All Comments on 'Affair of Terror'

A distant second husband. The reality is that Al would have found a wife who was a distant second, who came with her own baggage including 2 or 3 children from an ex husband.

He would have drowned himself in mediocrity and bullshit and lived a life of misery as the stink of desperation settled onto him like a cloak.

In my company, we had an employee who cost us an easy 10 million dollars. We didn’t fire him, after all, we just invested 10 million bucks in him and I can guarantee that he wouldn’t do that again. Why waste time, energy and our livelihood training his replacement....same with marriages. What she did was wrong, and stupid and dangerous; but she learned. She wouldn’t do that again, so why the rush to self righteous condemnation?

Great story. Cathy deserved her fate. She did willingly go to the assignations. She was stupid.

4/5

Albeit apart from each other, but at least Al and Cathy found happiness with their own significant spouses. All is well, then.

That worked really well. The sub-plot about the bombing created an interesting twist mid-story.

Good story but sad ending even though they found a level of happiness with other partners. I find it hard to believe that people who are in love and married for a number of years would so easily give up on a marriage.

In this story Al never actually witnessed Cathy cheat on him and therefore forgiving her would have come easier if he had wanted to. It's extremely difficult to be angry with someone when there is no physical or emotional evidence of the event you should be angry about.

To all intents and purposes Cathy didn't take anything away from Al in their marriage and she definitely had remorse at what she had done and would have learnt a very valuable lesson from her affair in the risks of doing it again.

Great story and I'm glad you handled Cathy gently in the end. Easy 5*

Always a great day when Laptopwriter shows up in the story list.

Another 5-star effort.

Hooked

Great story LTW. You performed up to expectations. Thank you, Randi.

Nice story, well-knitted plot, interesting characters. It shows Laptopwriter is a very gifted writer and I want to thank him for the story. I only wonder how Tony's wife had no idea of the mean-spirited and dominant streak in Tony's personality after being married to him for years. Cathy sensed something of a bad boy wearing a three-piece suit in him, and the way he subdued her during their first sexual encounter shows sexually a very dominant personality, even abusive towards women. That was part of her attraction to him, since her husband isn't wired that way at all, and she has a submissive streak herself. Deep down she knew the risks. So, the proverb, "you play... you pay" does apply here. As a romantic writer, the author gives both a happy ending, especially to Al. Nothing wrong with that, after all, it's his work.

For that reason alone it's my favorite so far.

"Later that night, she literally turned him inside out..."

If she literally did it, he'd be dead, and not in a pleasurable way.

"Who could possibly blame me for fucking somebody if I couldn't do anything to stop them?" - But you could! Refuse, and if he hits you, as he did recently, go to the police. Especially where she had witnesses, both to the slap and now the assault.

/

"Is this the only copy?" - She said yes, but that's not true; she took two thumb drives from work and made copies.

I really enjoyed reading this story and rated you well for it. That said, it pricked something in me (no pun intended). So many authors buy into the insistence that once a wife is fucked by some other man, a husband has no choice but to divorce and move on. I understand the 'one and done' crowd and when the offending spouse fits that mold in the story, I'm all in on it. Cathy was different; she was truly repentant as you presented her character. True repentance is not "I'm so sorry, it will never happen again". It is remorse and sorrow and a change of heart in the one who did the offending. In this case the two characters truly loved each other and the wife was written as honestly repentant. Forgiveness on the part of Al would have saved the marriage much as it has many marriages in real life.

Maybe I feel this way because I am a woman and understand how things could get out of control and how remorseful one can become at hurting another so badly. There have been a few stories that explored this well, maybe some are in today's list.

In any event I liked your story!

I struggle mightily with the basic premise of the story that Cathy got raped and liked it. I can't get my arms around that as a husband of 30+ years and father of 4 daughters. But in the end, that's my problem. You delivered another solid story with good character definition and a plausible outcome. I would have preferred a longer wrap-up, but it still worked. Thanks for the entertainment and don't be a stranger here! 5*

D

A great story, thanks for posting.

Also, I laughed at Annony's comment about "literally turned him inside out...", which happens to be one of my pet peeves. Seems like everyone uses that word wrong now, Hollywood especially. My wife can testify to how many times I've shouted at the TV, "You literally have no idea what literally means!"

