All Comments on 'End of an Affair'

Reminds me of a book in which a man in an otherwise healthy marriage with a wife and kids lived in silence with a murder he had committed. The ultimate absence of a public revelation left a strangely satisfying dissatisfaction wherein the ultimate goal was the restoration of Rich's happy marriage instead of some sort of karmic retribution for the wife. I'll think about this one. Thanks for an interesting story. *****

. . . and got away with it? Neither her husband nor Byron’s wife found out about it, and no bitches or bastards were burned?

The conclusion was that sex and romance with Rich improved, once Byron was gone. How often things like this happen in real life I do not know, but I’m sure it happens at least occasionally.

She wanted sex, but she wanted it to be his idea. That's where everything went off the rails. If he's tired, get your hot ass on top and do him.

I liked the story overall and felt that it probably described a situation that was a lot more realistic than many of the standard Loving Wives stories that focus on the revenge and retribution wrought on the adulterous wife or the submissive cuckold response of the husband.

However I didn't feel a close emotional understanding of Julie or any close connection with her as a character. This was especially so in the first page or two which seemed somewhat wooden as a description of Julie's actions and responses to her situation with both her husband and with Byron. It warmed a little towards the end of the story which was an improvement.

Lue

Thanks for the read. In my humble opinion, your just trying to justify illicit behavior.

This is an ok read and decent writing.

It is simply about a fairly lousy woman who is so full of shit she can't shovel it fast enough not to be buried in it.

Fairly realistic thought process for a run of the mill cheater.

She isn't worth getting worked up about and inspires nothing but meh feelings of disdain.

disclaimer and warning about the story content. I read the first page then skipped to the last so thanks for heads up it saved me reading what was between.

Sure, adultery is wrong; but we are social animals who need contact. Is it moral? No; but it is reality.

The haters are gonna hate but lets be honest: guys would fuck a hole in the ground if it said hi to them.

I liked this one a lot

Good story. Gave you 3*s.

I really enjoy the subtle way you show how her lack of affection, and resentment, was expressed to her husband. He was insensitive and just hoping the problem would go away. Again an extreme lack of communication in a marriage.

She is guilty of cheating on her marriage. She also has guilty feelings about contributing to her lovers death. Looks like you have a very good chapter two here.

I understand a person in there 50's has a strong personality. But all that guilt preys on the mind. Especially if their attempt at saving the marriage hits a snag, or her husband Richard falters in any way. The mind is unpredictable when heavily stressed 🤔.

Thanks for the entertainment. Looking forward to another story soon, or chapter, lol.

AMerryman

A beautiful and heartfelt story. Thank you for sharing. We don’t get enough thoughtful story lines from the woman’s perspective here. Very well done.

# METOO is just a scam by soleless women who didn’t get what they wanted by whoring themselves for position or prestige. Women. Life support systems for their cunts with no other redeeming qualities whatsoever. Great writing next time have her face plant into a bridge abutment

She had four choices when her marriage becalmed, in this order:

1. Tell her husband and then try to jointly get the marriage started again

2. Do the above and if it didn't work, agree to a divorce

3. Do the above and live with it, just existing as co-parents

4. Have an affair

With a typical cheater's mindset, she selfishly chose the worst basically blaming her husband and it took the death of her lover/boyfriend to even remotely see how wrong that decision was.

Not sure but I probably agree that she shouldn't tell her husband and live with the betrayal and the guilt as long as she wasn't going to do it again but only to save her husband the heartbreak. If he found out then he would more likely divorce her than if she told him. If he did find out and divorced her then she got what she deserved.

Although uncomfortable with the subject matter and her initial justifications for cheating, worthy of 5* for good writing.

A follow up possible where he does find out and she tries to explain her treacherous behavior. Hopefully if she was truly remorseful by then i.e. understood the wrongness of what she did and the hurt she had caused her husband then you could write a proper reconciliation story for once on this site. Two main problems with any chance of reconciliation, other than his reaction to her initial betrayal:

1. She didn't voluntarily stop the affair it ended only because of his death, so would it have ever ended?

2. She didn't tell him about it, he had to find out.

If he couldn't get passed it then divorce was perfectly justifiable in the circumstances given the nature of her cheating, which included an emotional as well as a physical element.

