All Comments on 'Strange Car in the Driveway'

You owe it to the readers to tell us what he does. I tend to agree with the other comments, that she proved herself to be completely untrustworthy just by setting him up to be hurt. I'd dump her stuff in the yard and turn the sprinklers on, then I'd bail. let her lawyer talk to mine, but that's just me.

FTDS

This is one of the cruelest things that one person ever did to another person, especially one they 'supposedly' love. Even if she didn't cheat, I could never see staying with her. To sit and eat dinner while she put her husband through this is too unthinkable. I don't know if you can do this to an enemy, but to do it to someone you say you love. She is way beyond, cruel and disrespectful. Yes, this is a very original and creative story but it is unfinished.

This writer's scores are terrible. Maybe he (she) should find another hobby. The story really sucked and made me angry. If that is what the author wanted, they got their wish. 1 star is not low enough.

This is an absolutely awful story. Try again. There is nothing about this trash that is worth keeping on the site. Please take it down. You are in a really sad place.

Dear Edrider73

I really do get the spin you have put on your tale with the wife's drama etc. But what I walk away with from reading is the clear belief that the wife was a manipulative bitch. I was actually playing in my head that hubby finds his firearm, loads it with hollow-points and drives to Dennys to take out the three fucktards! I know...it's just fiction. But fiction has an emotional effect on the reader - with each reader taking different things from the story plot and characters. I cannot totally understand the depth of my violent reaction to the game-playing that is central to this story. But it is what it is.

She's a manipulative cunt! I see him going into a rage and going after the ass-hole and kicking her out!

This really was pathetic!

bitch.

closet cucks must take a stand and stick together lest our precious bodily fluids are lost, CC unite!

Total bullshit. On to the sequel.

the fattest cock smoked, a cornhole buggered, betrayed!

"when you told me you'd forgive me, you were giving me permission to do this to you" - No, he said that he'd forgive things that he found forgivable. YOU made the decision that this was one of those things.

Divorce, suicide, anger,separation .etc

Second read for me.

Gave it a 4 last time,

but wish now I'd given

it a 5.

Great writing and a great plot!

To me Edgar Allan Poe-ish.

Same kind of pain.

But Poe's greatness lies in that

he didn't just write pain (and craziness),

he also wrote mistery, crime

and comedy.

"Pain" is is good writing, but there's

limits to how much we can handle.

A writer must respect that.

I don't know if this story needs

an ending.

As much against it as for it.

Not important to me.

What is important to me is,

that Vera didn't have to put

her husband through this pain.

She had her play already appraised

by her study group.

She could've told her husband

about it and THEN played it for him.

Instead she chose to go

" The War of the Worlds" on him.

That, in my opinion, transfers

her from good wife to bad.

As so many readers have

given their choise of a sequel,

I'm allowing myself to do the same.

He packs his things, says "Goodbye"

to the tablet and leaves.

Starts divorce, quits his job and

explains his side to his children.

No revenge (Reg advised, nothing else)

and no more living

with a selfish bitch wife!

Thanks edrider73 for a great story!

And now to MattblackUK's sequel, lol.

You don't treat someone you love in this manner. No forgiveness for such cruelty.

What makes her think that he will believe that she didn’t fuck him. I know I wouldn’t especially after she said that she don’t think the teacher believes that they didn’t

Why would you post this? It's fucking garbage. She's just a self serving bitch, everyone told her it was a bad idea and not do it and yet she still went ahead. Kara and his Boss should have done the right thing and told him. If something goes wrong and someone ends up hurt they could never live with themselves.

Don't quit your day job...this is terrible fiction.

Pack a bag and take off. Don't respond to her at all. Tell her in a note that you need time to think about what she did. Let her swing awhile. If she takes cit personal dump her and move on.

Liked it.

It doesn't matter if the slept together or not, to deliberately inflict that much pain on you partner is unforgivable mental cruelty.

I’m really concerned over how she manipulated him during this!

Would really like to hear hoe responds to this and if she really cheated

On him or not!

Isn’t that a reason given for divorce? Your story has the wife being mean for a very poor reason if the husband chose to stay with her is more bad writing. The least you could have done was complete the story. Your ending was not to my liking.

So I give your story a two star rating with a strong do over thrown in.

