A Daughters Revenge...

Linda looked over at him and she could barely talk through her sobs and tears. "Drop me off Dan, I have to think about what I will tell Molly. I have to get to her before Jimmy finds out. I have to convince her that this meant nothing; that if she tells Jimmy our lives will be destroyed." With that she again called Molly and it again rolled to voicemail. She cried into the recording, "Molly. Molly I am so sorry. Please understand this meant nothing, and it is over. Please call me before you talk to anyone. Please don't tell Jimmy, it will destroy us all."

With that Linda got out of the truck and walked back into the house. She called out for Molly, knowing that there would be no answer. She ran up to the master bedroom and stripped off the sheets, picked up her strewn clothes, and put new sheets on the bed. This had been her Wednesday afternoon routine after Dan left for the last 10 weeks.

She sat down on the bed and cried. Why did I do it? Why would I risk my marriage and the respect of my family for this? If she thought about it, she didn't even like Dan that much. Certainly, didn't love him. Her love for Jimmy had never lessened but she looked back at her behavior and saw how she had emotionally started to push him and her daughter Molly away.

Why was she always such a nit-picking nag with Molly? When did she stop having open and loving conversations with Jimmy? When was the last time she even made love with him and showed him any meaningful affection or connection? What the hell was wrong with her.

She thought about it long and hard. I guess a lot of it has to do with the excitement and the thrill of doing something behind my families back that is only for me. It was so wrong but that partially made it so thrilling. And my life is so boring and it seemed to her that no one needed her anymore. Molly didn't need her and with Linda's attitude Molly had detached herself and severed her open and loving relationship with Linda.

Jimmy didn't need any excitement, he had it all at a fast-paced law career that didn't leave a lot of time for her. The time he had he directed at Molly, especially since she had pushed him away emotionally. He knew their sex life was totally inadequate but her had stopped trying to ask Linda what the problem was and whether they should engage a counselor. She turned him down, told him everything was fine. It seemed to her that his response was to back away from her emotionally and it seemed that Jimmy didn't need her, but she now understood this was her fault.

Dan told her how sexy and attractive she was and how he needed her. He couldn't find the same comfort and feelings from his wife Amanda as he got from Linda. And with Amanda 6 months pregnant with their 2^nd child, he wasn't getting much attention at home. Their flirting and his constant comments about how beautiful and desirable she was eventually led them to some necking and caressing and it was only a matter of time before it turned into all out lustful sex.

But now Linda remembered the look of hurt, pain, disgust, betrayal on Molly's face. Molly had called her a cheap whore and she couldn't disagree. Then she also thought, about Amanda. About Dan and Jimmy's relationship. About their parents and her parents. Why am I only understanding now how hurtful and horrible this has been? I have destroyed my life and did it without even thinking about the possible consequences or why I did it. She fell over on the bed and curled up into the fetal position and cried and cried until a fitful sleep came over her.

Jimmy and Molly had just stayed at the trees, intermittently crying and talking with each other. Molly said, "what are we going to do Dad?" Jimmy said, "Molly, I don't know what we should do. I have so much anger and feelings of pain at being wronged by the women I loved and shared my life with. But also, by the big brother that I had grown up with, and I thought would always have my back. And now you too are in the middle of this mess, knowing that our family life will never be the same again. "

"I don't know if I can even look at Linda, much less forgive her. But she is your Mom, and you will always need to have a relationship with her, although that may seem hard to understand right now. But for now, let's just go get a hotel room and try and calm down, rest up for the night and deal with what we are feeling tomorrow."

With that they drove downtown and booked a suite at the Hilton. Jimmy's idea was that he would work from the suite tomorrow and he would call in to the school office and tell them Molly was sick. They could do that for a couple of days and then decide what to do over the weekend.

Tomorrow when Linda was at work, assuming she went to work, Jimmy would go to the house and get their clothes and toiletries; enough to get them through 3 or 4 days while they decided what course of action to take.

