All Comments on 'Cheaters Coven'

I wasn't allowed to put my Twitter handle in the text, so I'll put it here instead.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, where I do talk about what I'm writing next, look up Jezzaz_writer on Twitter.

Thanks.

Serious filler.

Just not very impressive. A huge disappointment. Not up to your usual standards.

Well , I cheated and read this on the other site , it's unusual to have a story posted on both the same day.

Wow , this was a interesting quandary that you put me in author. You made me actually like a subject that I have strong feelings against , cheaters !

This was like a cheating mini-series.

The first woman who told her story , I thought what a scuzzy bitch. But then each successive story just out scuzzy'd the last one. Except the Finnish lady , there was equal blame to be shared on that.

But somewhere in between the pages , I actually started thinking wow , maybe this is simply the human condition boiled down into metaphoric symbol.

But then Mae , the leader of the coven , who was actually the gruff old loveable one , bears her heart , and I could actually feel my blood pressure rising ! And my dislike of all cheaters came roaring back with a literal ringing in my ears. My god , what a selfish bitch she was !

But still I found myself conflicted. No punishment could be any harsher than what befell her. The loss of respect of her children , her other family , her peers , and lastly herself. What punishment could truly be worse than to finally realize all the pain was your own fault , and literally no earthly way to fix it. To be cast into the part of the ringleader of other fallen adulterers. Kind of Dantesque , for lack of a better term.

I give you props Jezzaz , this made my emotions roll. Great storytelling sir !

5*'s

P.S. I have a twitter account , but I seriously do not find the reasoning behind this form of social media. Maybe I am just to lazy to keep up . Give me facebook any day.

Interesting experiment for this genre that despite being sensitivily handled by skilled writer falls flat by conclusion. To me , the sequential cheating flash stories en masse were overwhelming. They all rapidly ramped up , culminated and went kaput like a production line.

I give jezzaz credit for trying a new way to tell about harsh lessons from straying in marriage. Was it that the women, although chastened by crash and burn of their marriage and ensuing pain it caused, definitely told the cheating segment with relish ? This might be punishing the author for his skill . Hard to put my finger on this didn't resonate like " Words " or " Live from the Game " .

The hard work and daring that jezzaz infused into the story is evident and appreciated by me. Although the story threw off sparks but never quite blazed as hoped , I thank the author for sharing.

Women in general spend so much time learning to lie to others for the sake of getting along that lying becomes a habit. They get so good at it that they can lie with a straight face. The can even lie to themselves and believe their own lies. Unfortunately for them, lying like entering bad data into a computer eventually shows up. Their bottom line no longer adds up and it isn't long before someone does an audit. In fairness to women, they employ lies as a strategic tool in dealing with life because they are often weaker and smaller than men. Unless they are intellectually gifted, lying is their most powerful survival tool. Unfortunately, in order to use this tool they have to trade trust and honor for it.

In the immortal words of George Costanza. "Jerry just remember, it not a lie if you believe it."

We all, that is we who are truly honest, know damn good and well that cheating is not a male/female thing. It's a selfishness that blinds the cheater to the pain caused by his/her actions. I think that you have poignantly illustrated this truth with these four stories. ***** and thanks for sharing.

You created a story with no basis in reality.

There was no loss of respect, no community outrage, not even sympathy from the judge or my own lawyer. No one cared. As well, despite being the victim, I ended up losing my shirt. I see my kids one weekend out of two and two weeks in the summer and that is usual. I get all the bills and alimony and child support, truthfully, had I known what this would cost me, I probably would have stayed married because it would have been cheaper and I would have gotten laid once in a while rather than fucked by the system.

That's like me saying somehow I ended up giving this story a 1. I really don't understand why or how it happened.

Its really difficult to continue a story when it is clear in the first few paragraphs that the author is very intent on what people are wearing, how they have applied their makeup, what they are drinking, and what type of cup they are drinking out of, where they live, all the descriptions about so many inane and superfluous details. But when it comes to the heart of actions and motivations, we get vague, and preposterous, generalities. And it is just too stupid to swallow.

Women who are satisfied and content don't engage in long-term marriage destroying affairs. Opportunistic flings and impetuous chance fucks, maybe. But destroying the family of a husband and children they truly love and respect, almost never happens. And when it does, they know exactly why.