I normally hate the cliche of the man cutting of all communication with his wife and having a prolonged snit. In this case, I’d consider it an appropriate possible response: she’s expecting a lot of possible responses, but I’ll wager not a response of pure nothing. It would be unnerving.

Please.

It needs an ending.............and if you use 'search' you may find a couple.

First - as a reader I entered into the story. The last part of the story has all the drama and I found I was responding dramatically. The wife, Vera was terrible and treated her husband terribly just for the drama of it all. Vera was not loving at all and grossly insensitive. With Reg, Penny and Vera waiting at the restaurant for the tormented husband to appear, presumably laughing at him at his expense - just plain cruel. With Vera caught up in the drama of writing she deserves an undramatic, cold hard divorce - she did something that couldn't be forgiven. At the very least this would be caustic for the marriage.

Secondly - It's a story just a piece of fiction the brings a dramatic response in me and many readers - well done. Many comments say it needs an ending - with no ending readers can 'write' their own ending in their head. Given all the comments, if you did write and ending it would mean Vera would have to bear the serious consequences of her cruel ploy.

4 *'s It was a good read but I didn't like the unresolved, cruel ending.

He should take all the time he's got to gather up his stuff and head out for a new life looking for someone who respects him to spend it with. Reg cares enough about his wife to have shared his life with her and not preyed so cruelly upon her emotions. Not so with this this thoughtless bitch who'd put her husband through this much emotional shit.

Yeah, get his stuff together and stop by a lawyer's office on the way out. I just don't envision any way back from this one.

But did she consider... what if his reaction had been to NOT bust the door down but rather to leave, go to a liquor store, purchase a few bottles of hard liquor then drink himself so drunk that he either gets killed in an auto accident or, even WORSE for him, he kills someone else and spends years in prison as a result...?

Or what if he believes what she says about the gun, goes and purchases a new one (without hearing the rest of the play or, obviously, reading the letter), returns home (where she and maybe Reg and Peggy are by now) and THEN he shoots and kills Reg before anyone can convince him why he shouldn't...?

Or without busting the door down or waiting... Just. Leaves...?

And ignoring ALL of the potentially realistic scenarios... SHE presupposed that the ONLY thing he wouldn't forgive was her actually having sex with another man.

What if what he REALLY meant and thought was made obvious was he wouldn't forgive anything that was virtually DESIGNED to hurt him...? As in sex with another man... or something he couldn't even conceive - I don't know, maybe something like making him THINK she was having an affair...?

Well, I think you will find out pretty quickly just how effective your play was. I will make this short so that I can avoid seeing you for a while.

I have heard it said that you can not fall out of love overnight. That is just not true. I fell out of love with you the moment I read your letter. My love for you has vanished. And I am so angry that I am afraid that I might assault you if I saw you face-to-face. So I will remove myself from that danger.

But I will tell you Vera that I have started the process of forgiving you, for my own peace of mind. I will not carry around this anger for long. Its over for us. We have the children to consider, but your cruelty showed me that you are not worthy of my love or trust. I am not sure at this moment of my exact actions, but I will let you know my general intentions.

I have removed your laptop and your letter to use as evidence of mental cruelty. I will spend the next few days lining up a lawyer, separating our finances, and doing the things that people do when planning for divorce. I also intend to bring suit against Peggy, Reg, the school, and my employer for Alienation of Affection - if, after consulting with counsel, there is any likelihood of financial recompense. Its all down to the money with all of you now. I mean to keep or take as much as legally possible for myself. Henceforth its all about net outcome. I will look after our children, but expect me to give no quarter to you.

At some point I will send Reg a thank you letter with a five dollar bill, for helping to clue me in about you, Vera.

I hope you are proud of your A+.

Gary

Hey, thanks for the provocative story. Sorry I missed it first run. It kept me awake last night fuming. Good job! Five stars.