Jimmy also called his friend Jack Wilson, who was a District Attorney for the city and gave him a brief account of what was going on. He told Jack that likely his wife would be filing a missing person's report in the next day or two and asked Jack if he could squash that report and take no action, knowing that Molly was safe with Jimmy and they would soon be in touch with Linda. Jack reluctantly agreed but told Jimmy he could only hold it off until the coming Monday so Jimmy had to have a conversation and plan with Linda before then.

Molly and Jimmy checked into the Hilton and called up room service for burgers and fries. Then turned on the TV and laid in their individual queen beds and watched TV like zombies until sleep finally took their thoughts away, if only for a few hours.

Linda woke up around 10pm and saw that she had no return calls from Molly or from Jimmy. Oh God No, she thought. Jimmy has to know or he would have called or been home long ago. Oh God, what have I done. She again tried to call both Jimmy and Molly's cells and both of them rolled immediately to voicemail, indicating they were turned off. She texted Jimmy and said, "Jimmy, I guess you know. But please know it meant nothing and I only love you. I am so sorry but you need to let me know that Molly is safe and you need to come home and talk to me. Please let me explain."

She really didn't know how or what she would explain to Jimmy. Would he want to know the details? Would it be better if it had just been that time and one mistake? She started to think about her story and what she would tell him.

She waited until midnight for a callback or text response to her calls and when there wasn't one, she crawled under the covers and tried to go to sleep. It was a fitful sleep-less night full of tears and self-hatred for what she had done and the hurt she knew she had caused.

In the morning, Jimmy and Molly woke up early and went down to the Hilton's breakfast buffet. Jimmy called the school and said Molly wouldn't be in for 2 days and also called work and said he would be working from home and on his cell if needed and his computer as required, but not to call unless he urgently had to address something.

He looked at Molly and said "Molly, I am so sorry that you saw what you did and that you got pulled into this terrible situation. I guess you are going to enter adulthood and all the problems life can hand you sooner than I would have ever hoped. Here you are at 15 and I'm afraid that you are now going to see from an adult perspective how important those things are that I have been preaching to you. Loyalty, honesty, the truth. Being true to your morals and ethics."

"As you can see there are ugly things in life that are going to come your way, but you have to do your best to live by your own code of right and wrong. Mom for whatever reason has thrown that code out the door by her actions with your Uncle Dan and once that trust and deceit is done; it can't be undone. I am going to have to consider what actions to take and I guess since you are stuck in the middle of this, I am going to let you go ahead and be with me each step of the way and help decide what becomes of our family from here. To begin with, I am going to call Dan right now and find out what the hell is going on."

Jimmy called Dan's number and Dan picked it up and said "hold on Jimmy. Let me step outside so I don't bother Amanda here. We are just getting out of bed." He ran down the stairs and out onto the porch and then said, "what's going on Jimmy."

Jimmy's anger boiled over and he said "what the fuck do you mean what's going on. I think you better tell ME what's going on. I want you to tell me honestly with no bullshit why, when and how long you have been fucking my wife."

Dan immediately got quiet on the phone and said, "Jimmy, I am so sorry man. It just happened and once we started, we kept coming back for more. But it wasn't about you Jimmy. And it isn't like we are in love and even interested in each other that much; it was strictly sex. It was only a physical relief and a momentary feeling of lust and excitement. I'm so sorry Jimmy, but really, it meant nothing to either of us. Jimmy have you talked to Linda? I think you should be asking her these questions."

"I'm asking you shithead. How long?"

Dan sheepishly said "the last 10 weeks Jimmy. Every Wednesday, always at your house."

Jimmy yelled out "why? Why would you betray me like that?"

Dan said, "Jimmy it wasn't about you. It just happened. I just was not getting much sex with Amanda being pregnant and I was so horny and attracted to Linda and started to pursue her and eventually got her to kiss and fondle with me and one thing led to another and then we ended up in bed. I'm so sorry. You need to forgive us and we can get by this Jimmy. We both love you and don't want to see you hurt or your family broken up."