4 stars

Stupid story.She is a hypocritical whore.She stopped cheating on her husband just because the stallion died.Despite this, she still lies and cheats,she constantly justifies her betrayal and lies.Poor husband must live with a whore.She should end up like her lover.

It is sad that the author justifies betrayal and lies - 1*

I believe there's almost no excuse to have an affair. If the wife wanted more sex and affection, she should have asked her husband for it, or taken the steps she did after her lover's death.

I have no sympathy for the wife. Her actions after her lover died to improve her relationship with her husband worked - but she could have done the same things BEFORE she had her affair. --JRZ

Ended up skimming over much of this story because of the disgusting messages. There were no redeeming overtures of accountability and remorse, only selfish betrayal and lack of respect. Nothing to feel good about with this one.

I’m much more in the BTB crowd but I enjoyed this story.

4 stars

Why do they embarrass themselves by leaving a comment?

I was hoping the cucked husband cut out the Obit., leaving it for his wife on the Saturday morning of the funeral. That would have let her know he knew about what she had been doing!

My view is always middle of the road so I found this fascinating as the development the affair is presented. Those who say Adultery!! BTB 1*, really don't like to read! I wonder why they do not complain about the fault of LTS on the part of both, which is really the bigger crime!

Truly enjoyed your story. I was hoping that her husband would kind of burst her delusional self-absorb bubble. Hope an addendum or an alternate ending is soon coming or maybe even the husband telling his side of the story...

I was really hoping Mr. Stoddard would have fucked her in the ass while Mrs. Stoddard did the neighbors poodle.

"I wanted to sprint, because I needed to know." - Why the rush? The new isn't going to change if she waits till her husband isn't around.

"I was careful not to jump Rich's bones when he came home from work each day," - Why the fuck NOT? Tired or not, most normal men would be THRILLED!

Husbands in their 40's don't "let their sex drive go"! It MAY not be as strong as it was, there may even be some early ED, but if her husband isn't "getting the urge" often enough, why not take the initiative?

"I wanted more sex, but I wanted it to be his idea." - Not to be a male chauvinist, but typical woman! She expects him to read her mind! Meanwhile, HE'D maybe like more sex, but is afraid that she'll think that's all he wants her for, so doesn't push it.

"She told me she would call Byron and they would hear from me soon." - I think you mean that "I would hear from them soon."

Boy, more worried about her job than her marriage! I think you meant that the neighbors wouldn't SUSPECT anything, not expect anything, LOL!

Rich isn't touching her? Why isn't she touching him? Maybe he thinks she isn't interested and is having his own affair!

"how we could hardly wait to be together today," - Nitpick: If they get together every two weeks, daily emails wouldn't reference getting together "today," they'd maybe say "again."

I wonder if Byron left his wife a confession?

She says the hook-ups were so numerous, but it was 10 months, roughly every other week. That's only around 20, plus a few extras.

"I realized that I held some of the responsibility for that lack of meaning on other things, and maybe I could learn from those and try to make this feel special." - Yep! She says something similar later, and "Yep" again!

I liked in the Epilogue where her earlier concern about "jumping his bones" when he came home proved groundless.

I know some come down on her because it was only her lover's death that ended the affair, but then she suffered the grief of his death, and did the soul-searching that led her to take steps to work on her own marriage.

Four stars from me.

I don't see where he was "insensitive," certainly no more than she was!

As for "hoping the problem would go away"? He wasn't aware there WAS a problem!

I was wondering if Byron's secret email account would come to light after his death.

I also thought the young couple might have some connection with Byron and/or Gloria, and looking at that house was going to be part of a plan to expose her.

As I read your story I looked more at your telling of the past than the going's on of today.

