The first shock came when I discovered a secret email on my husband’s iPad. What I discovered next left me stunned and doubting everything about our life together. My spouse, Adam, is on a trip with our kid and brother to see their mother, correct? So, I’m just cleaning up the den when his iPad displays an email from an apartment complex.
It is about turning off the hot water for repairs, and it is addressed to him by name. We own our home and haven’t rented for almost ten years. This was as fishy as hell. He is in upstate New York, with no service. I attempted to send him a picture of the email, but it did not go through. When I eventually reached him, the connection was horrible.
I narrated the email, and he simply said, “Must be a mistake. “They received the wrong email.” Seriously? If it’s a mistake, how come they have his complete name spelled correctly? There were no further emails from this sender, but my husband is extremely particular about cleaning out his inbox. The email contains no unit number, although this complex is only 15 minutes away.
I had no reason to distrust my husband, but this email seemed unusual. I attempted to piece things together while fighting my own feelings. I absolutely trusted Adam; we had been happily married for six years and had two children, a daughter and a son. However, my gut intuition told me something was wrong. I replayed our exchanges from the previous few months in my thoughts, looking for clues I could have overlooked.
Adam had always been attentive, but lately, there were minor things—like how he seemed to favor spending time with the boys over the rest of the family, or how he frequently found excuses to leave the house. The paranoia gnawed at me, but I wasn’t prepared to accept the conclusions my mind was reaching. So I called my best friend, and she was all in. She phones emergency maintenance while posing as a delivery driver and obtains the apartment number. We go over, knock on the door, and when it opens, I am in tears because there is a 25-year-old woman standing there, asking what we need.
We identified ourselves as delivery personnel carrying a box for Adam and inquired as to when he would arrive. While we were asking questions, two tiny children, maybe five years old, ran up to the door and peered at us. We overheard at least three additional women speaking from inside the flat. The woman who opened the door was terrified and quickly closed it. We tried knocking again, but the door remained closed, and she threatened to call the police.
As we made our way down the stairs, I became quite agitated and began crying. Stacy, my companion, was equally shocked. When we walked outside, we noticed the three women and children peering at us through the window before quickly closing the curtains. Stacy gazed at me with wide eyes and a shaky voice. Jennifer, what the hell was that? Who are these women? “What about those kids?”
I wiped my eyes and tried to keep my voice calm. “I do not know, Stacy. This is ridiculous. How might Adam accomplish this? We have been married for six years. We have children! “What’s going on?” “You should call a lawyer,” she said. But I didn’t want to think Adam had done anything wrong. Stacy placed a soothing hand on my shoulder. “We have to sort this out. This can’t be real. Maybe… there’s an explanation.”
“But what kind of explanation makes sense?” I snapped back, frustration and hurt mingling in my voice. “Did you notice how the woman reacted? She appeared afraid. “And those children…” “Do you think he’s living a double life?” Stacy inquired nervously, evidently terrified of the response. “I don’t know what to think,” I said, my voice shaking. “I trusted him. I never doubted him for one second. And now this? “I feel like my entire world is falling apart.”
Stacy nodded, her face serious. “We need to speak to him. Confront him. “You deserve to know the truth.” “But how?” “He’s upstate, and I can barely get through to him on the phone,” I added, feeling powerless. “Then we go to him,” Stacy stated forcefully. “We will drive up there. Jennifer, you need answers. “We’ll bring them together.” Her dedication offered me a little sense of relief. “Okay. “Let’s go,” I said, wiping away tears. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
Adam greeted me with a troubled expression on his face. “Jennifer, did you go to the apartment?” Adam inquired, his tone tinted with dread. “Yes, I did,” I said, my voice quivering from rage and hurt. I witnessed everything, Adam. Who are these women? “Who are the children?” Adam sighed deeply and ran a hand over his hair. “We need to speak, Jennifer. There are some things I need to discuss.
“Explain?” I almost yelled. “Explain what, Adam? That you have a whole different existence than I am aware of? Do you have any other women or children? How could you do this to me? “To our children?” He glanced at me with a sad expression. “I did not want you to find out in this way. “I never intended to hurt you.” “Hurt me?” I scoffed. “Adam, you have shattered my world.” Ten years of marriage, two children, and you do this? Why? Please tell me why.
“I’ve always wanted to have a large family,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I desired a life with numerous women, but I knew it was not acceptable here. I thought I could handle it without anyone being hurt.” I looked at him in bewilderment. “You thought you could handle it? Do you hear yourself? Do you have any other wives? Children? And you never considered how this might affect me? “Our children?”
“They’re not legally my wives,” he explained, struggling to find the appropriate words. “But in my heart, I see them as such. I care for them, and we have children together.” I felt as though I had been hit in the gut. “So, all this time, you’ve been living two lives. What do you think will happen if I find out? Or were you just hoping I wouldn’t?
“I didn’t think it through,” he confessed, tears welling in his eyes. “I was selfish. I did not want to lose you, but I also wanted this other life. I believed I could control it; keep it apart.” “And you’ve been paying for everything with company money,” I added, realizing it. “That is how you hid it. That explains why there were no red signs. Yes,” he replied calmly. “I covered all the expenses through the company.” I shook my head, feeling completely misled. “Adam, how are you expecting me to stay after this? You lied to me and to our children. “You’ve broken our family.”
“I know I’ve made a terrible mistake,” he admitted, his voice breaking. “But, Jennifer, I still love you.” “I do not want to lose you.” Tears rushed down my face. “You already do, Adam. I can’t do it. I need to protect our children. “I’m taking our son home.” My mother-in-law and brother-in-law, who had been standing close, were astonished when they heard the news. They questioned Adam about all they had heard, but he was unable to look them in the eye.
He did not try to stop me. He knew there was nothing he could do to repair the damage he had caused. As I drove away with our son, I felt both sad and relieved. The man I thought I knew had vanished, replaced by a stranger whose secrets were too deep to forgive. I found a lawyer and filed for divorce and full custody of our two kids.