"Forgive you, huh Dan? Listen, this is the way it is between me and you. I will never talk to you or visit you again. If I see you, you better run because I will kick in your face and your balls. You are now dead to me, and I will never feel like I have a brother again." Dan began apologizing and protesting for Jimmy to be reasonable and not let it destroy their relationship. "Jimmy, it didn't mean anything, it was only sex."

"It meant everything to me Dan. You have destroyed my marriage, and my trust, faith and bond for both you and Linda. Do you have any idea what seeing that did to Molly? So, don't tell me it doesn't mean anything. What it means is that neither of you respected or loved us enough not to put us in the worst pain possible." With that Jimmy hung up and decided that was indeed the last time he would ever talk to Dan.

Molly and Jimmy spent Thursday and Friday working from the hotel room and eating room service and intermittently sleeping, watching TV, and then going outside for a quick walk to get some air. Linda continued to call but neither of them answered or even listened to the voicemail. Linda was very concerned and wasn't sure how she would get ahold of them. She had also been calling Dan, but he wouldn't pick up and hadn't returned any of her calls either.

Finally, at wits end she went down to the police station on Friday afternoon to file a missing persons' report. She walked up to the duty desk and said, "My daughter has run away and I want to file a missing person's report and request your help in finding her." The officer on charge started to take her information and when he got her name, daughters name, husbands name and address, he asked her to wait a few minutes and he walked into the back offices.

After a few minutes Jack Wilson, the DA for the district walked out and introduced himself. He led Linda to an interview room and asked her to take a seat.

"Mrs. Jacobs, my name is Jack Wilson and I am a friend of your husband Jimmy. I want you to know that Molly is fine, she is with Jimmy, and he called me and said you might be down to file a missing persons' report. I have an agreement with him that I would give him through the weekend to make contact with you before taking any action on the missing person report. Molly is with him, they are both safe, and that is all I can tell you at this time. He will be in contact and if he isn't by Monday morning, call me and I'll initiate police action. With that he handed her his card, and showed her out.

She could feel his accusing looks and lack of respect as he got up and led her to the exit. She guessed that Jimmy had told him the story and she decided she would get nowhere trying to argue the point. Jimmy had a lot of friends and they would have his back. She walked out to her car, got in, and started to cry again.

Back at the Hilton, Jimmy looked at Molly and said, well, I guess we at least need to talk with your Mom and tell her you are okay. Do you want to talk to her? Molly replied "No Dad, I don't think I ever want to talk to her again. I can't think of any reason I would accept for what she has done and I can't think of any apology that would be acceptable. How would you even know she was telling you the truth? How could you ever trust her again?"

"Molly, we are hurt and in shock and feeling betrayed right now. But time will lessen that hurt and we will have to decide if we want to move on or try and fix the family. I think maybe we should drive over to the house, give her a chance to be truthful about the affair and then decide. We at the very least need more clothes and toiletries if we are going to continue to stay at the Hotel. And, you also need to go back to school Monday, so you need to get your backpack and books and get ready for that."

"Tell you what, today is Sunday, lets drive over there and give her a chance to tell her side of the story and then we will decide to stay or to grab our things and leave. I think we owe her the chance to be truthful and tell us what, why, where, how long etc."

Molly and Jimmy drove up to the house on Sunday morning and walked in the front door. It was quiet and dark in the house, except for the kitchen. They walked into the kitchen and Linda was sitting at the island, drinking coffee and staring into her cup.

She looked like she had aged 10 years since he had last seen her. Her face was puffy with blotches of red. Her eye makeup has been partially washed away with tears and she hadn't cleaned it off or replaced it. Her hair was a mess, uncombed and unwashed. When she looked up and saw them, she immediately jumped off her chair and ran around the island and tried to run to Molly and give her a hug.

Molly threw up her arms and pushed her back and then walked around to the opposite side of the island avoiding contact with her Mom. Jimmy did the same. Jimmy said, "Linda, we are back to have a discussion with you on what you did and why you think you did it. You have put both of us in immense pain, ripped away our love and trust in you and I don't know if there is any coming back from what Molly saw and what she recorded on that video. I want to at least give you a chance to tell your side of the story."