1. She was a stay at home mom till the youngest was at least 16.

2. she went to work at the real-estate agency the same time hubby moved into a new position at work requiring him to work out of town at least once a month for three days.

3. She was a $4 mill a year sealer.

4. Hubby took great pains to not disturb her in the mornings (did he really care or not).

As I see it she got to where she paid less attention to her husband after she went back to work and he just went with the flow. His smile when she had made dinner before he got home, something that didn't happen often. Seeing him off on his morning again something that never happened often.

I believe he knew about her affair but didn't know how he wanted to approach her about it.After she got her head back on straight it seems things started to get better for them.

I don't condone affairs but in this situation it would be bet to never speak of it.

There is always a reason why a married person engages in an adulterous affair. If the reason is there, and the opportunity presents itself, infidelity occurs.

Very few Loving Wives stories explain the reason for their characters' infidelity. Or, if they do, it's a very facile reason.

In her work on infidelity, Esther Perel says that many of those who commit adultery don't do it because they are dissatisfied with their spouse or disappointed with their marriage, but they are trying to escape from themselves.

They see themselves as having become something unsatisfying and they are trying to return to something they were before, or to become something they think they missed the opportunity to be. I can see the logic in that analysis.

Women may see themselves as having become 'just a wife and mother' when they were once 'sexy and desirable'.

Men may see themselves as having become 'settled and ordinary' when they were once 'virile and adventurous'.

Imagine how much more interesting PapaRomantic's story could have been if something like that had been explored as Julie's motivation for her affair.

Lue

Once again husbandly cluelessness saves the day and they live happily ever after! I also thought the Stoddards knew about the affair and were maybe going to attempt blackmail.

Not worth wiping my ass with.

Speaking as one who often tries to make sense out of the nonsense here, I honestly don't think Lit is the place for sociological analyses!

There are some quite fascinating specimens among the commentariat and the stable of authors within the Loving Wives community. Surely it's well worth a doctoral thesis?

But, apart from that flippant response, I do believe that a lot of LW stories could be so much more interesting if the authors made an empathic attempt to develop the character and motives of the errant wives they include in their stories.

I suspect that it's because most authors and commenters are male and have little or no idea of what might motivate a wife to commit adultery. Thus they assume facile answers like husband not satisfying their sexual urges or finding an alternative much larger male appendage.

As your very own (USofA) sage H.L.Mencken said:

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple .... and wrong".

Exhibit 1: Loving Wives stories.

Lue

How can her guilt grow everyday as their relationship gets stronger? That guilt would grow & fester so much that it would eventually contaminate & destroy the relationship.

So, a part 2; husband discovers she had an affair and marriage is in real turmoil & failing???

An example I have knowledge of from a family member: their spouse had an affair; kept it secret. Guilt ridden conscience & stress led to an early grave. Left what they felt as heartfelt confession; to clear their conscience. Surviving spouse so full of hate & spite (with approval of family); has departed spouse removed from family burial plot, cremated and, to top of retribution (and, without telling family) dumped ashes in a septic tank.

Usually stories about affairs focus on the discovery and the aftermath but this one looks into the set-up: sexually unfulfilled wife, boring husband, opportunity. So kudos for that. Like Lue, I didn't feel a close connection with wifey, the main protagonist, early in the story. That's the problem (one of the problems) of writing in the first person: the story teller has to connect with the reader and hold their interest all the way through. That's a tall order for an author and wifey didn't quite pull it off...but close. The thing most interesting to me was the plot and there's plenty of room for a sequel: wifey gets a guilty conscience and confesses; their secret emails are discovered and exposed; hubby knew all along but for whatever reason cut her lots of slack; and probably plenty of others. I favor guilt causing wifey to confess. Can he forgive her? That's a question all we long-married guys ask ourselves when we read about an affair in a 30 year marriage. What if that was me?

It occurred to me as I read it, that perhaps this story was written over an extended period of time and the author came back to finish it with a slightly different set of ideas or point of view; there seemed to be a disconnect in continuity about a quarter of the way through.