Or, in the famous words of Inigo Montoya: "I don't think that word means what you think it means."

Good story. Well done. 5 stars.

Solid and tense.

Nice story!

You spin a very good tale. I can certainly see why he divorced her. In her first encounter with Tony she was raped, liked it, and when came back for more. No man in his right mind would ever trust her again regardless of your fairy tale ending. At least Al was smart enough to ditch her. Also a restraining order isn't worth the paper it's written on. Far better getting a firearm and learning to be proficient with it.

I want to comment on Whackdoodle's story about the guy who got caught in the $10 million thing. That sounds crazy to me, but people who I know that work in the justice system have assured me that this is not an unusual outcome. They say that it's typically done for exactly the reasons that he has described.

I liked it.

Unusual plot but a good one.

Well worked and entertaining.

It was nice to see a story longer than 1-3 pages.

Stories have been a bit short recently.

The only thing negative about this story

are repetitions in dialogue.

Things like that always make a story

be less than it could (should) be.

Still, not a big fault.

Top ratings from me.

That one had none of the usual HDK humor in it at all. That's fine, because there is nothing funny about cheating for any reason. Cathy is another woman with no good excuse for cheating on a decent man. Good twist there to get her to confess. The only correct thing she did and it cost her the marriage. So was much too amicable in the divorce, and it's too bad she eventually ends up with a good man. Nice of you to give All his Dean wife on his second try. As others have said, this was as good as expected from HDK.

This event brought out great stories from great writers! Thank you for something special. 5 stars naturally.

somewhere east of Omaha

That ends in a fairytale. The story was very good till you killed with the happy ending... **

but at least you got the cuck away from the stupid whore and onto a good life with a real woman. Thanks for that.

The whole "passive" female losing self control and giving herself to an "alpha" male is a tired schtick. Its easy to assume such women exist, but no man like Al would be attracted to and marry such a brainless vagina. So that part was kind of lame.

I found it curious that Al didn't inquire or point out to Cathy that if Tony had just been an assertive but decent guy she'd still be fucking him. Cathy didn't stop the affair out of guilt, or regret, or a sense of shame, she stopped fucking Tony because he essentially forced her to. If Al had never found out about Tony and Cathy later met a milder version of Tony she'd be off fucking the new alpha male in her life, giving Al sloppy seconds, again. Al should send Tony a thank you note. Hell, Cathy was out fucking around again within 6 months of her divorce, and ends up marrying her own male whore? No, Al marrying this fucked up woman makes no sense.

But it was a good plot and well executed. Thank you for the effort.

Got my authors mixed up. This great story is laptop writer, not HDK who has his own story.

Another good story!

5

LTW always humanises the cheaters to a point where you don't quite blame their spouses for cutting them loose, but you do sympathise a tiny bit. Their respective happy endings were maybe a little too pat and rushed, but since that wasn't the focus, twas a good story overall. Tony was a total dumbass being a bull in a china shop when he had so much to lose, though. Really did have a screw loose.

The HEA at the end was a nice flourish to take the sting out of the pathetic cringeworthy mess that Cathy had made of her life. I wanted it to work out for her, but just couldn’t imagine how Al could get past the circumstances of her affair - her willing participation after the initial assault. Good people doing bad things. As always, thank you for an entertaining story.

Five Stars.

I enjoyed the story until the end. It felt like all the emotion disappeared after started the divorce, the ending was flat. It probably should have ended once the divorce was filed.

Nicely done.

Thanks to George Santayana for his words of enlightenment.

As expected ltw. Thank you, excellent stuff.

The story started out great but ended terribly. I'm not a RAAC proponent and enjoy the BTB genre immensely but seriously the wife was raped and coerced by a mad man. Her biggest mistake was not telling her husband because she was trying to protect their marriage. A littlie marriage counseling could have fixed things for both of them. Full Thermal Nuclear War was not warranted. No harm no foul. But they both ended up ok in the end even if it wasn't with each other. Which proves one of my personal beliefs that there is no such thing as "Miss Right" only that there is always a "Miss Right Now".

...but the first 4 pages felt drawn out, the the last page felt extremely rushed.

