He Treats Me Differently, Not Like He Does With Her

He was handling things with me differently than with her.

Whos that? I asked, eyeing the phone on the kitchen bench.

Daniels phone lay faceup, and Kate had already read the popup before she even realised what she was doing. Missing you, love. A heart emoji. A kiss. And an unfamiliar name Olivia.

Daniel spun away from the coffee maker, a flash of annoyance flickering across his eyes not surprise, but irritation, quickly hidden behind his usual mask of mild exasperation.

Are you snooping through my phone? I asked.

It lit up by itself. Kate lifted the device, swiped to unlock as she always did. We knew each others passwords. Whos Olivia?

Daniel turned away and pressed a button on the machine.

A colleague, I said.

A colleague sending you missing you, love? Kate scoffed, scrolling through the chat while her fingers grew cold with each swipe. Photos, voice notes, weekend plans that Daniel supposedly spent at a conference in Manchester, jokes only the two of them understood, and the dates the earliest message was in March, now it was September. Six months. One hundred and eighty days of Kate making him breakfast, waiting for him after work, dreaming of holidays, believing they were happy.

Danny, theres half a year of messages, I muttered.

The coffee maker fell silent. Daniel took a sip from his mug, and Kate, with a detached clarity, noted that her husband seemed oddly calm.

Dont start, Kate, I warned.

Dont start? She stared at Daniel, searching his familiar face for any hint of remorse or embarrassment. Nothing. Just the tiredness of a man whose morning coffee had been interrupted.

Youve been cheating on me for six months and Im supposed to stay quiet?

Daniel set his mug down, ran a hand over his face.

Its complicated. Lets talk tonight, Im running late.

He left. He just grabbed his briefcase, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and walked out. The door clicked shut softly, and Kate was left standing in the middle of the kitchen.

She replayed the messages over and over, looking for an explanation. Maybe a joke? Maybe a misunderstanding? The photos didnt lie Daniel and an unknown blonde in a restaurant, on a riverside promenade, in someone elses flat. Selfies with matching smiles and intertwined fingers.

Kate tried to pinpoint when things went wrong. Their morning chats, dinner together, plans to buy a larger flat, maybe even get a dog. Nothing hinted at trouble. Absolutely nothing.

Or perhaps she just refused to see it.

Anne burst in forty minutes after the call, flinging a bag of croissants into Kates arms and plopping down on the sofa arm.

Spill it, Anne said.

Kate told the story, stumbling between facts and feelings. Anne listened, her face growing ever more serious.

I dont get it, Kate ran her fingers through her hair for the tenth time. Everything was fine. We were happy. Where did this come from?

Anne paused, then asked gently:

Kate, did you notice anything at all? Anything?

Like what? He came home, we ate together, weekend trips out of town. A normal family! Kate replied.

Alright. Anne inhaled deeply, and Kate saw the look that meant pain was coming. Do you remember how you two met?

Kate blinked.

What does that have to do with anything?

It does. Anne leaned in. You met three years ago at a corporate event for his company. You were outsourced to their accounts department.

And?

And Daniel was married to Marian. For two years, Kate, you were seeing him while he was still married. Then he divorced and married you.

Kates mouth opened, then snapped shut. Her mind whirred, and the croissants suddenly smelled cloyingly out of place.

Thats different, she managed. We loved each other. Hed already ended things with Marian, he told me himself. They were just dragging out the divorce.

Anne gave her a piercing look.

Kate, he was cheating on his wife for two years. With you. Why did you think hed be faithful to you?

Because it was different! Kate leapt up, wrapping her arms around herself. Because he chose me. Daniel changed, Anne. When we married, he really changed.

Anne shook her head.

He didnt change, Kate. Hes just you know? Daniel is a bloke who loves himself above all else. Everything else wife, lover, job is just scenery. He takes what he wants, when he wants. Loyalty bores him. Limits are for other people.

You dont know him.

I know men like him. Anne reached for Kates hand. Remember how you dreamed hed leave Marian? How you waited for his call? How you convinced yourself that soon youd be truly together?

Kate fell silent. Of course she remembered every sleepless night, every lastminute cancelled dinner, every lie she told friends to cover up their meetings. Two years as a mistress humiliating, painful, yet she endured, waited, believed.

You got what you wanted, Anne said softly but mercilessly. He divorced, married you. And you know what happened? The mistress slot opened up again. Daniel cant live without that thrill. You became the respectable wife and suddenly youre boring.

Im not boring! Kate snapped, sinking back onto the sofa. Annes words were harsh, but somewhere deep down they rang true.