Top notch writing and very entertaining, too. My criticisms are minor and meant to be charitable. Thanks, PR!

I hate cheaters

The whole story seems to be the wife justifying her cheating to herself instead of admitting that she was bored with being a housewife and mother. The wife seems to be stuck in her youth looking for a return to the excitement of life as a partner in love without the responsibilities of job and children. Middle age men that are fit and active are thinking about sex much more often than women at that age but they take their head of household responsibility seriously and hope that their partner spouse will take interest in them after a long days work. This wife waited until her youngest drove himself to school before she decided to contribute to the household again, what the hell did she do all days while the kids were independent teenagers? Reading from her it seems that she sat around feeling sorry for herself while getting angry at her husband for not providing more "excitement" in her life. What did she do to encourage that excitement? She indicted that she didn't try because her husband "probably wouldn't like it" WTF? This is a selfish lady whose main interest in life is herself and she would have carried on the affair for as long as her lover would have her. Her new found discovery that her husband might actually respond to her meager overtures is an example of too little too late. My opinion of a character like her is that given her profession and her personality she will cheat again with the next guy that shows her attention. After all her lover doesn't have to worry about her happiness and health or her conditions in old age that's why she keeps her husband as her security blanket. This narcissistic behavior is not limited to women as we can clearly see one high ranking official that conducts himself that way over many years. I would love to see another chapter from the husbands view after he discovers her email account.

Maybe insensitive is the wrong word. I didn't want to use clueless either.

A husband who doesn't realize his wife, and her feelings are changing. She isn't treating him with the consideration, kindness. Without love in her heart.

I picked that up from the description of some of their interactions

AMerryman

She could have let her feeling know .that their life settle into a dull and unloving routine I'm sure he would have responded to her. Yet she cheated . No excuse .

1. I also thought about those e-mails. As the wife and maybe her computer literate friend are cleaning up his laptop, phone, etc...

2. You know luedon likes to show off her intellectual muscle, lol. Nothing wrong with that. It can be funny 🤔😃.

AMerryman

Puke!

I'd rather think of it as an attempt to understand human behaviour in all its rich variations. Could anything in this world be more interesting than that?

Lue

Maybe LW isn’t the place for complex sociological discussions, but if an author can place it in the story, and tell it well, it can work.

Of course, I tried that with my Never Again series, and you saw the scores I got. :)

I’ve got a flash story with a bit of a twist ending queued up for tomorrow.

At the anony’s comment about a guy who digs up cheating wife’s corpse from family burial plot, creamates it, and then flushes ashes into septic tank. I guess if it’s his house, he gets to keep shitting on her, every day. Some LW readers might not even think that’s a bit over the top! :)

Beautifully tragic tale of the Wife, who despite in the face of tragedy and revelation of a husband who was just as devoted to her as ever, still failed to truly ever realize her own self-centered nature. Very subtle and well done!

Thoroughly enjoyed your effort to portray what might go on in an affair. The story was well developed and her telling the tale was realistic. At first I thought you were going to get into the husband, wife relationships. In retrospect, you handled it perfectly.

Thanks for sharing your effort with us and look forward to reading more of your work,

...lover died did she take a guilt compelled look at her marriage and realize she was at a minimum responsible for the lack of small intimacies in her marriage.

For instance, her husband took extraordinary care not to awaken her in morning...pretty thoughtful to my mind, yet she never even acknowledged that before, or even on her own wondered how she was able to sleep in while he was bustling about in morning.

Her lover was a despicable character, who saw a vulnerable wife and seduced her. Repeatedly slapping her ass, when told not to leave marks...that need to dominate would have increased!

True she for now got away with affair, but husband is certainly wondering about negligee greeting at door. As marriage improves, more and more she will realize if she had approached her husband he would have fulfilled the needs she claimed weren't being satisfied. At some point guilt will either drive her to confess or compel her to withdraw again.

