All Comments on 'Balancing the Scales Ch. 02'

This was an improbable mess with all the videoing and distributing of same. Still Kevin really wimped out when he allowed Mike into the house and just ran. I didn't see where Mike carried in a laptop when he came into the house. This magically appears to set up the ridiculous consequences. Any normal person would have created mayhem with Mike in the house such that he would have left with or without Denise. Assuming no Denise you can then thrash out consequences that could have led to divorce.

A problem in all of these stories is that no female is really going to take such actions. She has more to lose in reputation that the husband she is supposedly humiliating. Not going to happen. This is a male dystopian fantasy.

Very good writing but her abandoning her kids doesn't fit with the earlier description of a loving mother. I can't think of any normal person who is a mother doing that. Apart from that I really liked the story.

Sorry, with the story jumping around it reads childishly which matches all of the characters as none appear to have an IQ above 10. Mike is one of the worst. What lothario keeps self incriminating himself.

Instead of writing a note and RUNNING, Kevin should have filled a bucket with cold water and poured it all over the lovers filming all the time. That would have led to a more interesting continuation and with luck Mike may have struck out and hit Kevin. A lovely assault charge to finish the night. He could then still divorce Denise if he so wanted.

"I heard about Kevin's marriage to the tramp that ruined our lives. I no longer speak to Kevin and have only spoken a few times to the kids."

No, the tramp that did the ruining goes by the name of Lynn now. Lynn's the one who went scortched earth, and that doesn't bode well for her future. Kevin did the initial stupid, but Denise/Lynn was the dumb cunt who ended their world.

Very disappointed in this second chapter....Aimee is the only one that turns out to have any decent character at all. They all deserve the misery they got along the way, and Kevin and Jayden ending up happy together was just one final kick in the gut to make this not worth reading.

I disliked it, mostly because the wife didn't deserve what she got. She was cheated on and trees, she probably took her revenge too far, but she didn't deserve what happened to her in the end, especially losing her children. And ultimately, it's gross the husband married the woman he cheated with. He ruined his first marriage and after very little punishment, gets a great life that he doesn't deserve.

Well written sad tale.

Sad.

Horrible things Infidelity did to these people.

Always surround yourself with Good people & listen to only those

Tinman - pretty good story until the last page and a half. You destroyed the story. What were you thinking - 1*

Looks like her craving to balance the scales blew up in her pretty face. What she did was exponentially worse than the discreet business trip hook up her husband had. She had a right to be pissed off and get her pound of flesh but she did way more than that. Sadly the worst part was where she didn't think her revenge was worst than what her husband did.

Not just a train wreck, but the head on collision, at high speeds, in a tunnel, between a passenger train and one pulling tanker cars of jet fuel.

Moral to the story number one: if you cheat on your wife, or your husband, don't fucking tell her, or him, about it! Find a way to live with the guilt quietly.

Moral to the story number two: don't drink yourself into stupidity. Kevin drank himself into bed with Jayden, and then Denise drank herself into bed with Mike.

Suspension of disbelief is a common necessity in LW, but two things really stick out. First, drinking enough alcohol that you are doing things you just wouldn't has a really depressing effect on your sexual abilities. Kevin's drinking enough that first night that he didn't even remember fucking Jayden come the morning would have meant that he wouldn't have been all that good the previous night. Denise drinking enough with Mike that she's have agreed to the video and its introduction would have meant that she'd have just been laying there, hardly a good fuck.

Second, despite all of the videos out there of high school and college girls out there, married women just aren't going to agree to doing videos when they cheat unless they are too stupid to walk and talk at the same time. That's like slitting their own throats. To give them enough alcohol to get them to agree is to give them enough alcohol to make them lousy lays.

Now to the rest of the story. That was one pussy move of Kevin to give the video to John, hoping that John would kick Mike's ass. If Kevin wanted Mike's ass kicked, he should have been man enough to do it himself rather than push it out on someone else, and get that someone else thrown in jail. And it's a candy assed move to have fucked around himself, but being unable to get past Denise doing the same. Oh, "You have me questioning my masculinity and my ability as a husband and father," he whined to Denise. Well, yes, he should be questioning his masculinity, because he ain't much of a man.