edrider73

Congrats on choosing a most unusual plot structure with which to explore the processes involved in betrayal and of the reactions such behavior can produce. Seriously I got that and it certainly offered a new take on the whole wife betrayal/cuckold hubby dimension. But I thought that you had second thoughts on the overall morality of the play writer wife and all those she co-opted to create the scene for the hubby to confront. I believe you were totally unsure as to how the hubby should react and respond to being used as the dupe/stage prop to help his wife get a good grade for her play draft. That's why you wimped out and did not commit to a "what happened next" completion of the story. That was at least a honest decision on your part as author. My own view after reading your tale is that for pretty selfish reasons, the wife/playwright disregarded the negative impact that her hubby may have experience and was only concern with getting a good grade from her play. Hubby was used simply as a stage plot device just as the clunker vehicle parked in the driveway. A real-life reasonable reaction of the hubby after being duped and then reading the wife's rationale would be to feel considerable lack of respect by her and would be regarded as the idiot duped pussy who she lead up the garden path all for the sake of a good grade the almighty A+. From my perspective she was a manipulated self-centered character who obviously highly regarded everyone else except her hubby/stooge/patsy. Some how after reading her self-centered explanation , I tried to envisage him laughing it off and heading off to Dennys to congratulate all the conspiritors to the deception and all things ending happily every after with love and forgiveness and drinks all round . If that happened to me, I would be out for some degree of payback. I guess that would simply have given the selfish bitch of a playwright wife potential for a sequel.

Too their partner doesn't deserve them.

playing with intense feelings. like that is unforgivable.

Start packing and just walk out and leave for a few days. Obviously, his boss was in on it too by sending him home. Put your Notice of Leaving the job in as well. If people feel it is ok to fuck with your feelings and emotions like that, you don't need them. This is the last story I read from this author as the 3 I have read now are completely fucked up. Shit like this isn't even entertaining. Another big fat "1".

Do yourself a favor and quit writing.

It was a totally unexpected ending. Readers forget that it is fiction, a made up story with characters that don't really exist. Stop trashing the author for an incredibly inventive plot. Your writing is really good. Had me fooled. Keep up the good work. Easily a 5. 😊😊😊😊😊

A little twist in the finding. But NOT any liking.

Guy just found out he is married to an evil and twisted bitch. BTB.

Edrider simply doesn't put endings to her stories (Yes I said "her". Edrider is a man hating woman). Which completely ruins all the stories. That's why all the stories have low scores. That and the fact that the lead male characters are all wimpy, spineless men that NEVER have a reaction to being abused, tortured and dumped on. On this mess, a divorce is a given. There's no way to convince even a stupid man she didn't cheat. And even if she didn't, no loving wife would ever put her husband thru something like this. Awful, unfinished story.

This was a very clever piece of writing and, for once, the ending of a Literotica story took me completely by surprise.

I was also surprised by the insane reaction of the BTB morons. She may have been a little cruel in using him to test the authenticity of the play (writers sometimes tend to be ruthless) but she didn't cheat, or even come close to cheating, so what are these idiots ranting about? Her one crime seems to be that she's a woman and for some Literotica readers that's more than even reason to see her burn.

LA

bye bye vera, good luck in your new life. IM GONE!!!!

Poor Vera, enjoy the single life because you crossed the line.

1 star buddy, 1 fucking star.

Nice to see something original.

"She may have been a little cruel"

Lol seriously? The evil witch convinced the husband she was having an affair, broke his heart and reduced him to tears! She knew how traumatized he'd be, because she confiscated his gun to stop him blowing his brains out!

She just earned herself a bitter divorce, a broken family, and traumatised kids! I hope that A+ was worth it!

You had a really good 5* story going, right up to the last word. Then you blew it ALL to HELL!!! Why did you not add 1 more page with his reaction? Honestly,,, you left it looking like even YOU just said "to hell with it, I'm through with this crap". It's like you were saying he has no right to react in any way. If you pay any attention to the scores and comments, note that you have only yourself to blame for all the negativity. Normally, I wouldn't even bother to score this, but because 2 pages were so good, I'll give you a 1*.

Ok the good...

Original concept and idea and well written. From a technical standpoint great job.

The bad...

What spouse in their right mind would pull such a cruel prank, it could have gone way wrong, what if he just heard the first part then turned around and walked back out and never opened the door? There would be no way to "prove" that an actual affair didn't happen and the "play" was just an attempt to cover it up? That she was "curious" as to her spouses reaction hardly warrants this "prank". I get people do dumb things but really?

I can actually see a writer trying to achieve creativity, originality and an "out of the box" point of view. I've wanted to write some of my ideas for quite some time being intimidated by my lack of training and education as compared with many of the authors posting here, but you have truly inspired my warped mind to at least try...thank you.

