"I got her fired? How much did that cleaning job even pay? Weren't you already supporting her with the money you took from our family every month?"

"And now she's not only getting half your paycheck, but she has my job too, and you want to talk to me about her reputation?"

"You can't stand to see her scrub floors, you feel sorry for her, that's your business. But what gives you the right to use my job to make her feel better?"

The emotions I'd suppressed for half a year finally burst forth like a tidal wave, the pain was sharp and deep.

Even though I'd already decided to let him go, the bitterness of his betrayal still ate away at my heart.

"Did you ever once think about what would happen to me after I lost my job? Did you ever think about what the neighbors would think of me?" The tears started falling like broken strings of pearls, and I couldn't stop them.

Of course, he knew.

It's just that, compared to Sarah, none of it mattered.

Seeing me cry, Cole finally seemed to panic, rushing to explain.

"The job is gone, so what? You'll have an easier time at home, you can relax."

"I'm your husband. You think I can't support my own wife?"

I laughed, a cold, bitter sound.

If he really thought staying at home was so great, why did he give my job to her?

Besides, with most of his paycheck going into her hands, how was he going to support me?

If "not starving to death" counted as being supported, then I guess he wasn't wrong.

But why should I?

Why should I sacrifice myself to be a pawn in his game of appeasing another woman?

Why should I accept a two-faced husband who gives away half his salary and has no room for me in his heart?

Before Jake died, I truly believed I had married well.

Cole's parents were kind and treated me like their own daughter.

And Cole himself was the man every girl in town wanted to marry.

He was handsome, came from a good family, and his looks were undeniable.

After we got married, he handed over everything he had to me.

I really, truly thought I had married a good man.

But after Jake died, he lied, saying the plant was struggling and his pay had been cut in half.

The truth was he was secretly giving it all to that woman.

And when I found out and confronted them, he claimed I had cost her a job, and without even asking me, he took my position and gave it to her.

The neighbors all saw him running around for her, and in public, they all praised him for being such a loyal friend.

Yes, he certainly was dedicated to his best friend's wife.

The scariest part was that, in his mind, he was doing the right thing.

He.

Was just taking care of his best friend's widow.

My resistance, my sharp questions, were all just me being unreasonable.

In this world, it’s one thing to not know right from wrong.

It’s another thing entirely.

To lie to yourself.

But it was fine, because now, I didn't care about any of it anymore.

If he wanted to take care of someone else's wife, if he wanted to put his heart into caring for someone else's wife, then let him.