Kevin was written as a caricature of a man. He wasn't going to put up with his wife cheating, oh nosireebob! even though he had cheated himself. He was going to get revenge on Mike, but got John to do the actual beat down for him. He was so pissed that Denise had fucked Mike that he was going to ruin a bunch of other people's marriages by sending out those tapes.

Maybe it was a good thing that Kevin got John to do the beat down for him, and take the jail time. John might survive prison, but Kevin? If he had gone to jail, he'd have one stretched out asshole when he came out!

It was one stupid move on Mike's part to go to that party. Guys who deliberately prey on married women, and are clever enough to be successful at it, shouldn't be stupid enough to walk into an arena where the cuckolded husbands, more than one of them, are present. That's more than just an invitation to a beating; that's playing Russian roulette!

The wimpish reaction from the husbands (john and kevin) is unrealistic as they would have to be the biggest cucks ever. The 'hard man' john would in reality have ripped Mike apart the minute he was informed and kevin's ongoing taking of full blame is just faggotry at its finest. This was a drawn out, unrealistic piece of crap and surely the author has real issues if he purports this offerring to somehow follow real life?

Covered a lot of ground in this chapter and for most authors it reached a conclusion. I'm wondering if there really will be a 3rd chapter. The story falls in between expectations for RAAC and BTB. In that sense the characters come across as really weak personalities. Both hurt but not willing to take the hard steps to get back together. I'll withhold rating the story to see if Chapter 3 shows up. Certainly a decent read but when I started reading, I was expecting something stronger.

How depressing.

All I can say is WOW! 5 stars. I find it sad that Denise could not think for herself and listened to a " friend" that could and did destroy her marriage. I can not envision anyone recovering from revenge sex like that. Keep up the good work, looking forward to reading more of your stories.

What a fucking tragedy.

Wow what a mess they made. Ido't like how the MC takes all the blame. He did cause the issue in their marriage but as he stated she went overboard. I also don't see how a mother would abandon her children. Leaving them with their father short term is a great idea but she should use that time to get aid etc so she can bring them to her. Then, because she is "poor" and gained weight she decides to cut off the kids from visits because she doesn't want the ex to see her? This makes me like the cheater better than her by far. Lastly, after a few months he gives her a ring and they get happily married? That is quick.

very good story.

5⭐

This is perfectly credible.

Betrayal, pain, ..... can sometimes cloud judgment and can lead to a vendetta that cannot be controlled.

Everyone is ultimately a victim.

And reparations and reconciliations are almost impossible.

Thanks for sharing your talent.

Not bad. Not great. Bones of a good story there…but execution was uneven.

Lost a star when you had Kevin get with the woman who he cheated with that triggered the whole disaster. Not credible if the guy really was sorry about cheating.

3***

Well it's sad but very close to so many people that ruin there life's cheating. Taking the advice from a (Friends) will cause more damage than good .Every single person we know that got divorced took advice from friends! Thanks for the read .

A very well written story. It left me with a sense of sadness, so many lives effected and damaged. I guess the moral of the story is don't confess to your wife if you stray.

Depressing story about depressing people. None of them have any worthwhile redeeming features. Honestly, if you knew them you’d shoot them all.

3/5

Sometimes I wonder about the comments. Yes Kevin got drunk and had sex (we think, he was drunk). Feeling guilty, he told his wife (not always the best idea). She gets pissed and takes some bad advice and decides that total humiliation is the only way to get even.

This was no tit for tat retribution and in the end, she lost everything, nobody really won.

*

Reed, he said he would take her punishment, not her total disrespect. The facts, he was drunk and couldn't remember anything. He was hundreds of miles from home and non of their friend would ever find out. He did it in a hotel room, not his house. Denise chose to do it in their house with a person they both knew and try to force him to listen. Mike was the one that wanted to film it for prosperity as another notch on her belt. What ever happened to Mike, he brought that upon himself.