"Forgiveness on the part of Al would have saved the marriage much as it has many marriages in real life."

It wasn't really about "one and done", and it doesn't really matter that she's truly repentant for betraying him. The simple fact is that Cathy shattered his trust in her by willingly betraying him to get repeatedly fucked by Tony. She is no longer the woman he fell in love with.

Al said it himself: "I will always carry the knowledge that you have hurt me more than any other person in my life and I will forever carry that scar in my heart."

What's the point in reconciling with someone that hurt you that badly? You might forgive them, but you'll never forget what they did. Her infidelity would permanently shadow their marriage from then onwards, triggering painful memories for the rest of their life together.

I believe that it's always better (without exception) to dump an unfaithful spouse and find happiness with another person. There are literally millions of single people out there, thousands of whom you could live a really great life with. Much better to have a fresh start, than try to salvage something out of the pitiful wreckage of a broken marriage.

Why bother dealing with all that heartbreak and emotional baggage when you can just move on with someone new.

Did he try his crap with another woman? And if so did he go to jail.

We don't really want to know what happened to the cheating spouse. Why can't you just stick to the husband's life, about how he got over the pain and moved on?

Idk Laptop, that didnt have the heat nor the ending I am used to with your work. A lot of the heat was taken out early by the wife's own volition of cheating willingly. We know she is cheating, its just a matter of how its all going to play out at that point. And the ending seemed rushed and a bit trite?

Very nice story, but it's told in the present time line then suddenly at the end he is walking a daughter down the aisle the celebrating his 25th anniversary to his second wife?

I liked it but as others have said the ending seemed rushed. The problem with being human is that we all make mistakes that we deeply regret but cannot fix. I actually felt sorry for her because she got into the situation initially against her will and should have stopped it there but madness took over for a short while and she lost her true love. I understand his reaction and can't say I disagreed with his actions but it was still a shame. 4 stars from me.

I don't like stories about physical abuse. I read it because I know you always take this matter seriously. The story itself was too long and painful and the ending deserved a bit more space to wrap everything up. Again I think we have seen only glimpses of your unique talent. You usually deal very well with the aftermath and don't focus for so long on the cheating part. I was expecting a bit more. A bit above average for me. But considering how bad the new stories and writers are, you are still above the media

She was forced the first time and the other times she was under influence submission. She tried to end it just after a few times but was weak. She didn't go to the lover on her own.

I would have seen the chance of reconciliation.

Excellent story, as usual.

Been there read that

Ah, the ol' cell-phone-used-as-a-recorder but the story is set 25 years in the past trick... I know, I know - cells are so ubiquitous now that we can't imagine their absence.

.

I count multiple times the victim had clear reason to take the information to the police. While I am not urging folks take every little slight or unpleasantry to the coppers, real and threatened injury is no time to chant, "Defund Police!" The restaurant recording scene to set up counter blackmail is illogically foolhardy.

.

Typical LTW excellence!

Keep 'em comin'.

Great story!!! Glad you finished with Al being so happy!!!

By now I have read several of your stories and you are an excellent writer. The only negative comment that I can make is that your stories don't really end they just sort of peter out. It's almost like you get tired of the story and so end it the easiest way possible.

Very good story. I feel the need to defend the writer because I've enjoyed his stories very much. Nobody said this story took place 25 years ago. The epilog is extending a modern day story into the future. Yes the restaurant attempt at blackmail was foolish, but she was a stupid bitch, I think that was made abundantly clear. Even her own best friend was shocked at how twisted she was.

I know about the complaints and problems regarding the Chicago PD, but from personal experience, albeit some years ago, every time I dispatched them (a lot) over almost 10 years they always responded immediately and properly. But don't get me started on Detroit, talk about a 180 shift...

That said I can't remember remember when I've read about a more stupid person, male or female than Cathy. Even after the restaurant rape (and that's what it was) she had so many chances to save herself and Al so much pain, not to mention her marriage and she made the wrong choices every damned time. The only half-way intelligent things she did was record that conversation with Tony and finally confess to her husband. The confession was only half-way intelligent because it was too little, much too late. She should have been on the phone to him right after she quit screaming and calling the police. Al was right that there was no way he could ever trust her again and he was left with no other option than divorce. I suppose I was content that things did work out in a fashion for her but the real winners at the end were Al and Ashley. I was rather expecting it to turn out to be Michelle but that would have been too obvious. Some writers might have been tempted to somehow contrive this story into a RAAC but LTW is an Author who knows when a Rec is right or not and this wasn't it.

