Motherhood was driving me to exhaustion and my husband seemed to realise this. He took our baby for a walk every evening so I could relax, and it was really nice. I trusted him. But one night he forgot his phone and I went down his usual route to get it back… only to realise it wasn’t usual at all.
Six months ago, I gave birth to our baby boy, Caleb. The transition to motherhood hit me like a goods train – beautiful and brutal in equal measure. Sleepless nights, constant worry, and all-consuming love made my chest ache. My husband Nate seemed like a pillar of support…..
‘You look exhausted,’ he said one evening as he walked in the door from work. His tie was loosened and his shirt sleeves were rolled up. He kissed my forehead as I cradled a fussy Caleb on my hip.
‘So obvious, huh?’ I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a sigh.
‘Let me take him.’ Nate held out his hand to Caleb, who immediately snuggled into his father’s chest. “Actually, I’ve been thinking. You never get a break, Monica. How about I take him for a walk every night? It’ll give you some time to yourself.”
I blinked in surprise. ‘You’d do that?’
‘Sure.’ His smile seemed genuine. “You deserve it. Besides, I miss spending time with the baby during the day.”
That evening I sank into the hot bath for the first time in months, listening to the silence in the house and grateful for my caring husband.
‘How was the walk?’ I asked when they returned, Caleb was sleeping peacefully in the pram.
Nate’s eyes lit up. “Great. Really great. We should make it our business.”
‘I’d love to,’ I said, feeling warmth spill over my chest.
And so it began. Every evening at 6:30, Nate took Caleb out for a walk in his pram. It was a little father-son bonding time and a respite for me.
For weeks this routine continued. I watched from the window as they disappeared down the street: Nate would push the pram with one hand and hold his phone in the other.
He always came back refreshed and energised. I mean…too refreshed.
‘You really enjoy these walks, don’t you?’ I asked one evening as he tucked a sleeping Caleb into his cot.
‘Best part of my day,’ he replied without looking me in the eye.
Something in his voice made me wonder, but I pushed the thought away. I wanted to believe this version of my husband…the devoted father and attentive partner.
‘I’m glad,’ I said quietly, looking at his back as he walked out of the nursery.
Then came that fateful day. It was a normal Wednesday that would change everything.
Nate had just left with Caleb when his phone rang on the kitchen counter. I picked it up and saw his boss’s name on the screen.
‘He forgot his phone,’ I muttered, grabbing my coat. ‘I can catch up with them…they can’t have gone far.’
I slipped out the front door, spotting them halfway down the block. Something made me pause before I called out. Intuition… the same one that whispers when something’s wrong. So I followed at a distance.
Nate didn’t turn towards the park like I assumed he always did. Instead, he headed downtown, leading the pram through the evening crowd with practised ease.
He stopped outside a coffee shop I’d never been to. My step slowed as I watched him check his watch and survey the street.
And then she appeared-a tall, stunning brunette. She was confident in her movements, and her smile widened when she saw Nate.
She leaned over and stroked my baby, then straightened up and kissed my husband on the cheek.
My body went cold, then hot. The pavement seemed to tilt under my feet.
They walked into the house together, her hand resting comfortably on the handle of the pram next to Nate’s, as if they’d done this a hundred times before.
‘This can’t be what it seems,’ I whispered to myself, though my stomach twisted into knots.
That night, I didn’t argue with him. I put his phone back where he’d left it and pretended to doze off when he came back. I needed to make sure.
‘Did you have a good walk?’ I asked, pretending to be tired.
‘As always,’ he replied, not looking up as he unbuckled Caleb. ‘It was nice in the park.’
The lie slipped from his lips so easily that I almost doubted what I was seeing.
‘That’s nice,’ I said, my voice steady despite the hurricane in my chest.
I lay next to him that night, counting his sighs and studying his sleeping face. Was this the same man I had married? Did I really know him? Had he cheated on me?
‘What are you hiding from me?’ I whispered, receiving only the soft rhythm of his breathing in response.
The next night I followed him again, this time deliberately. I told him I needed a nap and watched from behind the newspaper as he met with the same woman in the same place.
This time they were sitting at an outdoor table. I was close enough to see her laughing and watched her fingers squeeze Caleb’s tiny hand. Nate leaned toward her, his smile wider than any I’d seen at home in months.
Something froze inside me.
No more doubts. No more doubts. I needed the truth, and I knew exactly how to get it.
‘Did you sleep well?’ asked Nate when I came out of the bedroom that night, pretending I’d just woken up from a nap.
‘Like a rock,’ I lied.
The next morning, as soon as Nate left for work, I rushed to the toy shop downtown. I bought a plastic baby doll that looked eerily realistic – about Caleb’s size. My plan seemed ridiculous, even to me, but it was the only way to find out the truth.
When I got home, I wrapped the doll in Caleb’s favourite blanket, put it in the pram and hid the little baby monitor under the soft toy next to it.
The real Caleb stayed with me, safely tucked away in our bedroom. Thankfully, he was already sound asleep when Nate came home and got ready for his usual walk.
He didn’t even look in the pram before he got out, just took it by the handle and headed out.