If a story holds my interest enough to read it all the way through I give it a minimum of four stars. The ending was original and different though I know it didn't appeal to some readers. I saw a rating of 3.62 but I gave it a four. I've started higher rated stories that I didn't finish so go figure.

I think it might have been kinder had she actually cheated. I'm not sure what's worse, actually having an affair and him finding out, or maliciously setting him up. Cause there is no way he'd sigh in relief and thank God it wasn't what he thought it was. And she knew what she was doing as she made sure his gun was locked away. Nah. Divorce would be the best case scenario for her.

Nothing is worth the kind of torment and heartache she just put him through.

I read something like this about 2 years ago

JJ

Gary should forgive her, but only after he uses the hammer on the various tablet instead of the old car. But he should do so silently so that they won't know and won't be able to hear what he's up to. After all she did rent the hammer and it would be a shame not to put it to good use.

Completely unfinished. I think I'd fall over dead if Edith ever finished a story. But she never does. I can't imagine Gary not divorcing Vera and filing harrassement charges against his boss. The real issue is that the storyline had a touch of originality behind it, but when you just drop the ending off a cliff, it ruins the story.

Once again Edith - 1 star

Go and meet them, get a cold drink walk up and pour it over her then say "you egotistical bitch" and slap her so hard she falls off her chair onto the floor. Then say to the other two “This is your warring and I will make a formal compliant to your seniors" and walk out. Go home pack a suitcase and go to a cheap hotel for a few days. Go to work the next day and say to the boss never ever do that again or I will report you, you have no idea what you signed up to. I have been humiliated, demoralised and put under severe mental stress and I have moved out of the house for a few days and you helped do that.

Go directly to an emergency room complaining of severe chest pains, then begin treatment for all the neurosis and physical problems caused by this incident; begin divorcing the wife; beat the snot out of Reg claiming temporary insanity as a result of their behavior when caught; sue Reg, your complicit teacher, your FORMER wife and the school for infliction of emotional distress and all the heart and mental problems that you have developed because of them.

It is also emotional. It is growing and maturing together. It is commitment to a common goal. It is sharing and caring. It is being truthful and supporting. It is not allowing a third person to endanger your marital relationship. Yes, it involves forgiveness; but not at all cost. There are things that may, in time, be forgiven...even if they are marriage killers. In my opinion, the wife and her actor friend killed the marriage. And their friends and his boss played roles in the destruction. He should walk away from the job, the town, and the couple who think they are his friends. Time to move on.

I’d of packed my stuff, did the financial thing, guit my job, and left for good. No contact, no communication what so ever with anyone. Just gone.

I'll try and be reasonable & constructive.

The writing is mixed with repetition. The characters are quite rounded but shallow.

Very few typos.

It's a good job she's hidden the gun ! The least he could do is kneecap them all especially that bitch of a wife & boss. To even think for one moment that this is forgivable is beyond believe. How could anyone, let alone a wife, plot, plan in detail & actually action this callous, sadistic deception ?

Ring your lawyer, pack your bags & move far away, preferably to another continent.

A knotted stomach, a tear in my eye, and a smile across my face. Well done

If he doesn't know the word, he should look it up. Deliberately hurting someone you love is at least as bad as adultery. I'd trash the house, pack my bag, and be gone.

So why does she have to torture him. Well other than to build up a heck of a lot of suspense.

Great story, but not my type. Wow, the author knows how to put this reader through the wringer.

Still if my wife did something like that I might just ask for a divorce just to scare the pants off of her. Or maybe to get away from her for doing something like that.

I know it's fashionable to leave stories unfinished and act as though there was an ending. I don't know when it started but endings like the Sopranos (just fade to Black) and Law & Order (Fade to Black before the jury foreman reads a verdict) have made it popular. This is undoubtedly a good plot but it reads as wholly unfinished. There is NO reaction from the husband not even a "...he walked out the front door and that was 5 years ago..." It's a bit like a tree falling in the woods with no one around. The plot just happened and then went NOwhere.

Id leave her for doing this to me. Its like a set up for the real thing. Not like id be paranoid.......right.