I suggest you spend more time conveying understanding and reality from your characters, rather than side stepping the really critical issues: motivation, personal integrity, self-respect, and a deep empathy for the people their actions are going to ruin their current lives. Adultery is a train wreck, but its not an accident.

There are few things as true as understanding that we, as humans, are fundamentally limited, self-absorbed, essentially broken and isolated things. Is it all that surprising that we should fail one another in ways like those described here?

As another commentator put it: "But somewhere in between the pages , I actually started thinking wow, maybe this is simply the human condition boiled down into metaphoric symbol." Yes, that about nails this, and for what this writing effort was meant to be, a portrait of that brokenness as it relates to our marriage relationships, it was done superbly (if not completely).

These characters were never meant to be portrayed as either heroes nor victims (except possibly of their own human natures); so don't go criticizing the writer for failing to make them lovable here. They weren't meant to be - except to the extent that they were willing to share the burdens of one another's pain and self-induced suffering - to help one another pick themselves up from where they had fallen. There is love in doing so for one another. ...and therein lays the beauty within the exposed ugliness from within the failings of the human spirit that is reflected in this story.

Well done! 5* from me.

I wish for endless misery on these cheating whores.

There are no excuses for infidelity.

Getting extremely drunk could be forgiven by some. But then again, it is a person's choice to get drunk.

As for the old whore, I'm pretty sure not all her kids were Randall's.

I can never imagine what kind of drugs they were on to state that they weren't in their proper minds.. All bullshit to deny their own responsibility..

Unless they were all declared mentally incompetent, they were all responsible for their own choices.. And they chose to do those things again and again.

It was an interesting read, to know the mind of some psychotic cunts...

4 stars.. I just wish to see you give Ryan a proper end( preferably happy, was hoping for more details about him here)..

From the other side...now finish "live from the game"

This was a brilliant expose of the thinking of cheating wives. I gave it 5 because the stories seemed genuine and instructive, whether or not made up. I couldn't get angry over them but then I haven't been through it.

I think the sex addiction of the first was perhaps the most interesting. Mae's story, while showing a monumental self delusion, apparently without malice, also showed another aspect of modern life -- the prurient and gratuitous intrusion of the press into people's lives. For me, they were also responsible for the hubby's death. Did they protect anyone's well-being by their behaviour?

Way too many mundane and useless details about things that had nothing to do with the story. This has been a dreadful series, even worse than the wretched Ingram's series. You should forget about these stupid series and get back to writing something interesting.

Pretty good. I almost only gave it a 3 until I realized that there really are women this stupid and slutty in real life.

I have even met a couple.

Amazing. They should have never married. Born sluts.

Well all of these ladies ( loose term there) were awful examples of wives. But Rhonda's husband has no room to cast stones . What does one expect of any marriage partner who you go to a wife swapping swingers party with ? Not once , but twice ! Then he gets Butthurt because she turns into a slut there ? Really , was he so damned clueless to the fact that people who attend these things are not the greatest examples of virtuousness ! He was as big of a whore as she was.

Bet he doesn't take next one to a fucking swingers party !

To the Author,

When I had read your earlier story where you had mentioned this group of women, I had earlier been concerned for Ryan. In my experience a group of women who get together to scheme over a man is a recipe for disaster! For the man at the very least. Good intentions and a paved road to Hell usually come to mind...

Now when I had finished the story, and saw what the women actually were doing? How they helped and did what they did as a support group, I saw the value in it. Many times a man or woman who cheats and causes that sort of devestation to not only their loved ones but also to themselves has NO ONE to turn to.

I am mildly surprised that something like this doesn't exist already, it probably does and I just don't know about it. People say that in the "Enlightened" countries outside of the savage America...those people have a better view of cheating. No need to get upset, the marriage is just over. While usually in America it seems that their is a strong desire to get a sort of "revenge."

I personally have no stake in it either way. It would depend upon the kind of grievance that was perpetrated...I think I spelled that word right....

All this is to say, a support group is a very good idea in the way you describe it. I also appreciate you filling out and coloring in the characters in it.

A good tale, and it gets 5 stars from me.

Sincerely,

Payenbrant

That was so well told I could smell the hot chocolate and the coffee and hear he clock ticking.