One thing that Al didn't think of was actual security at the home, that should have been as much a concern if not more than the studio after the second bombing if not the first.

Thanks to Anon from a couple of days ago for explaining the time frames, I realized it but wouldn't have thought to point it out. Why Lit decided to drop the actual date of comment posting is beyond me. *****'s Signed: BTW

I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt unfulfilled after reading this. Then I read a few comments and it clicked. Someone said that the story didn't really end, more petered out. That's it exactly. Instead of building to a crescendo, it just......

don't restraining orders work after 1 day all she had to do was call ( what is you use 911)

Not sure why this story s in the LW genre it's more to do with abuse, crime and blackmail. The author doesn't really deal with the emotional effects of a cheating wife on either the husband or the wife. I think this story fails as an LW story. Cathy cheated on Al but we don't really get into any real reason why Cathy cheated on Al it almost seems a side issue to the story. Had it really been an LW story then I think it should have ended as a reconciliation story however the story just seems to fade out and is rushed to end it.

Good story with a very appropriate ending. But for some reason I did not care for the end. Hence 4 stars.

Not a bad story. It just was missing something almost like it more meat on the bone. I gave it a four.

So everyone end up happy?

Very good. Why are victimized wives so ready to submit themselves to more humiliation. They themselves must want it , or a predator like Tony cannot get away with his actions! 5*s.

You abrupt fast forward ending is a bit artificial. Story is OK, plot is good, conversations are a bit lackadaisical, you can work on that because that is a weakness that makes your stories a bit simplistic.

It was an okay story. However if Tony is a bully then I do not think his wife would have phoned him out because he normally controls his family. Also that type of guy wants revenge he would definitely use his friend to get it. Bad guys bad for reason that's why they call bad guys.

Just as good the second time around.

I gave it five stars on the first reading. I'll stick with that.

Thank you laptopwriter, I really enjoyed your story and will continue to follow with your others. I specifically like that your ending is realistic.....none of this whimpy “man forgives and forgets crap” when a wife steps out with impunity. Great job, thank again!

Cathy did not learn her lesson... just because she felt the pain of being cheated on by her second husband does not mean she learned her lesson... I wouldn't trust her one moment unless she was willing to get long-term personal and couples counseling... without it she's a cheating time-bomb waiting to happen again.

A drug addict is an addict because of changes that the body/brain has produced in response to the drug.

Many a careful driver is that because of a narrow escape.

A wise man will decide which case he is looking at.

So I, after more than 50 years of less than perfect marriage, advise give yourself TIME, perhaps months to think.

sort of think Al should have forgiven her or tried consoling first.

This ending is a little more realistic than my preferred BTB ending.

A man drags her into the men's room and rapes her and it takes her having sex with him 7 or 8 more times before she decides it's a bad idea???

Good story that kept the reader's interest but some of the thinking was warped. Al went too far, too soon with his divorce actions. He loved Cathy enough to risk an assault charge but didn't take time to even try counseling to save his marriage. Cathy not telling Al about the first assault/rape was total stupidity. Imagine how she would feel when dear sweet hubby come home to tell his wife he as an STD and she is the only possible source. Now that would be grounds for a divorce. Lying never solves any problem, it only adds wood to the fire storm.

what ruins this for me is that she is a married adult. She would know the consequences and should understand the male point of view. Doesn't have to like it but should understand. SO a rape is bad and yes, many times the woman comes out not as a victim with sympathy but is treated very poorly. That is why so many do not report it. But she should know how her husband would feel after another man was there. It will take time for both of them to get past it but they can. However, she should have known that any time AFTER the rape for any reason is a nail in the coffin of her marriage. She could not be that stupid. She is not a child.