You have an interesting and highly creative plot. But, like the expression “ you talk like a fish”, you waste all this time trying to say something, but it’s all wasted energy, because nothing comes out of your labor. Your plot is brilliant, but you take it and spew nonsense. Even the conclusion could have many alternatives, but you pick a weak end to a betrayal of a husbands love, the trust he has at work with his boss, the betray by his friends and her deeply hurting him and screwing with her husband’s heat and head, for no legitimate reason. Let me offer a different outcome...what if her husband died of a heart attack with the cause and the precipitator being he was sure of his wife’s infidelity? What if the husband died never knowing it was a rouse? How does it effect the life of the husbands wife? How does it affect the life of his boss and even the company (were their children who later learned of the cruel charade and brought a legal claim? How would it affect the marriage of the husbands so called friends. If there were children how would it affect their lives and relationship with their mother.

Instead utter nonsense

I am giving you a one star. I am tired of reading unfinished stories. Come back and finish it and let me know I will read it and come back and rescore it.

If I was him I certainly would not go meet them. I might grab a baseball bat or crowbar and just trash her laptop, the speakers, her dresser, tear the envelope up and piss on it all. Then disappear for a few days or weeks, and keep my phone shut off. Leave her with the impression that I didn't hear the recording to the end nor open the envelope.

Maybe leave a voice mail to the boss about how my wife left a recording of her affair with someone else, and left an envelope. Telling the boss that I assume the envelope contained divorce papers. Then say that I'm too distraught to come in for a week or three and have been thinking that life is no longer worth living.

Just to see how the wife likes going through mental anguish. (Assuming that the boss will contact the wife right away and tell her what I said,)

"Let's see, like a lot of stories lately, it's boring, the characters aren't well defined at all, it's not erotic and it clearly doesn't belong in this category." - Let's see, you listed FOUR different reasons for this story to rate poorly, but you say that it's low score is because, "no violence occurs and a woman doesn't die?"

Break the tablet and put it in the tub with the water running.

Get a knife from the kitchen and slice the mattress so it is never used again. Jab the knife in the mattress so it is found that way.

Turn the dresser over, hopefully striking the bed.

Punch numerous holes in the wall from the bedroom down the hallway to the front door.

Get another knife and slice all the upholstered furniture in the living room.

Break the most expensive windows by throwing the most expensive lamps through them.

Go find a comfortable hotel and don't speak to the bitch for at least two weeks.

Wow! This story really struck a nerve in me...

A marriage is supposed to be based on trust and respect and love, and the wife's actions in this tale certainly don't meet that standard. If I was the husband in this case I would move out of the house for at least a few weeks ( maybe months) and seriously consider divorce. I'm not sure if I could go into work the next day, but if I did I would certainly enjoy laying a guilt trip on the boss by letting her know my marriage is now on life support and almost certainly over. The mental cruelty displayed by the wife in this story begs for a divorce and no contact for years - i.e. kids are exchanged at a neutral location and no contact is made between parents. You've written a few stories where the actions are even worse and for a honorable, non-cheating husband I would divorce the b-tch, and do everything I could to ruin her life forever - scorched earth / nuclear response. I hope you do provide an ending to this.

I thought “What would I do?”

Pack, leave, put envelope back as if unopened, empty accounts, leave boss message I quit due to marriage over. Hit the road and never look back.

This involves mental cruelty. I would never live with that.

Trust is absolutely essential in any marriage, even an open one. By demanding to experience some mistaken notion of forgiveness, she has complete shattered the trust upon which a marriage must be founded. She has lied to him, intentionally deceived him with the sole purpose of hurting him so that she could be forgiven. How can he trust her going forward?

She says that there was no affair. How does he know that? Even her teacher thought something was going on between them and didn't believe that there wasn't. How does he know that this wasn't just something concocted between them to cover up for them having been seen initially by their friend? He doesn't. He can't know that after what she's done to destroy that trust. And she destroys that trust with the whole intent of hurting him so that he can forgive her.

Maybe he can forgive her, but how does he regain his trust in her? And how does he even know what he has to forgive her for: an actual affair or a scheme designed to cause him as much pain as possible? Without kids, walk. With kids? It would be hard. Would take a lot of counseling and may still not be possible.

I like the repack the envelope and bail suggestion by the Anon, but I could also see her coming home to find him dead of a heart attack before the tears on his face have even dried.

WTF ya come on home bring the kids cause that’s the last time a manipulative bitch like that gunna c them after the judge heard about this shit and my fucken boss would be buried in law suits for helping the bitch how could you ever trust them again

way to try and hide an affair. You fucked around and this is your cover. Divorce city. No way you can prove you didn't cheat.