How many times did she have late or evening showings and return home ''too tired''

How many times did husband come home to empty house because of evening showings.

I am not writing about wanton sluts in this comment.

Luedon wants to know what leads 40 plus wives to cheat.

The original cause is lack of communication of the part of those wives. Men are chastised and excoriated for not being Krescan. Ask any husband, and yes we recognize immediately something is off, but standard response to ''What's wrong, honey'' is the infamous and feared one word response ''Nothing''

Woe be unto any husband who pursues the matter.

Communication about problem invariably ceases when wife responds,

''IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU THEN IT WOULDN'T DO ANY GOOD ANYWAY!''

Of course that was proceeded by, ''How many times do I have to tell you nothing is wrong, but if you keep asking something will be wrong. Just leave me alone I don't want to talk about it'' - last part at times is ''I don't want you to talk to me'' or ''I don't want to talk to you anymore''

Ask yourself and you friends and your relationship book authors how many times you have said those words to your husbands

Good so far, hope you can continue until she realizes that Rich did know all along and had his revenge. Just maybe, he isn't through bitch, you could be next. Maybe Byron's wife was the one who knew. I would be very careful in all those houses, alone.

This was a very well written story about something that happens every day. You took us through the emotional roller coaster in a way that seemed very believable. Jerks like the last commenter are blind to what people are really like and what they do.

I see no reason for her to tell him. Even if he knew all along he may have been waiting for it to end and hope she'd come back. Divorce is a terrible painful thing and many times it's best to avoid it.

R.

Dull. This didn't do a thing for me. No likeable characters presented here to empathise with, so not a shred of sympathy for the bitch. She ditched her marriage because she was a selfish slut who took it all for granted. Her lover died. Natural justice. Shame she wasn't in the car with him.

Points back for letting her see she was herself to blame and stole time, intimacy and affection from her husband but sadly too little and too late.

Better luck next time PR

Wow. Talk about a near unrepentant whore. Given the chance, she'll cheat again. A leopard never changes its spots.

Also, a small part of me is taking comfort in the fact that Rich is probably cackling away when he orchestrated Byron's death. Yes, yes, you would never come out and say that he was the one who killed him. A man can dream.

1/10. Good writing but with a near unrepentant wife who only cares about herself. I feel sorry for Rich. Perhaps one day someone will tip him off. I wouldn't want to be the wife when that happens.

Sincerely,

L.

cuck shit.

Okay.......If you have to have the last word😉.

AMerryman

Excellent point about how supposedly "clueless" husbands get shut down when they try to get a clue!

I don't like when chitter get to go free unpunished,

but I have no problem with forgiveness.

Painting one side as retarded idiot who is clueless

is something only another IDIOT likes.

You do have writing skills, just no sence!

I get that it is fantasy, but if one can't feel with a character

then all is lost!

I have no problem if an author wants to try for some deep analysis, if as you say, he/she does it well.

My issue is when lue criticizes that a story DIDN'T do that, just because SHE'S interested in the "why," even though nobody else is!

Very well written! I thought it was a great read even though I do not enjoy the realistic nature of the subject matter.

I've opted not to vote, but if I did I would most likely give it 4 stars :)

as soon as she finds another cheater like "Byron". Because she and Byron not even once thought about their families. She is a repented soul until the day she finds another fuck buddy! A shitty story!

Firstly, Anonymous, my comment was not just about "what leads 40 plus wives to cheat." It was about reasons for both husbands' and wives' infidelity. Your comment then goes on to give a list of the facile reasons typical of a man with no self-awareness looking to blame his wife for all their marital problems.

RR & SB, I am not suggesting deep psychological or sociological analysis of the infidelity included in a story. Just a bit more realism.

I have seen complex discussions in the comments of the correct specifications of firearms used in BTB stories when an author gets it slightly wrong. It's more important to get the weaponry right than giving a realistic reason for the adultery that the story is supposed to be about?