*

When a story is dark, just accept it as it is and enjoy the ride.

Dont know why only everyone else had to suffer and only Kevin came out ahead. Whole story is way too unrealistic.

Realistic! Nobody wins in a cheating/revenge/divorce scenario.

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VERY realistic. It feels like the ending of a 60s-era 'anti-hero film', when film went transitioned from fantasy to realism/naturalism.

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You stayed with your theme all the way through with a well-written, finely-tuned, plot. You never bogged down in those million bits of minutiae that drags down so manly LW works! The dialogue and commentary is excellent, and you changed POV crisply and effectively!

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One of the BEST pieces I've ever read on this site!!! Look for a host of imitators and "inspired by..."!

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You are an emerging talent, sir! KEEP WRITING!!!!

An incomplete read. What can I say.

I always love commenters ranting about the do's and don'ts of the characters. I nothing else, it show how good of a job the writer did to draw the reader into their universe. I enjoy stories that are "real", believable for the most part and this story met that standard. I applaud Reed Richards for pointing out the "lessons" in your story for the readers that my think some of this behavior is acceptable. I mainly read this genre to reinforce the importance of my own marriage and how important it is to avoid the mistakes of the characters we read. When I think I can't stand my situation, I just need to read a well written tale here to feel the pain a split. I did have one nagging narrative miss that wasn't brought up, although many of us can read between the lines, Denise brought Mike back to THEIR house and had sex with them in THEIR marital bed. It wouldn't have mattered if Mike was or was not an asshole, there was no worse act of disrespect than that. Final thought, clearly you decided on just 2 parts and really did a few "epilogues" rather than another part. Didn't work for me... 4*

Outstanding story that caused me to feel the anger and sadness of the characters. I gave it a well deserved 5 stars because

So, Kevin just sits around when Mike and Denise come in? No normal man would do that. Mike would be in a world of hurt long before he gets to the bedroom. You don't play fair; you stop him. Instead, we get the response of the typical weak, needy, defective, LW husband. It's a false note that was just an obvious device to take the story in a certain direction. Unfortunately, the rest of the story can't be taken seriously because of the absurdity of Kevin's behavior.

Then we have the ridiculous sentence John received. DO NOT write about law if you are clueless. A productive citizen with no record, especially given the totality of the circumstances, would not get such a sentence, not even close to that sentence. Moreover, the hacking and website issues would have been known to the cops immediately, and Mike would have been arrested before he got out of the hospital (it doesn't take that much time to track down the cousin). Finally, Krista skates for her assault? Not a fucking word about it. She would have been arrested, too (again, she would not have gotten much of a sentence), but this is LW where the authors seldom write consequences into their stories for women assaulting men.

Then we have the usual authorial "virtue signaling": "We settled on the normal fifty-fifty split of all assets; I agreed to signing over any claim to the house and to a monthly stipend to help with the mortgage and other household expenses along with a reasonable child support payment.

My attorney told me I didn't have to because alimony was a thing of the past for our state, but that wasn't the issue. Since I knew that our current situation was my fault, I felt I needed to pay a penalty. And a self-imposed penalty was all the more effective."

Authors almost always do something like this nonsense to "show" what noble fellow the husband is. It is stupid and unrealistic. Even if you want to give the ex more than the law requires, no lawyer is going to let you write it into the decree. You can give it to her outside the decree (the law doesn't prohibit making gifts), but you don't create a legal obligation beyond what the law requires.

All the POV back and forth tends to make the story seem choppy. Denise's decline into non-motherhood and Jayden and Kevin getting married both seem far-fetched.

Definitely a step down from the first chapter. Everyone is an asshole. In order to make the burn the bitch contingent happy we have Kevin marrying Jaden.

@Zalana

What story did you read? Your comments are ludicrous, redundant, and add nothing of substance. In my opinion the story was, as is many in LW, overly dramatic, full of self -destructive martyrs.

As another commentator wrote you can tell the qua!ity of the story by how well written and engaging the characters are and how emotive the criticisms are. Very good piece of writing if not a great story, well done and thank you.