From April onward Daniel started travelling for work every two weeks, sometimes more. Kate chalked it up to business meetings running late, negotiations, corporate events where wives werent invited.

And the bedroom. She recalled the last months painfully: Daniel coming home exhausted, planting a kiss on her forehead, turning his back to the wall. She blamed stress, age, anything but the truth.

I need to see it with my own eyes, Kate breathed. I have to watch him.

Surveillance felt degrading, but it wasnt technically hard. Kate took a few days off sick and kept tabs on Daniel after work. On the second day she got lucky.

He left the office at sevenp.m., got into his car, but didnt drive home. Kate followed in a cab, feeling like a clumsy detective. Daniel parked outside a café in the city centre, and five minutes later a young woman slipped into the passenger seat.

She was about twentyfive, maybe twentysix, blonde with a stylish cut and a confident smile the very Olivia from the messages. Kate recognised her from the photos.

Daniel took Olivias hand, brought it to his lips, said something, and she laughed, throwing her head back. The gesture was familiar Kate had done the same three years ago.

The same restaurant. Kate recognised the sign. Daniel had taken Olivia here for their first date, claiming it was their special place.

They sat at the same window table. Daniel ordered, and Kate saw the familiar gestures, even though she didnt catch the words. He probably suggested duck breast and a slice of Eton mess. He likely regaled Olivia with stories of his childhood in York and his dream to travel the world. He stared at her with that hungry, promising look.

The scene replayed down to the smallest details. Daniel didnt bother inventing a new script. Why change a winning formula?

Kate returned home and waited for him.

He arrived at eleven, smelling of foreign, floral perfume, nothing like hers.

We need to talk, Kate said.

Daniel sighed, shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto the back of a chair.

What now, Kate? Im exhausted

I saw you today.

Daniel froze for a heartbeat, then shrugged.

Spy on me, huh?

Answer me.

Yes, I was with Olivia. He slumped into a chair, crossed his legs. It means nothing, Kate. Listen. He leaned forward, his face taking on that sincere, convincing expression shed believed in for three years. I love you. Youre my wife. Olivia is just an adventure. It doesnt affect us.

Did you tell Marian the same nonsense?

Daniel blinked.

Its different.

Really? Kate sat opposite him. You cheated on her with me. Now you cheat on me with her. Whats the difference?

Ive changed, Kate. After we married I really wanted to be faithful. But He spread his hands. It just happened. Ill end things with Olivia. I promise. From now on, its only you.

The promise sounded smooth, rehearsed. Kate looked at her husband and saw the emptiness behind the pretty words. The habit of lying had become second nature. Ego wrapped in charm.

Daniel couldnt love anyone but himself. He didnt know how, nor did he want to learn.

No.

What? No?

I dont need your promises.

Daniel frowned.

Kate, dont dramatise. Every couple goes through this. Well get through it.

Kate shook her head. Her chest felt cold, yet for the first time in ages it felt clear.

You wont change. Never. Because for you its no problem. Its normal. Wife at home, lover on the side. Convenient.

Youre talking rubbish.

Im telling the truth. Kate stood. Three years ago I thought I was special, that youd be different with me. I was just filling Marians spot.

She left for Anne that evening.

The divorce took three months.

Daniel didnt fight it. By November he had officially moved in with Olivia Kate learned this from mutual friends. The new couple looked happy. Olivia posted pictures with hashtags about love and destiny, planning a wedding.

Anne showed Kate one of the posts.

Look. He says Im the only one hes ever truly loved.

Kate put the phone down.

I dont want to see it.

Are you angry?

No. It was true. I feel sorry for her. In a couple of years shell be sitting with a friend, crying just like I did.

Anne hugged her.

Does that feel better?

Kate thought. It didnt make things easier, but something inside finally stopped clinging to the illusion. To the man she had invented and loved.

You know whats the stupid part? Kate managed a weak smile. I knew from the start. I was his mistress, saw his lies, heard his stories. Yet I convinced myself it would be different with me.

You fell in love.

I was foolish and blind. Those arent the same.

Anne was silent.

So what now?

Kate looked out the window.

Now Ill look for someone who doesnt need to be reshaped. Someone whos faithful from the beginning. Do they even exist?

Rain began to tap against the glass. Kate watched the droplets run down, and for the first time in months she didnt think of Daniel, their meeting, the wedding, the plans.

She didnt know that a year later shed be walking down the aisle again, this time to a man who never looked elsewhere. Two years after that theyd have a daughter, then a son. Kates family would grow stronger each day, and she would finally understand what a marriage built on genuine love feels like.