“Yes!” Sophie cried.
She looked radiant, even happier than the man whose birthday it was.
“Dan, are you coming out soon?” she called toward the bathroom. “We’ll have to leave soon.”
“Yes… I couldn’t wait for you, sweetheart,” Daniel answered. “I suppose the dessert will have to wait until tonight.”
When he finally emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, Sophie was sitting on the edge of the bed with his phone in her hands. Her smile was so bright that she looked as if she had just won a fortune.
“Who are you talking to?” Daniel asked immediately.
“I got in touch with your sister. She’s lovely. And the children are adorable. We decided to wish you happy birthday together. It’s practically a live broadcast.”
Sophie turned the phone around.
The screen came alive.
“Surprise!” Sophie and Claire exclaimed at the same time.
Daniel froze.
Claire sat before the camera wearing a bright paper party hat. The girls were beside her, wearing matching hats of their own.
“Daddy! Happy birthday!” the children shouted over one another.
Daniel stared at them, unable to move. He wanted to disappear. He wanted the floor to open beneath him and swallow him whole.
In Claire’s hands was their marriage certificate.
“Girls,” she said brightly, “now let’s throw confetti for Daddy!”
Then she looked directly at Daniel.
“My darling husband, happy birthday.”
With deliberate calm, Claire lifted the document toward the camera. Then she tore it into tiny pieces in front of Sophie’s stunned face.
Sophie was still trying to understand what she was seeing.
“We won’t be giving you the SUV after all,” Claire continued. “It will stay with my mother. But your own car will have to be sold. And so will the apartment, for that matter. All of that property was acquired during our marriage.”
She let the silence linger.
“I hope Sophie has a place of her own. Because from now on, you’ll be living with her. And naturally, I’ll be filing for child support. The girls are sacred to me.”
Claire’s face vanished from the screen.
Only darkness remained.
For several seconds, there was absolute silence. Daniel could hear nothing except what seemed to be the pounding of his own heart.
“So you’re married,” Sophie finally said.
Her voice had changed completely.
“And you saved your wife in your phone as ‘Sister’ so I wouldn’t suspect anything. Clever.”
Daniel said nothing.
“But that isn’t even the worst part.” Sophie’s eyes widened as the truth sank in. “You have children. Two beautiful little girls. What more could you possibly want? Your wife is gorgeous. Those children adore you. They call you Daddy…”
Confusion and deep disappointment appeared together in her expression.
“Sophie, listen to me. It isn’t what you think. I just didn’t want—”
“Didn’t want to tell me the truth?”
She stood up sharply and began gathering her belongings.
The weekend had been ruined for everyone involved, and Sophie no longer wanted to remain under the same roof with Daniel.
“Please, don’t leave,” he pleaded. “At least try to be reasonable!”
“You told me you had no one!” she shouted. “You said you were completely alone, absolutely lonely. You talked about how sad it was to spend your birthday by yourself, especially when all your friends already had families!”
Daniel tried to interrupt, but Sophie no longer wanted to hear another word.
She understood everything now, and her decision was final.
For the first time in his life, Daniel truly had no one with whom to celebrate his birthday.
Claire had no idea how to explain what had happened to the girls. She was not ready for a serious conversation with them, so she called her mother instead.
Her mother understood almost immediately.
“Yes, darling,” the older woman said softly. “I’ll stay with my granddaughters. You go. Get dressed, go out, and breathe for a while.”
Claire put on the new dress she had bought for the evening. Then she called Daniel’s friends and invited them to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
Some declined. Most accepted.
That evening, Claire had more fun than she had since she was eighteen. She laughed, danced, and finally allowed herself to stop thinking about the man who had betrayed her.
Near the end of the celebration, she ate the strawberry pie that had originally been meant for Daniel. She ate it with enormous satisfaction. His friends stood by her, openly condemned his behavior, and drew their own conclusions about him.
On Monday, Claire did not go to the vehicle office.
Instead, she went to a lawyer and filed for divorce.
Daniel ended up with nothing but his own lies, a broken relationship, and child-support payments for two daughters.
Was it worth it?
Probably not.
But by then, there was no way back.