When a person cheats and their spouse discovers their infidelity, I'm sure that one of the early questions will be "Why?" The cheater will usually give excuses rather than genuine reasons, even if he/she knows the real one. But a third-person narrator should have some idea of what is real and a good author should be able to make a good story of it.

Lue

And that folks is how you write a realistic cheating story--even if it does have a few warts. Way to go author!

I personally don't care about the gun details any more than I care about the wife's deep psychological reasons for cheating.

MOST people DON'T care about the gun details, even those who DO, only speak up when the author decides to give those details and gets them wrong.

I out more into an email, I don't want to turn this into a comment war.

As you say, "MOST people DON'T care about the gun details, even those who DO, only speak up when the author decides to give those details and gets them wrong."

If those who care about infidelity details also spoke up when the author gets them wrong, maybe a few more authors would get them as right as they do with the gun details?

Lue

I have to admit it did get a bit redundant in spots but over all I liked it. It was refreshing to read one coming from the other sides point of view and not a typical BTB. I could see more realism in this story than some of the bang, bang, fire and brimstone stories where everyone goes to hell. I thought it was well written.

You captured a depressing situation perfectly. Affairs are never the solution, they are the result of failed effort in relationships. So many people think the spark of new love when they first get together will last a lifetime. Love, real love includes the boring familiarity of long term relationship. In every marriage sex moves from the front burner to the back as the demands and complexity of the marriage endures the test of time. We become less interesting as we become more familiar. I compare it to watching your favorite movie. Your attention is peaked the first time as the story unfolds. Once that familiarity is achieved you can’t regain it. You need a new story.

That is where a persons or couples lives need to reinvent themselves. New adventures, new interests. It’s not about recapturing as much as reinventing. Take up a sport together like tennis or anything new. Learn to cook or take up photography. People become restless and bored because they offer nothing new. That is why couples open their marriages or start swinging. New situations new agventure. We all crave it. Take a vacation not a lover.

I don't think so. Only when her lover dies does she make an effort with her husband. Seems like a shrewd move, but the time for guilt has long passed. I think what she's feeling is trepidation.

she has that knowledge before and after the affair, and what it takes her cheating to give her the courage to communicate to her husband. good story tho. i did realize that there wouldnt be stories like these without stupid weak wives. but damn u guys write these wives like they idgits

in a happy place.....BUT what happens when....or if.....her husband finds out she fucked another guy? And liked it. (She got away with and will feel empowered to do it again.)

Not quite sure what to think. I hate the affair thing, but it did have something of a happy ending, and that helped.

She's waiting for Rich to arrive home from his business trip but he never shows. Instead a week later she gets a package in the mail with photos and videos of her lover and her fucking along with Rich's smashed wedding ring. She checks the accounts and finds they have been thoroughly looted. The house has a new second mortgage that is coming due and Rich quit his job the week he supposedly left for the business trip. With a weeks head start, he's in the wind heading for a new life without a cheating slut to lie and cheat on him daily.

Now that's the way to end a story like this, with the man regaining a measure of his dignity.

She makes CONSCIOUS decision NOT to talk to her husband about her feelings and concerns.

So typical of the SUPPOSEDLY communicative gender.

The fact that she is responsible for children not having a father does not seem to bother her.

Author portrays husband as idiot. Her 180 degree change would certainly cause him to wonder...and do a little contemplating.

He would soon conclude she was trying to connect after having ended an affair. Perfect for him to begin using his travel to do some connecting of his own.

Now that is romantic, papa

when hiding from others what wasn't supposed to be TK U MLJ LV NV

Sounds like if she had up the affection and participated more in Rich's life affair may have not started. Now she carries this guilt and Bryan is dead. I bet Rich had been awakened to blow jobs she would have gotten more sex.

Wow!

I know it’s human nature to judge stories based on our own likes and dislikes but in cases like this it’s too bad we can’t simply judge on the merits of a well written, well thought out, and well executed story.