It does not get anywhere and you just pile one cliché on another.

Nah...didnt do a thing for me.

Again we had a hubby who's such a wonderful man, which is tiring, that he did the usual "My attorney told me I didn't have to because alimony was a thing of the past for our state, but that wasn't the issue. Since I knew that our current situation was my fault, I felt I needed to pay a penalty. And a self-imposed penalty was all the more effective."

yeah we get it he fucked up, but we need to make the wife worse of a person. Two drunken idiots fuck other people but the hubby is such a fragile male. Factually speaking of course. Then we had to make the BTB crowd happy with the pathetic ending to this you gave us. Frankly the hubby should have gotten the shit end of the stick as much as she did. But we can't do that, can we!

The lengths you "writers" go to to manipulate the reader is a bore. It truly is and this chapter, in the end, really fell flat.

In the end the character that diserved the most pain, Got IT!!! Good story except for the cowardly husband allowing the idiot wife to head for the bedroom.

You ask for a LOT of willing suspension of disbelief but it’s a good yarn

Good story. I always think when you get people who really hate the story and those who like it. the author did a good job at pushing buttons. Keep it up.

First of all, well written and you did a nice job of conveying the inner struggles of both. Very few things in life are black and white and every event that happens in life can be met with a variety of responses.

This is where I believe the story went wrong. You had a intelligent, thoughtful and loving woman that had been wronged. She was working through it in an intelligent, thoughtful and loving manner albeit with the devil on one shoulder (Ellen) and the angel on the other (Aimee). You were writing the story with the angel clearly winning the inner struggle.....and then she turned to the devil x2. The Denise you wrote would not have done that, even with the caveat that she did a mean thing in college. No sane person, knowing as she did that Mike was full of shit, would bring him home March him in front of her husband and humiliate him. No amount of alcohol (did they drive back to her place separately? - no mention but she was upright and coherent) would self-fool anyone into thinking that's OK. Others have commented on his reaction (or lack of) and I agree that while maybe in character for him, most men would have had some sort of confrontation. At the very least, I like the idea of a bucket of cold water on the love dogs.

Others have also pointed out, and I also agree that and decent mother would not abandon her kids. Jobs are important but most good parents would take a job at the local Burger King than move hundreds of miles from their young children. Honestly exposure of a sex tape is not good but running away from it is worse. Mike wins. Stay in town, take your licks (so to speak) and forge on with your kids by your side.

Again, good effort but lacked realistic human responses.

this is just about the same as slirpuff's no one won, its funny the man is honest and tells the truth just as most women want but then it was all for nothing be cause their need for revenge or to get even out weights the marriage and everyone ends up were they belong.

Checked all of the right boxes for me.

4 for both chapters.

An odd conflagration of weak minds, stupid choices, inability to confront and manage conflict, and an unending litany of morose regret. It is so bizarre that it qualifies as Adultery Fiction, the equivalent of Science Fiction, substituting nonhuman beings for nonexistent technology. It was marginally plausible until Mike blew up his universe with the videos, then the hacking. Then he comes to the party to taunt and poke the bear? A stupid plot fault. But apparently Denise is just as stupid as Mike as she believes the bullshit about her husband's cheating and is influenced by the brain dead Ellen. Yeah, these people are entirely of a different planet.

So it ends up being a very bleak and black cartoon. Hope that was your goal. The waste of lives this story portrays is almost as sad as the waste of time it took to read it.

But thanks for the effort.

The writing is good, but the story arc is just too much of a downer, populated with depressed and self-destructive characters. It has the heavy-handedness of a cautionary tale, but doesn't even work as one, considering the initial cheater eventually found more happiness with the person he cheated with.

2 stars. Good story but I had trouble with the way he tried to take the blame for EVERYthing. He was the first one to fuck up major, true, but Denise made the decision to listen to the unfaithful, divorced misandrist. And ALL the fallout AFTER that was Denise's fault.

Umm, this is a very bleak ending to this story. I mean, everyone gets hurt, but some where pointless. I mean Ellen? Krista? And the hell with Denise??? Do you really think your characters would never get some god damn therapy?