‘Have a nice walk,’ I called out.
He raised his hand in acknowledgement. ‘We always do.’
My heart raced as I waited five minutes and then followed him, clutching the phone in my sweaty palm.
They were sitting at the same table outside the café. A woman – beautiful enough to make my postpartum body seem foreign – leaned forward, her fingers intertwined with my husband’s.
I settled behind the nearest poster, turned up the volume on the handset and listened.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ Her voice crackled through the speaker. ‘I feel guilty.’
I held my breath.
‘Everything’s fine,’ Nate replied. “She doesn’t suspect anything. I told you…she’s too exhausted from the baby to notice.”
The woman sighed. ‘I just don’t want to hurt her.’
Nate laughed-the sound was so cold that I flinched. “Hurt her? She’s just my wife. We had to get married because of Caleb. But you’re the one I really want.”
My vision blurred with tears.
“And how long are you going to pretend to love her? Until Caleb grows up?”
“No, baby. Not until she gets her grandmother’s inheritance. Then she’ll give me some money for being a wonderful husband. See? I even walk the baby every night. I’m practically a saint!”
Something inside me clicked. The phone receiver fell out of my hands, I stood up, and my body moved on autopilot towards their table.
‘Just don’t stop on my account,’ I shouted.
Nate choked on his coffee. The woman’s eyes widened and darted between us.
‘MONICA,’ he hissed. ‘What are you…’
I threw back the blanket in the pram, revealing a doll.
‘What the hell is this?’ Nate stared at the plastic face.
‘Interesting question.’ I crossed my arms. ‘I was just about to ask you the same thing.’
The woman stood up. ‘Nate, you said she knew-’
‘Knew what?’ I turned to her. “That my husband was using our son as a prop to cheat on me? That he plans to milk the inheritance out of me?”
‘I can explain,’ Nate said, reaching for my hand.
I recoiled. “You were supposed to marry me? You were supposed to be a father? Is that what you told her?”
His face went pale and the woman looked sick.
‘Do you feel guilty?’ I asked her. “Good. Because that’s what you helped him destroy.”
I took off my wedding ring, a symbol of promises that had now turned out to be lies, and dropped it on the table with a final clink.
‘I hope you’ll be happy together,’ I said, lowering my voice to a whisper. ‘Because you just lost the best thing you had.’
I turned and walked away, head held high and shoulders back, each step leading me towards a future I hadn’t planned for but was ready to face.
‘Monica, wait!’ Nate called after me.
I didn’t look back.
The divorce went quickly, as if Nate knew he’d been caught so thoroughly that fighting would only make things worse. He didn’t contest custody or fight for the house. He signed the papers and disappeared without a word.
Three months later, I was spreading peanut butter on Caleb’s breakfast toast when the phone rang.
‘You won’t believe what I just saw,’ my friend Mia’s voice came from the speaker.
‘What is it?’ I clutched the phone between my ear and shoulder, wiping away Caleb’s sticky fingers.
“Your ex. Outside that café where you caught him. Do you know his girlfriend? The brunette?”
I paused. ‘What about her?’
“She’s engaged! To some financier. Apparently, Nate was a side piece the whole time. He was yelling at her in broad daylight and she just stood there looking bored. I took video of the whole thing.”
I should have felt vindicated. Instead, I was undone by a strange laugh.
‘Send it to me,’ I said, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it.
Later, watching the silent video of Nate gesturing wildly to a woman who clearly didn’t care about his feelings, I felt something unexpected: freedom.
Your dad thought he was so smart,’ I told Caleb as he played on the floor next to me. ‘But karma doesn’t need guidance to find people like him.’
A year went by. Then another. Caleb went from infant to toddler, his steps becoming more confident and his words more numerous. I was rebuilding my life piece by piece: a promotion at work, new friends, and even a tentative date or two.
I only bumped into Nate once, at the supermarket. He looked aged and gaunt.
‘Monica,’ he said, lingering his gaze on Caleb. ‘He’s gotten so big.’
‘Kids do that,’ I replied.
‘I’ve been thinking…’
‘Don’t.’ I interrupted him. ‘Whatever you’re going to say, leave it alone.’
He swallowed hard. “I blew it. I know that now.”
‘Yes, you did.’ I lifted Caleb into the shopping trolley. “And the funny thing is, you didn’t just lose me. You lost yourself.”
The expression on Nate’s face crinkled. ‘Can I at least…’
“You can send a cheque for child support. It’s on time for once.” I pushed the cart past him. ‘Goodbye, Nate.’
As we pulled away, Caleb waved over my shoulder. ‘Bye-bye,’ he called cheerfully, not recognising the stranger who was his father.
I didn’t look back to see if Nate waved back. I didn’t need to. Some chapters are better left closed and some pages are better left un-turned. Because when someone shows they’re willing to trade love for convenience and use their own child as cover for their betrayal…well, the best revenge isn’t getting even. It’s moving forward without them.
As for the inheritance my grandmother left me? I put it into a trust for Caleb’s education. After all, investments should go to people with real futures, not those who treat relationships like bank accounts from which they can withdraw money at will.