Hopefully we'll be back with the ladies for next week's meeting?

Your ridiculous slam at the Republican Party was petty, and you demean yourself by such antics. You are a good writer, but stick to fictional stories, not political opinion pieces.

A support group for cheating wives who loved cheating. Who ruined there lives and there spouses. There are people like that out there. So sad how we humans can self destruct.

No point to it other than author trying to make a statment with no context in the story. Was a 4, made it a three.

re:

People say that in the "Enlightened" countries outside of the savage America...those people have a better view of cheating. No need to get upset, the marriage is just over. While usually in America it seems that their is a strong desire to get a sort of "revenge."

Maybe in those "Enlightened" countries the legal system is more even handed toward the about to be ex-husband?

A large part of the bitterness created by divorce in the US is caused by the fact that a wife can destroy the marriage and be rewarded by the courts for it.

Really unlikeable women made for a long, drawn out whine fest. I found it to be neither interesting or entertaining to read. Next time something better please.

It's always exciting to see a new jezzaz story. It was nice to have some background on the group who helped Deanna. There were moments when I felt for them, but like hearing a tale of woe from a death row inmate, it's easy to pity them until you think of their victims.

A writers journey is to create characters that elicit a emotion/response, if you love or hate a character then the writer has achieved their goal.

its good to see a story shine light on positive endevours following devastation.

If a man only meets loose women & sluts, then all women in his opinion are loose & sluts.

Thats not the fault of the other good women out there, but rather of the man who fails to steer of sluts & loose women.

Mordern Humans cannot be Monogamous i.e untill they make it their own choice to commit to the relationship everyday not just on a fancy big wedding day. Yet even still if you commit to each other everyday that doesn't guarantee the marriage will last.

Never place another human on a pedestal, all humans fall. we come alone, we leave alone, & there never is dignity in dying.

If you are not happy in your marriage, do something about it, but whatever you do it should be your choice dont blame anybody else.

Man, Woman, Dog & even Cat, we all like to fuck. Fuck, its okay, but never blame your life situation on anybody else, own your mistakes & move on.

(Jeremy Brown)

yes its a pen name.

It would have been better if the husband that died was holding dna reports showing the kids were not his. The final betrayal.

Cheating slut support group coming to a location near you...😂....😂.... Mae's story has me a bit skeptical.. She's been having an affair with Dexter since before she was even married and continued with this affair for 30 years--how do we know the kids were her dead husbands? These women were batshit crazy... Especially Mae, how can she possibly claim to love her husband when she's been fucking Dexter for 30 years and probably would've continued if she hadn't been found out? My definition of love is much different from these women. How would they feel if the husbands were doing what they were doing? Would they be so eager to "work things out"? Or would they go scorch earth? I find myself wondering if Mae would believe her husband really loved her when he's been banging some slut for 30 years? After all she somehow believed she truly loved her husband and having some dick on the side for 30 years --the whole entire relationship is no big deal... Would she have been so forgiving? I don't think so. I think she would've raped him financially in a divorce. She wouldn't have wanted to work shit out. Cheaters kill me with their "it didn't mean anything bullshit! that just makes it worst, you allowed something that didn't mean anything to destroy something that meant everything... I never understood the logic in that. Why would anybody want to stay married to a person that's willing to destroy their happy home all for something/somebody that didn't mean anything? To me it speaks of a truly fuck'd up mind set and what their definition of love is.

Of the coven. I enjoyed your background on the sisterhood and actually found myself identifying with them a bit. I think you have struck upon a set of useful characters who can be injected into any number of future stories of yours.

Thanks for the fun read and please keep writing!

Fuck the 1-bombers and the moralists. What a great story! Thank you!

Truly excellent. I loved it. This is why you are one of my face.

One of my favs. Damn autocorrect...

A tale about cheating slut wives feeling bad about what they've done. Yeah, real heartwarming. Fucking cunts.

negative rating

Read all in series. I think s decent twist for Ryan would be that Deanne cheats on Trey with Ryan and that they find each oather again.

A really thought provoking tale and loaded with emotion, saving the best until last. ...If only I could write as well as you! Great job and thanks.