Sorry, I'm just annoyed because no one actually healed themselves. Not a one. Even Kevin never got therapy or healing, he just managed to move on sort of.

I do like your writing style, I have to appreciate the flow, the good erotic writing, and the ease of reading. But where this went plot wise just really badly and rushed for something that seemed like it was going to take it's time.

Not much to salvage this story. The final death nil was the original cheaters living happily ever after.

Writing a 5. Story content originality and complexity maybe a 4. With the total train wreck ending a generous 3 final score.

SAGE

Well written story, but the ending was off the grid. It would have been 5 * until the end and I ended up at 3 *.

You’ve done some decent work, but this was just too depressing to enjoy at all.

Great work. Sad times caused by people unwilling to forgive.

I really didn't feel much emotion, nor did I like the ending especially when the two cheaters got together. Plus a mother that cared so little for her children that she just left them. Sorry.

Revenge sometimes just ruin everything.

At least the ex-spouses will live their life from hereon well, albeit separately.

I didn't like the second chapter.

Why would Mike send this emails? With his confession at the party it will be easy to target him and his cousin.

Mike got what he deserved, but I would really like to know what he thinks now living on the streets? Was it worth? Does he fell any remorse at all or is he just a sociopath?

And why is Denise still angry at Jayden? Yes, she damaged the marriage, but Denise killed it with her action.

If he was so drunk he didn't *remember* fooling around, doesn't seem fair to label him as a cheater.

Denise, on the other hand, consciously made the choice to fool around. No matter *who* she did that with it wouldn't have "balanced" the scales.

Plus, she as much as *thought* about how she intentionally did what she did *to* crush her husband. Not much love in that action.

Ch 1 was brilliant, but this went a bit out of character. Mike sending all 4 videos, and then walking into that confrontation like he was wearing armor was a bit tough to believe. He had to fear John, and seemingly thought a further exposure would mollify the bigger man? Still, the well thought out plot in ch 1 carries the story. Thanks for writing.

This was not an erotic story for the characters or the readers 1*

5 years for teaching a predator a lesson?!?

Good story , though little overstretched.

Conclusion is inconsistent with situation and deviated from main theme.

Need proper "balancing"

So the moral of ure story is cheat then confess see if ure partner feels the need to get back at u that gives u the reason to divorce and marry the person u cheated with. Proving u wanted the other woman all along so ure not only a cheater but a conniving liar too

The repeated perspective changes toward the end made the story choppy and a bit simple minded. Mostly very well done, though.

Nevertheless, authors should stop writing nonsense like: " Originally, the state was going for assault in the first degree, but he was able to plead down to assault in the second and accepted five years in prison as his sentence."

No record, productive member of society, extreme provocation by Mike's committing a felony...Almost all or all of the sentence would have been suspended. Prison space is needed for repeat offending socio and psychopaths. The police would have interviewed other witnesses and, eventually Mike. John would not have taken the fall for Krista

Good start to the story providing the setting for how Denise/Kevin dealt with his cheating. In part 2 the story kinda went off the rails.(A little too heavy on the crappola.). ~. Also, the ending was far two abrupt! If Disease gave up on custody of her children it just goes to show that she’s really an off-kilter twat!

Well, I was kind of working toward a reconciliation between Kevin and Denise since both were suffering very hard with the consequences of what they had done. Kevin was drunk and still woke up in bed. Denise was kinda drunk and still she went to bed after Mike gave her a load of shit about Kevin's other conquests. Both were wrong and I loved the way the author went back and fourth with their perspectives and feelings. It could have ended with them getting back together if Mike hadn't sent out the videos. I would have cheered a bit if there was a reconciliation but with some longer trust issues but the story took a dark turn when Kevin admitted that he had feelings for Jayden when he first laid eyes on her. That turned the story for me as it was cheating on his wife instead of just getting too drunk and laid her. It was still a good well-thought out story.

Wow, all these complaints as to the ending not being all happy ever after and reconciliation bullshit. Pretty realistic outcome if you ask me. Bottom line is Denise overplayed her position, and rightly paid the price for it.