Awesome ending. I believe her. Strange as it seems, they played jokes on each other and she gave him a good one. Gary may need some anger management therapy. You made a five star effort.

First stop is a divorce lawyer, second stop is company HR.

Too silly to be commented upon seriously. This tale came from a less-than-grownup-mind! I appreciate ONLY the time it must have taken you to compose this rubbish. I can understand how disturbed some 'artistic types' are but this is a bit of a stretch, even for crazy people like that Any real person experiencing this would run! and permanently from such a hurtful and disrespectful person! The 'promotion and raise' might provide enough advantage to leave this screaming witch in the dust. The only way to do something as unnecessary as this would be with her husband's prior knowledge after he had a VERY "man-to-man" talk with Reg which may or may not end up non-violemtly. I gave it two stars, I have always had a soft spot for the insane!

Unfortunetly i hit on 2 star score instead of 1. My bad, sorry

the wife is pure evil though.

to put him through all that. for what? a laugh? for her art? he's the ONLY one left in the dark. she may have cheated, she may not have. what she did was manipulate him, and abuse him. she did it willingly. she treated him like a lab rat. they wanted to FILM his reaction...like some sorta sick experiment. that is NOT love. that is...perverse. it's cruel. whether she cheated or not, she lied to him. she hurt him deeply. she did it behind his back. he'd NEVER have done this to her. in fact...NO ONE has done this to anyone. The 'lover' didn't do it to his wife. Her guild of actors never did anything like this to anyone. Just this wife...to this husband.

she gave him the SAME reaction he'd have to her actually cheating. his heart musta crumbled, palpitations, serious psychosomatic reactions. It's CRUEL. That's a REAL trauma. It's no longer a play. He's not an actor. He'll have nightmares now, break out in random cold sweats, and probably slip into random depressions all over her 'theater experiment' i mean...fuck...what if he had a heart attack?! she has zero love for this man, her empathy is zero. she understands love like a sociopath...you don't hurt people you love...because creative reasons?

also...forgiveness is separate from forgetting. i forgave a few of my toxic ex-friends...and cheating past lovers. but i never FORGOT how they used and abused my trust, so they are in my past now. i hope he leaves her and chews out his boss and quits for those reasons. i'd never work for a boss that helped set this up. and best of all...he can forgive her WHILE handing her divorce papers.

But forgivable. We all make dumb mistakes in a marriage. I have been married for 34+ years. The reason for being married that long is we both have the ability to forgive . We both have s sense of humor and have the ability to laugh. We both know there ar certain lines to newer cross. The story displayed that in a strong marriage a husband and wife's ego are still fragile .

No real harm done , except to obliterate any sort of trust in the relationship. You never expect a liver to be this cold.

No ending

GeorgeAnderson wrote a follow-up entitled Strange Car in the Driveway: Sequel.

I'm not sure that it's better than the original.

The Public Comments for that story indicate serious problems with it also.

Paul in Oklahoma

packing my bags. What she did was cruel and extreme for her own selfish reasons and she knows it. Granted, it's not cheating, but it is a form of mental abuse or torture. One could even wonder if she isn't "setting the stage" for a possible future act of adultery to gauge his reaction and ability to forgive her.

Regardless, she needs some time "alone" to realize how nasty of thing she has actually done. I would also go after the "Boss" and lodge a formal complaint with management and HR. She should have never put herself into the situation and turned the wife down cold.

While divorce may not be the ultimate end result of the wife's actions, it is something that needs to be "dangled" out there or at least the wife needs to realize it isn't "off the table" as an end result. Perhaps then she will realize and understand you simply cannot and do not treat your spouse you supposedly love, like she treated him.

If this 'play' is art then ART SUCKS and isn't worth regarding as valid! I am a pragmatist and a man of science and technology so art is merely a pretty picture to me! Everything else that deluded people call art is an excuse to either fantasize or misbehave!

Don't see the ending here. A couple of much better sequels have been written.

You plan on writing a part 2 for this? Here it is: Any wife that could do something this cruel for a fucking class or grade deserves to be an EX wife.....

That was a great twist 5*s but I so want to penalize you for not writing about his reaction

But I’d dump the Bitch.