Nice smooth writing as always with this author, but I found the plot lacking complexity. All of the lovers were bums, all of the husbands were stellar, models of the good husband and standing on a pedistal. Fantastic in bed, ever faithful, very good providers...and their wives wandered. It was only the egregious sexual excesses of the women, the men were perfect. The blame was all one sided. And the story fell flat. The rational was the same for all of them (it was a separate thing independent of marriage).

So more nuance in your characters! We are all sinners.

Chilley

Five stars. Great backstory and development of characters. Interesting that even though Mae feels her actions killed her husband, she never saw it as wrong. He just failed to realize that the sex was not important.

Nice telling- sure the husbands were angels, but you need to remember that these ladies erred and are not likely to focus on their ex-husband's shortcoming. Unreliable narrators. As for Zed- you are a sad twisted and bitter fool. Hopefully women stay at least two counties away from you. 5 stars

5*. This tied up the loose ends from Long After The Game. Now we don't have to ask where Deanna's support group came from. However, there is a loose end here--What happens to Brooke?

Anyway, I think your stories are some of the best on Lit.

Does Ryan ever get to have his happy ending? He was the one most hurt over all this and yet he even got his Ex to find her happy ending.

That seems just....incomplete to be honest.

There are four stories in this series. This was the third.

I am elbow deep in Ingrams #5 right now, but Ryan's conclusion is next. All plotted out and ready to go.

To those who feel I side swiped Trump in this story, please avoid Stone Cold, which is the next stand alone story to be published. It'll give you a coronary.

Like the pieces of human waste they had willingly and gleefully turned themselves into, they were flushed from the husbands and families lives. I feel not one iota of sympathy for any of them. They've more than earned their misery.

.... full of cheating, despicable CUNTS .... isn't that nice. Here's to Mae having a long, miserable, lonely life!

Regarding Rhonda, and her family life:

"We just have to learn to accept it, and move on. One day I will. Till then, lots of meaningless sex with attractive men for me!"

Has she then given up on having a family life again? Does she want to accept its loss and be able to be fulfilled by swinging?

Don't get me wrong, this is a very valid way for someone to live their life. I just want to be sure that I understand Rhonda.

Thank you.

Thanks for sharing.

We all make many mistakes in our lives and unfortunately, sometimes, there is no "do-overs" and we have to move on and keep living. Sad stories, but well-written and very entertaining. Thanks for sharing them with us.

I am not nor ever will be marriage material. Why on Gods green earth would I ever want to support someone else's daughter when the chances are that she will turn out to be a lying cheating scumbag whore.

Better to buy a hooker, then at least you know what you are getting into without the risk of getting fucked over by the law as well as the whore.

Not really my cup o' tea to listen to cheaters' laments. But this was an exceptionally well-told story. Very interesting and the pain was palpable.

Thanks for the effort - I'm guessing it worked out as well as you'd hoped.

Whether you think the long prologue is worth the end is up to you. But I urge you, if you’re on the fence about this, to go over the end again, remembering the “facts” of the first part and forgetting the tedium. Is the end about as brilliant a psychological BTB as you’ve seen, or is it just self agrandizing drivel? I urge you to think only of the end, in this case. Only then make the final judgement of the overall story.

All of the cheating bitches in this story deserve to have the letter A branded on their foreheads. Can a man ever really trust a woman?

You allowed all the cheaters to avoid the simply and complete truth about their betrayal. They all simply lack the character, the ethics, the self respect to keep their marriage vows. Its not a surprise that they all stopped cheating ONLY after they got caught. Well, except for the brain dead bitch who is still cheating with her brother in law. They cheated because it was fun, and emotionally and physically rewarding, and they were getting away with it. Just about the same reason a thief keeps embezzling, a rapist keeps raping, and a serial killer keeps committing murder. You really think the rapist cares what the victim thinks or feels? Like the rapist, these cheating whores only thought about what enjoyment they were having, and to hell with their husbands, who couldn't be hurt because they didn't know.

So, nothing really dramatic or deep here. Just your everyday selfish juvenile attitude of wanting their cake and eating it too. Glad to see them choking on it now. Except for the poor schlub who checked out, all their husbands are better off without these soulless bitches in their lives. Good riddance.

A well told story, with very weak characters. It fits.