I have no issue with the divorce and I can even see the fair separation endnote a real burning. I would, however, not sugar coat the reason why we are divorcing should anyone ask. I am totally surprised that husband #3 stuck around. I like how you had her come clean to him. But I am one of those guys (call me a caveman if you want) that see's her morals as not being what I want in a wife. Even if she learned not to do it or get caught the fact remains it is in her DNA and you can only repress it for so long. Even if she does not cheat again who knows what other shit decisions she will make that impact the marriage?

Writers almost to a person call an affair in contexts like these a mistake . It's such an understatement and only technically true as any lapse in judgment can result in a mistake.

But over time it is just sordid conscious decisions carried out.

There was no saving this marriage to anyone. Counseling doesn't make you someone that can be counted on to have your partners back instead of stabbing it in the worst way possible and continue stabbing it.

I don’t believe in the old saying once a cheat always a cheat I think Cathy could change from personal experience I know it’s possible u just have to want to change no body can make u

Without real interest. Lack of thinking in Al, with no personality or ability to think. Too nice of the author to give him 25 years of happiness: he doesn't deserve it

Quite a good story except that Cathy's seduction and subsequent affair with Tony isn't at all convincing.

5/5

From a comment: "Why are victimized wives so ready to submit themselves to more humiliation?"

A part of my counseling career has been dedicated to adult survivors of child sexual abuse. The dame to the person male or female lasts forever.

with proper counseling they can learn to overcome, but it not easy. The destruction of the self image, and the feeling of deserving bad things is heart rending. People accept what they feel they deserve (though no one deserves such garbage).

Story....

BS! She should have called 911 as just before she entered Plato’s telling them Tony was following her. Tony would have been immediately arrested.

There are psychological studies showing rape victims sometime continue sleeping with their raper. Isn't that the case here? It took the wife some time to regain her senses and stop it.

Couldn't the husband understand that? Why didn't he try to save their marriage by going to family therapist? The therapist whould have explained it to him.

The husband placed his wife on a stool and could not handle it when she became, to his eyes, a real person with faults.

The trolls and mouth breathers won’t like you because you didn’t ruin her life completely, but at least she’s not happy, so there’s that in your favor. If you want high marks, you really have to try and ruin as many women’s lives as possible.

Maybe a truck bomb in front of a women’s shelter. That should delight the bottom-dwellers who infest this site.

OTT. Gooey ending. All that was missing was halo's and angels wings. The story was quite good, with good characters before that last page.

Al should have hit Cathy. She seemed to get off on that.

Bit of a sweet story much to much sugar

So sad...

4 Stars as I did not like the ending . I expected Tony to show up at either her wedding or Al's daughter's wedding . I also expected Al to Marry his helper

Lovely!

Enjoyed the story. Thanks for your writing.

Should it not ahve been- Her Mother and I do?

The husband's error was not slapping her around, since she seemed to get off on that.

Since there had been no pre-divorce development of any of the subsequent post-divorce characters (including grandkids,) the couple’s next 3-5 years coulda/shouda been summarized in 3-4 sentences … or dropped!

Magnificent

Good one.

Great. I got the ending I like.

Als happy pasted in was nice. Of course who cares about Cathy. She was treacherous and only did anything right when cornered.

Great Story

It broke my heart

Why do we always have to go over and over the same facts repeated to different parties?!

Sad. Cathy was a submissive. She was thrilled with a dom initially. She learned painfully.

Al finally found his family.

"Her mother and I do" should have been his answer to the preacher asking who gives the bride away.

Not quite up this writers normal skills. Too much left to the imagination.

Well-written and very emotional. Your description of the affair and the effects on the couple was extremely powerful. Thanks for an excellent read!

And they lived happily ever after is truely just bullshit. Cathy was nothing more than a cheating slut...and her undying love for Al...all a lie. Six months after divorcing the love of her life and dating again after only 6 months.

this was FICTION ,not real life,but ... we all hopefully learn from our mistakes and don't repeat them . sometimes being lonely can lead us to do things we normally wouldn't do even after going through a hard time that should have taught us a lesson .

Cathy could have been prosecuted for withholding information pertinent to a police investigation

It was a pretty good story, but like a lot of your stories, the drama around the aftermath of the discovery of the infidelity is painfully short. Personally, I felt like you also missed an opportunity here to write something really worthy of literotica and have Al basically turn Cathy into his sub.