Yes, she got away with cheating on her husband. There was no retribution, no revenge, no consequences for either cheating party--that right there is enough for 1 star in the minds of many. I’m sure it was the driving force behind the low score but this was an excellent introspective into the mind of someone who loses their lover then has to deal with not being able to truly morn or acknowledge her loss, while at the same time, contend with her guilt.

I gave it 5 stars. I wish I could give it more.

Oh,She feels guilt. My dying ass; once a cheater always a cheater. Your well thought out character will find another man to fuck, just for a different reason next time!

She has an affair. He dies. She feels guilty about the affair. She gets back with hubby. Meh...

Now, if hubby comes home and has an evil glint in his eyes...?

Mechnically well written, so points there.

5* from me. Excellent story. Not every one needs to be a BTB or sharing story.

Laptop, she is suffering, immensely. She is suffering internally with guilt. Something she can never tell her husband about. I hope it doesn't consume her. If it did come out, it probably would have been better.

With all the internal stress she probably needs to see a therapist to help her with the feelings, which is preventing her from being totally open with Rich. I do hope she can handle it for the long run, otherwise she'll get hit twice for the affair: Once for Byrons death and once with her death or the possible death of her marriage.

The guilt she's suffering is way over the top of the punishment scale. I hope her externalizing it toward making Rich and her happy helps.

A well written story from a different focus. Well done.

It was well written, but I would have preferred a different ending where the husband revealed that he knew about her affair. It would have been interesting if he knew precisely why she was grieving, but said nothing because he was having an affair of his own... and had no intention of stopping just because her lover was dead.

There's something quite satisfying in those stories where a wife gets greedy and has a husband and a lover, then the lover dies and the husband kicks her to the curb, leaving her with no one.

She gave up on her marriage and threw all her emotional energy into her affair with Byron. That she cheated on her faithful husband with no consequences was an unpleasant ending to the story.

It's rare that a cheater self-reflects like that. Cheating is a very selfish and toxic action.

But at the end of the day, her guilt wont be a real punishment. It's just her wagging her own finger at herself. She's her own boss, she can punish or reward herself on a whim.

I do agree though that her telling him now is probably a wasted effort. Either he knows and has dealt with it somehow, or he doesn't know. The least she can do is take her sins to the grave. Even confessing at this point would be selfish on her part. But she would ACTUALLY be punished if she did confess, and ultimately that is why she will not confess. It has nothing to do with a noble sacrifice, she's a selfish toxic person. But she did grow up....a little bit. Enough to be considered a young adult I'd wager...almost wise enough for a relationship.

Now she feels the quilt, and it bothers her. But she makes the decision to keep it to herself and enjoy her husband, now that her cheating bastard is dead. The husband doesn't get a choice about what he wants to do. Tell him, and then you have nothing left. Damn you and all cheaters to the hell of your own guilt.

What fun it would have been if: a) the Stoddards told her the house they wanted to see was her own address (order placed by her husband) or: b) her husband saying after he came home after his travel - good, are you past your loss of Byron?

Read this again with a different mindset, and I'm happy to say I was completely wrong with my first impression. Another excellent tale with complexities that are fleshed out very well.

I hate them so fucking much, GEEZ.

... where Byron's wife got a hold of her husband's computer, saw their e-mails and stormed into the cheater's house, confronting her in front of her husband, since she lacks the balls to tell him the truth.

Meh, what am I saying, it would probably end up in another RAAC.

But I hate people that get off Scot free. Do the deed, what ever it is and pay the price. There are too many people in this country who don't pay their price. My ex told me once "Don't get even stay even". Staying even is hard and it has it's own price too.

Great character study. I liked it a lot. Thanks

How the heck could you score this story so low?

Yes. it's a rhetorical question. You want blood, gore and suffering, and you want the the cheated upon to administer righteous judgement. Or you want the cheated upon to be a wimp and submit to the cheater's desires. Or you want a dirty, vicious confrontation between the two, followed by a long romantic reconciliation.

What you OBVIOUSLY don't want is a well crafted story, with developed characters, a good message to ponder, and realistic behavior. This isn't your fantasy, and you're killing the author because this story doesn't feed your kink.