Whatever one thinks of the behavior the different women describe, your writing gives each person a persona, depth, and a credibility missed in many other Literotica stories. It's not only a grandiose addition to the "long after the game" story, it holds up on it's own very well, and it points to the fact that women are not only "women", but all different human beings, with a full range of characteristics that may lead just as much to self-destruction (or destruction of what they love) as it is with men (who, by the way, all get away easily with occupying the moral high ground here...). The story became a real page turner, very enjoyable if you want more than just blatant sex scenes (though these were just as enjoyable as the rest of the story). Thank you!! Really great writing.

I’ve always thought that the actual sex act meant more to women than men in that they almost always get a physical high, which men get too, as well as an emotional high (boost if you will) that men rarely get at least to extent that they do. By the way, neither political party has a monopoly on hypocrisy, and if you think that they do, you’re either naive or blind to reality.

But I just can’t go full in on humanizing these women and the damage they wrought. That said, you wrote a great story. The original it’s based on still makes me angry. That sefish bitch didn’t deserve a happy ending.

Dedicated to excuses and self delusion. They take minimal responsibility on the surface, but deep down, well, if only this, or that, or if only he could understand....

No self analysis. Everyone said the same thing, “I don't know why I did it”. Yes, they do. They always know why. They just can't live with the honest answer.

Then there's therapy. Where you pay a 'professional' to tell you every fucked up thing in your life isn't really your fault. Professional doesn't make someone an expert, or even semi intelligent, professional, (as opposed to amateur), just means you get paid for working. Indifferent as to whether you're good or bad at your job.

Theres always an excuse....the excuses just get more technical when you pay top dollar for them.

Unless I've somehow missed it.

BTW - Coven was all right. No problems with it, like some others seem to think. Just not as great as some of your others. So 4-stars.

In me liked this very much, kind of an inside look into the mind of bad wives. To those that don’t like this perspective, remember perfect people make boring stories usually.

The sisterhood of the adulterous slacks.

Seriously great stuff, point me at the Ryan story, where is it? I still kind of hate Deanna she got the Disney princess ending and we left left poor Ryan out in the cold. Someone has got to write a Ryan story to finish this off please!

Too too long.

A coven of “bitches” sitting around a cauldron feeling sorry for themselves.

The patronizing arrogance of them all, desperately clinging to the notion that what they did didn’t really matter, because it meant so little to them.

This story featured four women who cheated and lied. The story is well written. At this time the rating is 4.56.

I recently read a story of a woman who approached her husband to open up their marriage. It worked, both benefitted. The story was well written by someone whose other stories were all above 4.5. Can’t remember the story’s name. This particular story scored in the low 3 range. Clearly had a lot of one bombs.

So in the LW scoring world it’s better to cheat and get caught than it is to be open with your spouse about things. Kinda sick, if you think about it. I’d much rather have a spouse approach me about opening up a marriage than have the spouse cheat. (I’d still have to say ‘no thanks’ but it’s better than being cheated on.)

You say that the "Republican Party actually stood for something other than big business, religious zealots and hypocrisy". What do you say of the "progressives" in the democrat party, their lockstep media and their billionaire backers. Otherwise well written and so sad. Poor Randall.

I don't know why I haven't read this before now. A great story about four cheating bitches who very much deserve their place in life. The only thing , besides being stupid and cheaters, is that there is no excuse for what they did. All lost husbands and respect of friends and families. All the husbands left them too well off after the bitches destroyed their marriages. I don't know how they can help Brooklyn, as they can't even help themselves. Great story, awful characters.

editor to fix my comma's' - The editor could have helped with his apostrophes!

/

@Anomymous Re: "Only one issue...." - "lockstep media?" You mean like Faux Noise? "Billionaire backers?" Like the Koch brothers?

Is the author going to write the follow-up on Ryan, or did I just miss it?

If you look around you (I did), you will see many cheaters, many of whom who be devastated losing their spouse. In the (in)famous 2012 UK adultery survey, the cheaters clearly never intended the loss of their marriage :

Do you plan to stay married to your spouse?

Male: Yes: 81% No: 19%

Female: Yes: 84% No: 16%

Despite some flaws, I think the story is very creative and wonderfully catches many emotions of the people involved, but I think the story misses on one thing though : many people that cheat face lingering feelings of sadness (25 percent), stress (32 percent) and guilt (49 percent) (a very very large 2017 survey) and in the story, it only happens after the split.