This reads too much like rape. And rape is NEVER erotic. If I were the husband I would be gone before she gets home. And I wouldn't report to work either. I may get a lawyer to file a grievance against the boss for mental anguish. Let Vera deal with three crying children because Mom has driven Dad away because of her secrets, her priority on getting a good grade, and her sick contempt for her husband's trust and love.

389 comments and still no conclusion, that's not nice.

Lots of comments are demanding "Finish the damn story!" but you DID finish it. It's brilliant, and awful.

It would be over for me. Instead of dennys id be going to see a lawyer. 5. Hated itnbut well written.

This was just needlessly cruel. Playing with a loved ones emotions like this is almost worse than your usual fisting up the butt. Would hope his reaction did not reflect her expected understanding.

No one who loved their partner would ever do anything like this. It’s cruel, manipulative, horrific and sadistic and if I was on the receiving end of a hoax like this I would be on the phone to my lawyer within seconds.

The writing is fine but the storyline is barbaric.

Totally agree with anonymous 02/15/20. It was a cruel, disgusting way to get her husband's reaction to her play. And the play was all for an A+!! Such a warped, sick idea for a play and to add insult to injury, she sets him up after manipulating him earlier on, just to see his reaction to her play! I hope his reaction was to kick her to the curb, the insane, cruel bitch!

Once she started to manipulate her husband, the story turned to crap. What a stupid, stupid woman.What did she expect his reaction would be?! He was set up to hear his wife's voice and that of a strange man, coming from his bedroom and discussing an imminent sexual encounter! So this was not for his reaction but was a cruel, sordid practical joke played on Gary.She left him the envelop with the script of her play which received an A+ and a standing ovation by the class. Yet she needed Gary's reaction to a set up situation which could have only one reaction. And the play itself had nothing dramatic about it beyond the setting of a dark stage and the two's voices, discussing their planned cheating.The trouble with these "ARTY" endevours is that perhaps only one in a million (?) can approach the stature of a Mark Twain or a Hemingway

I just can’t understand why a supposedly decent author wouldn’t be able to finish the story! She has dealt him a severe blow. How does he proceed? Should there not be some kind of repercussion either positive or negative?

Seems to have a problem with endings in most of his stories - maybe its deliberate but its also not a good application of the craft

FTDS where are you

Bitch needs to be burned badly also him as he went along

This is an iconic story.

This was a great story, but you left it wide open. I can see a few possible endings:

1) he forgives her and they go on

2) He moves out and they need counseling. They make it, and he gets the promotion at work - but it isn't a smooth ride.

3) He moves out and they need counseling. His promotion at work is cancelled because he is messed up due to this mess. He even considers changing jobs because of his boss's assistance in the setup.

4) He moves out and they need a lot of counseling. His promotion is toast and/or he changes jobs. Needless to say the job issue brings additional stress to the marriage.

5) He moves out and starts divorcing her. He may keep the job or change - he has no trust in his boss anymore.

6) It just keeps getting worse - divorce & self-destruction (drugs, alcohol, etc...). What she does when he leaves her and self destructs should be interesting.

What she did is pure mental cruelty and certainly is grounds for divorce if not serious counseling.

2*, one of the few 2's I've ever given. Writing is good but the story premise sucks.

Setting up Gary for this premeditated CRUEL prank was such utter SADISTIC DISRESPECT towards him, their relationship, and marriage that will morph into Gary never TRUSTING Vera again - a marriage breaker. What gave Vera the right to toy with Gary and bring Gary's boss into this egregious prank?

Even thought the sex (per Vera) never happened; fidelity is a sensitive subject to most marriages, a subject not to be toyed with, a subject that causes divorce! What she did to Gary for her ego was over the top. The car prop, getting sent home early form work, creating fear of his work stability/security then to be slammed with her infidelity will kill a marriage. What if Gary would have had an injury heart attach due to the physical hit to the bedroom doors? Reg didn't install bedroom cameras to capture Gary's disgrace - Gary could be laying on the floor dying - oh well sucks to be Gary. Now Vera can have her tryst she craves.

You can call it male ego but that marriage is in trouble. The DISRESPECT from his wife, boss, and the professor should have Gary seeking a new life. Gary should pack a suitcase, turn off his cell, and leave the area for a long time seeking a new job too. Fuck those three women - no forgiveness here.