gesture. I trusted him. But one evening, he forgot his phone, so I followed his usual route to return it to him… and I realized it wasn’t usual at all.
I gave birth to our baby boy, Caleb, six months ago. The transition to motherhood hit me like a freight train—beautiful and brutal all at once. The sleepless nights, constant worry, and overwhelming love made my chest ache. Through it all, my husband, Nate, felt like my rock…
A mother holding her baby | Source: Pexels
“You look exhausted,” he said to me one evening when he came home from work. His tie was loosened and his shirtsleeves rolled up. He kissed my forehead as I bounced a wayward Caleb on my hip.
“It’s obvious, right?” I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a sigh.
“Here, let me take him.” Nate reached out to Caleb, who immediately settled against his father’s chest. “Actually, I’ve been thinking. You never get a break, Monica. What if I took him for a walk every night? It would give you some time to yourself.”
A man who smiles | Source: Midjourney
I blinked in surprise. “Would you do that?”
“Of course.” Her smile seemed genuine. “You deserve it. Besides, I miss spending time with the little guy during the day.”
That evening, I soaked in a hot bath for the first time in months, listening to the silent house, grateful for my caring husband.
A woman relaxes in a bathtub | Source: Pexels
“How was your walk?” I asked when they returned, Caleb sleeping peacefully in the stroller.
Nate’s eyes lit up. “Very good. Really cool. We should make this our thing.”
“I’d like that,” I said, feeling warmth spread through my chest.
And that’s how it all began. Every night at 6:30 p.m., Nate would take Caleb out in his stroller. It was a little father-son bonding time, and a break for me.
A man pushing a baby stroller | Source: Pexels
For weeks, this routine continued. I watched them from the window disappear down the street, Nate pushing the stroller with one hand, the phone in the other.
He always came back looking refreshed and full of energy. I mean… way too refreshed.
“You really enjoy these walks, don’t you?” I asked one evening as he placed the sleeping Caleb in his crib.
A baby in a crib | Source: Unsplash
“The best part of my day,” he replied, without meeting my gaze.
Something in his voice made me think, but I pushed the thought away. I wanted to believe in this version of my husband… the devoted father and caring partner.
“I’m glad,” I said softly, watching his back as he left the nursery.
An innocent woman who smiles | Source: Midjourney
Then came that fateful day. It was an ordinary Wednesday that would change everything.
Nate had just left with Caleb when his phone rang on the kitchen counter. I picked it up and saw his boss’s name on the screen.
“He forgot his phone,” I mumbled, grabbing my coat. “I could catch them… they can’t have gone far.”
I slipped out the front door, spotting them halfway down the block. Something made me think twice before calling. That gut feeling… the one that whispers when something’s wrong. So, I followed them from a distance.
A phone on the table | Source: Pexels
Nate didn’t head to the park like I thought he would. Instead, he headed downtown, navigating the stroller through the crowds with ease.
He stopped in front of a cafe I’d never been to. I slowed my pace as I watched him check his watch and scan the street.
That’s when she appeared—a tall, stunning brunette. She was confident in her movements, and her smile widened when she saw Nate.
An elegant woman waving | Source: Midjourney
She leaned down, cooed at my baby, then sat up and kissed my husband on the cheek.
My body grew cold, then hot. The sidewalk seemed to slope beneath my feet.
They walked in together, her hand resting comfortably on the stroller handle next to Nate’s, as if they’d done this a hundred times before.
“This can’t be what I’m thinking,” I whispered to myself, even as my stomach twisted into knots.
A scared woman standing in the street | Source: Midjourney
I didn’t confront him that night. I put his phone where he’d left it and pretended to take a nap when he came back. I needed to be sure.
“Did you have a good walk?” I asked, pretending to be tired.
“Same old as always,” he says without looking up as he unbuckles Caleb. “The park was nice.”
The lie slipped so easily from his lips that I almost doubted what I had seen.
Side view of a man looking at someone while smiling | Source: Midjourney
“That’s nice,” I managed, my voice steady despite the hurricane in my chest.
That night, I lay beside him, counting his breaths and studying his sleeping face. Was this the same man I’d married? Had I really known him? Was he mistaken?
“What are you hiding from me?” I whispered, receiving only the soft rhythm of his breathing in response.
A heartbroken woman lost in deep thought | Source: Midjourney
I followed him again the next evening, this time deliberately. I told him I needed a nap and watched, behind a newspaper, as he met the same woman in the same place.
This time, they sat at an outdoor table. I was close enough to see her laugh and saw her fingers brush against Caleb’s small hand. Nate leaned in close to her, his smile wider than any I’d seen at home in months.
Something hardened inside me.
No more questions. No more doubt. I needed the truth, and I knew exactly how to get it.
A man sitting with a woman in a cafe | Source: Midjourney
“Did you sleep well?” Nate asked me when I emerged from the room that night, claiming I had just woken up from my nap.
“Like a rock,” I lied.
The next morning, as soon as Nate left for work, I rushed to the toy store downtown. I bought a plastic doll that looked eerily lifelike—about Caleb’s size. My plan seemed ridiculous, even to me, but it was the only way to find out the truth.
Back home, I wrapped the doll in Caleb’s favorite blanket, tucked it into the stroller, and hid a small baby monitor under the stuffed animal next to it.
A realistic-looking plastic baby boy doll in a stroller | Source: Midjourney
The real Caleb stayed with me, tucked away in our bedroom. Luckily, he was fast asleep when Nate came home and got ready for his usual walk.
He didn’t even look in the stroller before leaving, he just grabbed the handle and headed for the exit.