God how sad. And still waiting for that Ryan 4th story (after "Live From The Game, " "Long After The Game," and "Cheaters Coven") where presumably he finally finds love and happiness. Please.

nothing but misery caused by stupid, greedy, discontented women, all looking for something extra and all destroying everything they had just for a little extra fun. Serves them right when will women ever learn. Constantly trying to get the attention that their egos demanded.

anonymous says 'he always thought women had a higher interest in sex than men. of course they do. When it comes to orgasms females can out do men [no pun intended lol] and enjoy several, one after the other, whilst men struggle after one and quickly lose interest. Many women are left unsatisfied whilst their husbands turn over and snore. ORGASMS BEING THE MOST WONDERFUL FEELING KNOWN TO MAN, OR MORE TO THE POINT, WOMEN is it any wonder that they require the extra attention. Like most marriages, sex in the early years is good because the husband still has a high sex drive but gradually that drive begins to wane whereas the wife,s interested in pleasurable sexual activity is still high. It is not just the actual intercourse that,s so wonderful, its all the euphoria of being desired by another man, the boost to the ego when a woman knows she,s wanted, the fact that a man finds her attractive, makes complimentary remarks about her clothing, her hair, her make up. Compliments from a stranger are so much more appreciated than from a husband or close acquaintance; and as the years pass it becomes so much easier to reciprocate. I gave it a '4'.

'Danger09' claims 'how could she possibly say she loved her husband?' The simple answer is, she doesn,t. What she and other cheating wives mean is 'they love the marriage, they love the home life, they love the family, they love the security, they love the stature especially in the eyes of other single women who see married women as the ultimate goal. All this provided by the husband but do they love the husband above everything else. I think not, they only really love what the husband provides, thus when a man appears who seems more exciting than their spouse there can be no love lost, the idea that they may lose everything doesn,t enter their minds because they are not breaking their love for the marriage only for the husband and because that love is only 'skin deep' it,s of no importance. Sexual activity with a new and exciting lover only affects the spouse and as it is only a passing fling it is easy? to keep the affair quiet. Unfortunately the cheating wife becomes so enamoured with her 'new' man that she loses sight of what she is doing and as her love for her spouse is not priority she forgets all the other assets. It,s another reason why more women don,t hold important positions in industry, they cannot spread their concentration beyond their immediate activity.

It's well-written, but having to hear out all these idiots is quite the drag. Like being forced to attend some group therapy session against your own accord.

Well done. 5* for the story and writing style.

Thanks for sharing.

Very mixed feelings about the stories in this series.

Firstly, every woman choose to get married, no one forced them to.

Secondly, when you enter marriage, as in any contract, you agree to certain conditions and one of those, is faithfulness. Why are they all so surprised when their husbands are upset with them for cheating ?

Thirdly and to me, the most important, is that they all say they love their respective husbands, however, without any thought of the consequences, they willingly cheat, lie, betray, humiliate and cause immense pain and suffering to their spouses who they claim to love and care for. Unbelievable.

If they want to have sex with different men (or women), fine, no problem & good luck. Just don’t get married in the first place. The hypocrisy & callousness is beyond all limits.

as to be expected after all that happened

What I found interesting is that these cheaters kept going back to the kitchen to refill their cups as they emptied them... these witches should have just placed a cauldron in their midst and just repeatedly dipped their cups into their delusion elixir as they spun their preposterous yarns... the reality is that their beauty and pathological narcissism would just allow them to hook up with another sucker cuck (and there are an unrelentless source of them) and keep on doing what they did, all the while pretending they are reformed and will never do it again.

This was a nice story, kept me rapt sitting on the edge of my seat. However, there were to many holes. First. Cheating, does not make a bad mom. According to the story. The husband wasn'r lacking and the children were not sufferinbg. Unless the children were being neglected by the mom, rgerev= ewas no reason for her loosing the kids. The settlement for a divorce are settled by the courts. not the husband or his attorneys. If the business was built duribg the marriage. then it a fifty fifty split. To many holes to mention all. however this story was very good.

I gave it 5 stars. I always take the story as I read it. I don’t have to agree with how it ends or the content.

The spelling errors I also overlook as long as I understand what the author is saying.

I loved the story and the effort that the author put into this story.

