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Nothing Terrible Happened in the End! Well, It Happens to the Best of Men – Got Carried Away and Couldn’t Stop in Time
“Vicky, really, nothing terrible has happened! Men do this sort of thingthey get carried away, can’t stop themselves in time. Be the bigger person. Are you really going to step aside and let some other woman have your husband? Shell think shes won! Fight for your family!” pleaded her mother-in-law.
On Saturday morning, Vicky took her son to her parents house. Shed arranged for Daniel to stay with them for a while.
Back at home, Victoria pulled cardboard boxes from the storage and began packing. She started in the nursery, carefully folding clothes, stacking toys and books, sealing each box with tape and labelling them. Soon, the room held only the furniture she had no intention of taking with her.
Around noon, her phone rang. Mother-in-law.
“Hello, Eleanor.”
“Good afternoon, Vicky. Jeremy told me everything. I understand youre upset. But must you rush into this? Take a moment, cool off, think it through. Is destroying the family really necessary?”
“Im not the one destroying itJeremy is,” Victoria replied.
“Vicky, Im not excusing him! But couldnt you forgive him, just this once?”
“Once? Your son has been seeing his colleague for six months, lying to me. And you say just this once? No.”
“Please, Vicky, reconsider. Youre depriving Daniel of his father. Jeremy adores his son!”
“Eleanor, Jeremy can see Daniel whenever he likesI wont stop him. But I refuse to stay married to him. Lets end this conversation. Im busy packing.”
She finished the last two boxes, then moved to the bedroom to fill her suitcases.
An hour later, Eleanor arrived unannounced, convinced she could change Victorias mind.
The conversation spiralled:
“Honestly, Vicky, its not the end of the world! Men slip upit happens. Be wise. Would you really hand your husband over to another woman? Shell think shes beaten you! Fight for your marriage!”
“Jeremy isnt some trophy to fight over. Should I challenge Janine to a duel? Or a boxing match? Shes irrelevant. If it wasnt her, itd be someone else.”
“Let me tell you somethingJeremys father, Arthur, wasnt perfect in his youth either. But I was wiser than you. I saved our marriage. Thirty-five years together nowour coral anniversarys coming up.”
“And what was this wisdom?” Victoria smirked.
“I didnt make scenes. I became gentler, cooked his favourite meals, took interest in his work. Changed my hairstyle, lost weight, greeted him with a smileeven when I knew hed just come from *her*. I wanted to smack him with a frying pan, but I smiled instead. And lookI kept him. My son grew up with a father, and now my grandson has a grandfather.”
“Youre an extraordinary woman, Eleanor. I couldnt do that. My sense of disgust is too strong. What youre suggesting is like eating from a rubbish bin.”
Eleanor flushed, stood abruptly, and stormed out.
Victoria kept packing. She knew this wasnt the endJeremy and Eleanor would hassle her again. Thats why she hurried to leave.
The next day, her father arrived. They loaded boxes into a van and drove off.
On the way, Victoria asked him to stop at Eleanors to return the flat keys.
“You wont believe it,” she told her friend Margot the next day. “Eleanor spent an hour yesterday begging me to forgive Jeremys little slip and not file for divorce.”
“What did she say?” Margot asked.
“The usualyoure taking Daniels father away, all men cheat, women must be wiser. Then she shared how *she* won her husband back.”
“How?”
“I wont repeat it. Trust me, its madness. You wouldnt do it.”
“Have you filed?”
“Yes, last Friday.”
“Good. Finally free of that cad. It was painful watching that donkey parade around,” Margot said.
“Painful? Did you *know* about Janine?”
“Not for certain. But I suspected.”
“And you didnt tell me? I thought we were friends.” Victoria stood to leave.
“Wait!” Margot caught her arm. “Listen. I had no proofjust suspicions. Remember the office party? Janine hanging off Jeremy? Or how she always switched shifts to travel with him? I suspected, but I couldnt accuse him without evidence. What if Id been wrong?”
“You couldve hinted.”
“And if Id misjudged? Youd have thought I was stirring trouble. Remember Sarah Bell? She told a friend her husband was cheatingeven showed photos. They reconciled, and *she* got blamed for trying to break up a happy marriage out of jealousy. Sarah quit her job after that. So dont be angry. If Id had proof, Id have told you.”
Victoria sighed. “Fine. But now Im moving on. The flats in Eleanors name, so Daniel and I are at Mum and Dads. In a week, well move into Grans old placetenants left last month. Two bedrooms, not three, but enough for us.”
“What about nursery?”
“Mums friends helping transfer Daniel to the one near us. Once divorced, Ill file for maintenance. Thats it.”
“Does Jeremy agree?”
“He says he doesnt want a divorceclaims hes learned his lesson. But Im done. Once was enough. He begged me not to file for maintenance, promised to pay voluntarily.”
“And?”
“I refused. I dont want to see him. Everythings going through solicitors. He threatened to take DanielMy flats better, my salarys higher.”
“Howd you respond?”
“I counted his business trips last year. Eight. Saved it for court. If he tries for custody, Ill ask wholl care for Daniel when hes away. Ive got a job, a homehe wont win.”
Jeremy did file for custody, arguing Victoria couldnt provide for Daniel. Eleanor claimed Victoria was “hiding” the boy”They vanished after a week at her parents! Where is he? He should be in nursery, not some shady place!”
Victoria clarified: they lived in her two-bed flat, Daniel attended nursery nearby, and Jeremys frequent travel made him an unfit primary carer.
In the end, neither Jeremy nor Eleanor succeeded.
Victoria, unwilling to cross paths with Jeremy, found a new jobher skills made it easy.
Soon after, Margot brought news:
“Janine quit. Left town.”
“Why?”
“The office women made life hard for her. She hung around a month, realised the game was up, and bolted for London. So your ex is alone now.”
“Doesnt bother me,” Victoria said.
And she meant it. Some wells, once poisoned, can never be drunk from again.
The lesson? Self-respect isnt negotiable. No one should swallow bitterness to keep a peace that was never real.
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