Linda was lightly crying and her nose was running. She grabbed a Kleenex, wiped her eyes and blew her nose and looked at both of them. "I'm so sorry. Please know it wasn't anything about either of you. I love you both more than life and I don't want to lose you. Jimmy, it was only sex, it didn't mean anything. That was the first and only time it happened and it will never happen again. We can get past this. Don't throw our marriage away over a one-time mistake and meaningless sex." She looked away as she told the lie and when she looked back, she could see that Jimmy was ready to explode in anger.

Looking at Molly, Jimmy said, "I guess we go with plan B." Molly left the kitchen and went up to her room to pack her clothes and personal items and grab her back-pack. After Molly left the room Jimmy looked at Linda and yelled, "so you are going to use all the standard lines of bullshit instead of telling me the truth. It was only meaningless sex; it didn't mean anything. Oh, and by the way, your bullshit about how that was the first and only time really shows me that you have no problem with lying and deceiving us."

"I talked to Dan and I know that it has been going on for 10 weeks and I can't unsee that video image where you were totally into fucking him and belittling me while you did it. So now who do I believe is lying you, or Dan. I know it is you and I know that I'm not going to get any truth or understanding from talking to you. I told Dan that he is dead to me and I'll never see or talk to him again."

"It's not quite as easy to do that with you but at this point that is how I am feeling. And don't talk to me about throwing away our marriage over one mistake. It wasn't one mistake; it was an ongoing affair that you wouldn't have stopped if Molly hadn't walked in on you. And you seemed to be only feeling bad about the fact you got caught. Not the fact that you betrayed and disrespected your family and did it with my brother and in my bed no less. So, don't talk to me about throwing away the marriage when you threw it away the first time you started to flirt and have an emotional and then sexual relationship with Dan."

"How do you think your 15-year-old daughter can ever deal with what she saw you two doing. I could just as soon choke you to death as look at you right now." With that, Jimmy spun on his heels and ran upstairs to the Master bedroom. Linda crumpled to the floor sobbing.

She thought she could help her case by lying about how long the affair had been going on and trying to tell him that it was meaningless and he should forgive her. She had never seen him so mad and was now wondering if there was even a chance to reconcile with her husband and her daughter. She was shocked by the pain and hurt she saw in both of their faces, but how could she have not understood that this is what her betrayal would cause?

Minutes later Molly and Jimmy came down with suitcases filled. Jimmy took off his wedding ring and laid it on the counter and without a word they walked out. Linda just stayed on the kitchen floor, crumpled into a ball crying.

Jimmy and Molly went back to the Hilton, but Jimmy got on line and started to look at apartments that would be both close to school and not too far from his offices. He called a few rental agencies, and by the end of the day he had secured a 6-month lease on a fairly new 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment with a landscaped pool and spa area, BBQ grills and tables, and a workout room.

The next morning Jimmy dropped Molly off at school and came back and checked out of the Hotel and moved their limited wardrobe and items to the apartment. He told Molly he would be home when she got there; it was only a 6-block walk from the school, so she could go ahead and attend her after school sports and walk home when practice was done

Jimmy went into work and immediately called his financial planners and started the ball rolling on separating his pre-tax savings, checking, and joint accounts into one account in his name only, and one account in Linda's name only. He then got ahold of a reputable divorce attorney that he knew had a very good reputation and set up a meeting for the afternoon.

He then called in the CFO and the corporate lawyer from his law office and asked them to start working on how he could protect his ownership as a partner in the firm and how he could minimize any distribution of after-tax Roth and pre-tax 401K savings to his wife.

His planners called him back and said since he had setup some college funds for his daughter, he could take a very large portion of his joint savings and investment accounts and put that into trust for her college funding and it wouldn't be available as part of any divorce settlement. He also changed his insurance beneficiary to Molly only, and he set-up his parents with guardian rights for his daughter should anything happen to him before she reached her 18^th birthday.