I think the story was well written but is ultimately depressing. Four intelligent women who are so blinded by their own desires that they cannot see what their cheating will do to the men they profess to love, honour & respect.

They are supremely selfish & naive to believe that anything good will come from their broken promises. They are all suffering, not only from a lack of morals but an eye wateringly blinkered approach to life.

The quote that proves to me that women have no morals is used by this authour over and over again is “it was only sex”.

Really good story. Responding to the Anonymous statement that women have no morals is not true in the sense that humans can have no morals regardless of gender. People are tempted everyday it's how you do or do not act on those temptations. I still want to see what Ryan's final resolution is he deserves and ending either good or bad

Wonderful!

One of the very stories I've read on this site. Well done.

Great little story! Now…when’s the next Ryan story?? Long past time

If Ryan marries Brooklyn I will do something drastic. Don't even think about it jezzaz.

Excellently written

Very well done. Excellent analysis of delusional narcissistic self-justifaction.

They "loved" their husbands. Their husbands were "everything" That's called a half truth. It's true because they did love them. They were everything that they wanted in married life. What they weren't? Completely respected as their equal. This is a fact lost on most of these stories and by most people guilty of infidelity.

People in relationships who cheat but believe they love their partners often DO respect them... to a point. They may respect them as providers, as parent of their shared children, they can be proud of their spouse's accomplishments etc. They respect what the spouse does and not who they are. It boils down to the fact that the cheater believes they are beyond their spouse. They are able to compartmentalize. They are able to both grace their family with presence and time while also engaging in personal sexual and/or emotional fulfillment. In their minds they are ultimately offering a gift to their family by giving all that they have when they are present. It's why "I never took anything away from you" is a common defense tactic. Even after discovery they still feel they are superior because they are graced with such ability to live two lives.

When you respect your spouse for who that person is, when you view them as your equal, cheating is not possible. Love is not required to prevent cheating, respect and devotion is. Love and respect are not intertwined.

The issue with Mae's portrayal is that for all she loved about Randall, she saw Gordon as more in regards to sex and excitement. Randall was dependable and present. Gordon always provided for a good time. For a narcissist, and Mae's character is narcissistic, that is highly desirable because they feed into each others desire to be free of convention. Because he preceeded the marriage, it was up to Randall to "beat" Gordon and send him packing... to show Mae that she would always be fully sated and satisfied. She never offered him the chance. It was a contest he was unaware he had to win. It's likely he couldn't if he tried. Mae picked Randall for what he did, what he could offer, what he could provide. Saying he was good in bed is an olive branch and nothing more. Gordon was always her true mate. Honestly, it makes more sense if he was biodad to the kids.

There are a lot of delusional women in the world that "love" their spouses even after divorce. They sometimes come to understand the pain they caused but never fully understand how they were never truly honest with their husbands. In some ways their husband was second place. Admitting it causes further pain and guilt because then they truly have no argument for their behavior that may result in meaningful reconciliation.

Sometime that respect can be restored or developed. It's incredibly difficult though and it requires tremendous honesty on the betrayer and a huge capacity for grace in the betrayed.

Great story of multiple cheaters- very well written. Long, yes, but held interest all through

I loved this story but one aspect of it didn't ring true; the crudity of the language used by a couple of the women when taking it in turns to tell their stories, especially Brooklyn. Hers was the language of a group of men bragging about their sexual conquests rather than a woman taking part in a group confessional with other women. I had no problem with the level of detail involved, merely the language used to convey it, although I hardly think it relevant to Brooklyn's account whether she spat or swallowed. It was an absolutely gripping read, though and fully deserving of the five stars I awarded it.

Very well told... in fact, now I'll go through your stories to learn more about what I think is good storytelling to find more of what I hope will be more good stories.

This one gets 5 stars from here...

Well told and written. A good story illustrating that communication with your partner and yourself is key. If you play outside of a relationship its because you are not totally satisfied by what you have at home If you can understand that about yourself and communicate that you can fix things in whatever way the fixing needs to be done. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your work. Thanks. BardnotBard.

Gem

every time another story was told i thought it couldn't get any worse it did . then when the husband died ,that really hammered home that sometimes really bad things can happen to good people .

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to, but I can’t help wondering if there are really women around who are as brain dead as these four? If so, how do they function?