“Have a nice walk,” I told him.
He raised his hand in recognition. “It always is.”
Heart pounding, I waited five minutes, then followed, the receiver clutched in my sweaty palm.
A woman walking on the road | Source: Pexels
They were there, at the same table in front of the cafe. The woman—beautiful in a way that made my postpartum body look like a stranger’s—leaned forward, her fingers intertwined with my husband’s.
I positioned myself behind a small garden near them, turned up the volume on the receiver and listened.
“Are you sure this is okay?” His voice crackled through the speaker. “I feel guilty.”
I held my breath.
A stunned woman standing near a planter | Source: Midjourney
“It’s okay,” Nate replied. “She doesn’t suspect a thing. I told you… she’s too exhausted from the baby to notice.”
The woman sighed. “I just don’t want to hurt him.”
Nate laughed, a sound so cold it made me shiver. “Hurt her? She’s just my wife. We had to get married because of Caleb. But you’re the one I really want.”
My vision blurred with tears.
A man looking at a woman while laughing | Source: Midjourney
“And how long are you going to pretend you love him? Until Caleb grows up?”
“No, baby. Not until she gets her grandmother’s inheritance. Then she’ll give me some money for being a WONDERFUL husband. See? I even walk around with a baby every night. I’m practically a saint!”
Something inside me snapped. The receiver fell from my hands as I stood up, my body moving on autopilot toward their table.
“Oh, don’t stop for me,” I shouted.
A furious woman screaming | Source: Midjourney
Nate choked on his coffee. The woman’s eyes widened.
“MONICA,” he stammered. “What are you—”
I pulled back the stroller cover, revealing the doll.
“What’s this?” Nate stared at the plastic face.
“Interesting question,” I crossed the bars. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
A scared man | Source: Midjourney
The woman stood up. “Nate, you said she knew—”
“Knew what?” I turned to her. “That my husband is using our son as a tool to cheat on me? That he intends to milk me for my inheritance?”
“I can explain,” Nate said, holding out his arm.
I jerked away. “You were supposed to marry me? You were supposed to be a father? Is that what you told him?”
Her face turned pale, and the woman looked sick.
A woman shaken to her core | Source: Midjourney
“Do you feel guilty?” I asked him. “That’s good. Because that’s what you helped him destroy.”
I removed my wedding ring, the symbol of promises now revealed as lies, and dropped it on the table with a final clink.
“I hope you’re happy together,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. “Because you just lost the best thing you had.”
A woman holding her ring | Source: Pexels
I turned and walked away, head held high and shoulders back, each step carrying me toward a future I hadn’t planned for but was ready to face.
“Monica, wait!” Nate called after me.
I didn’t turn around.
***
The divorce was quick, almost as if Nate knew he’d been caught so badly that fighting would only make things worse. He didn’t contest custody of our son or fight for the house. He signed the papers and disappeared without saying a word.
A couple signing their divorce papers | Source: Pexels
Three months later, I was spreading peanut butter on toast for Caleb’s breakfast when my phone rang.
“You won’t believe what I just saw,” my friend Mia’s voice came over the speaker.
“What is it?” I wedged the phone between my ear and shoulder, wiping Caleb’s sticky fingers away.
“Your ex. Outside the cafe where you caught him. Do you know his girlfriend? The brunette?”
I paused. “And her?”
“She’s engaged! To some finance guy. Apparently, Nate was the prop the whole time. He was yelling at her in broad daylight while she stood there looking bored. I caught the whole thing on camera.”
An engaged couple | Source: Pexels
I should have felt vindicated. Instead, a strange laugh escaped me.
“Send me the video,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it.
Later, watching the silent video of Nate gesturing wildly at a woman who clearly didn’t care about his feelings in the slightest, I felt something unexpected: freedom.
“Your dad thought he was so smart,” I said to Caleb, who was playing on the floor next to me. “But karma doesn’t need any hints to find people like him.”
A baby playing with his toys | Source: Pexels
A year passed. Then another. Caleb grew from baby to toddler, his steps becoming more sure and his words more numerous. I rebuilt my life piece by piece with a promotion at work, new friends, and even a date or two.
I only saw Nate once, at the supermarket. He looked older and diminished.
“Monica,” he said, his eyes lingering on Caleb. “He’s grown so much.”
“That’s what children do,” I replied.
A smiling woman in a supermarket | Source: Midjourney
“I thought -“
“Don’t.” I interrupted. “Whatever you’re about to say, keep it to yourself.”
He swallowed hard. “I did something stupid. I know that now.”
“Yes, you did.” I lifted Caleb into the shopping cart. “And the funny thing is, you didn’t just lose me. You lost yourself.”
Nate’s expression crumpled. “Can I at least-“
“You can send a check for child support. On time, for once.” I pushed the cart in front of him. “Goodbye, Nate.”
A guilty man | Source: Midjourney
As we walked away, Caleb waved over my shoulder. “Bye-bye,” he called cheerfully, not recognizing the stranger who was his father.
I didn’t look back to see if Nate had waved back. I didn’t need to. There are some chapters best left closed, and pages best left unturned. Because when someone shows you they’re willing to trade love for convenience and use their own child as cover for their betrayal… well, the best revenge isn’t getting revenge. It’s moving on without them.
As for the inheritance my grandmother left me? I placed it in a trust for Caleb’s education. After all, investments should go to people with real futures, not those who treat relationships like bank accounts they can withdraw at will.
Money hidden in a suitcase | Source: Pexels
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the story. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims regarding the accuracy of events or character portrayals and are not responsible for any misinterpretations. This story is provided “as is,” and all opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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