I wish I could wave a magic wand at these aggrieved works and boost their score by a point.

The man she married would always be second. That's the tragedy of this story. The husband is without a clue where he stands in her eyes. Number 2. She's most likely to have another affair. She should tell her husband to allow him the choice of deciding whether he wants to stay with her or not. For her to deny him that option gives one a small peek into her mindset. That's heartbreaking. Hence, the low rating by the BTB crowd. Beautifully crafted story. *****

Character developement my ass. She is and always will be a lying deceitful cheating cunt.

Who rather than work on her marital issues spread her legs for unprotected sex with another man.

No empathy nor sympathy. She is a whore cunt.

Only good way to end this story is to find out that his brakes had been bled.

Then have husband allude to that. Leave her wondering and fearful for the rest kf her cunt life.

would have been better if rich and gloria would have gotten together

He's married to a cheating slut and doesn't know it. Evil wins again!

I was amazed at the venom of some of the comments to this story. I found all three of the main characters quite realistic and, if not completely sympathetic, at least believable. People do get into a rut and into complacent roles that are not easy to break out of and do things that are not typical for their true personalities or life roles. To call the female protagonist a whore, a slut and evil person is ridiculous. She's a woman in a rut who wants something she knows she's missing and hasn't the incentive to break out of that rut and confront her husband with her needs for more intimacy. She learns the hard way and maybe she can keep her awful secret and recover the loving relationship she once had with her husband.

The author avoids the trap of something dramatic, like finding out that the husband actually knew about the affair and arranged for the lover's death and the story goes along without such drama. This is what might actually happen in life and although it is unrealistic to imagine that the woman will forget about the affair or her lover she does seem to understand that the best thing for her is to put the memories in a secret storage place and work to recovering the most she can from her life and marriage with her husband. This is what real life is about. As the old saying goes, when you break eggs the best you can do is make an omelet. 5*

Nice to think of him splattered all over the windscreen! Bet it was a closed box Job!

Hope her guilt stays with her always!

No excuse for betrayal! Only self serving reasons.

You will get extreme comments in the LW category - just like in amazon reviews, where the “1’s” and “5’s” are motivated enough to comment, while the “3’s” just move on to the next story. Sadly, I see that BTB’s outnumber the Insight Team by at least 2-to1. I’m hoping that it’s just the BTBs like to comment.

I give your story a five: it was very realistic; I could see the couple’s relationship getting locked into a “he doesn’t care/she doesn’t listen” mindset very easily.

Anyone that favours a BTB should take a long, hard listen to themselves and check for an over-rigid mindset, and if you still have a partner, buy them something nice and ask them out on a date.

Why do wives who cheat on their husbands complain that their marriage is not as close as it should be? Don't they realize that what they are doing is burying the marriage? I hate the wife in this story, but I find her, sadly, very believable.

I hate the wife,for what she did and what she is doing. I hope that someday her guilt causes her to self implode.

A little long but still an entertaining read. Thanks for sharing.

People making some of the comments don’t get it. This woman took the wrong path, in many ways by accident, to wake up the root cause of a stale relationship. In the end she took responsibility for her part, and worked to fix it. Her choice not to share the affair with her husband has a selflessness to it to avoid hurting him even though it may help her heal. I’m not sure I could do that, but I’m glad that’s how you took the story.

It makes me thankful my wife and I are very communicative (in truth, she does most of the talking) and after 47 years we are closer than ever with constant and varied intimacy. Thanks for writing this. I think you captured things perfectly.

...to admire about any of the three main characters. In fact, the opposite is true. For its lack of excitement, this story is tediously long.

She is NOT a good person. Still, the story is well written as a case in self reflection. It took her a terribly long time to realize that she contributed to her marital staleness. And although she wasn’t driving Byron at the time of his death, she WAS involved, perhaps partly responsible, if only because she contributed to his lateness. She WAS the reason he had to cover-up his lateness.