Ellen and Mike deserved the ending that they got. Denise was a real fool.

One more comment. I gave it a 5 but I didn't like the fact that he ended up with Jayden. I am a Raac guy and I would've been ok with that had she not slept with Mike but some stranger

fucker should have listened to his mom.

Hooking up with Jayden cheapened Kevin. I just feel bad for the kids.

Dont feel sorry for denise at all. She could have divorced and moved on with the kids. She humiliated herself and left her kids? She lives with an old dude so she sort of has a sugar daddy and old dude has live in whore.

Good story pretty sad ending for everyone involved. If there is any victory here it is pyhric.

Cheat an just shut the mouth. A one timer and so what. It's as I promised to never eat again junk food and i do it behind her back. Fuck who is she to deny me junk food!😉

Wow! What a triangle, I was captivated by the story, gave it 5 stars. But here is the reason. Most stories on this site, either the cheater, or the cheated on partner has al, their ducks in a row. This was much closer to reality. You make decisions, and sometimes they affect you immediately, and sometimes it’s a long term thing. I found it really realistic, the way this played out. Most women live or die, on peer pressure. It might be the sisters in her family, or her friends. The wife accepted advice, that ultimately turned out to not be in her interests. Mike is just a narcissist moron. Even sending the one sex tape to hubby, could have brought Mike down with his wife. So no real winners in this situation. Obviously, hubby made out better, but he knows the damage this did to his kids, who will never 100% accept the new wife. This is real life, people.

Sad. Just feel sad.

You went way over the top with punishment of Denise, She not only lost her job, and her career, But she loses her children, her home, her husband, and has to live with a senior citizen as a boy friend. Now let’s see how Kevin makes out in this deal, he gets a new condo, he gets full custody of his kids, pays no child support because she gave up custody, no alimony, gets a new wife, and baby. Why didn’t you have him win the lottery while you were at it, so he could end up being a millionaire. Are you seeing a slight imbalance here yet?

They both cheated, granted you wrote her trespass as being worse than his, but this story would have been better with both spouses suffering or being happy, their outcomes should have been similar. having Ellen end up paralyzed was a little bit to much also, you could have found a little more clever, not so drastic punishment for her character

But it mostly isn’t “punishment” (except maybe by karma or God). Kevin divorces her, which is the one voluntary human punishment meted out on Denis. All the other badness that falls upon her are non-punishment responses by the people which come into contact with the situation.

Mike releasing the videos online is the result of him being a prick, not an actual punishment directed specifically at her. Her losing a good job at a financial institution is just a natural outcome of the release of the video. Her not being able to find a local job is also a natural result. Her losing the second job, 300mi away is also just a logical progression. And so on and so on.

You could say karma or God are punishing her, but that becomes a metaphysical question about good and evil, and fate, and free choice.

A very good story. Everyone got what they deserved with the exception of John. He didn't cheat, but he did not control his actions towards Mike. got prison time to cool off. The children were the biggest losers in the story. hopefully this author has more good tales in store for us. LP

Depressing but at least Kevin didn’t wimp out. Sometimes life just sucks,for everybody.

I actually feel pretty badly for Denise. Poor self-destructive woman.

I was sorta rooting for Aimee, but Jayden isn't a bad choice either.

Though, i did hope that Kev might put his foot down before Denise made that mistake, but i guess that would have cut the story short.

he cheats she cheats he ends up with the better life and she ends up with an old guy. i started not liking her i ended not liking him at all

Response:

Anonymous5 months ago

You went way over the top with punishment of Denise, She not only lost her job, and her career, But she loses her children, her home, her husband, and has to live with a senior citizen as a boy friend. Now let’s see how Kevin makes out in this deal, he gets a new condo, he gets full custody of his kids, pays no child support because she gave up custody, no alimony, gets a new wife, and baby. Why didn’t you have him win the lottery while you were at it, so he could end up being a millionaire. Are you seeing a slight imbalance here yet?

They both cheated, granted you wrote her trespass as being worse than his, but this story would have been better with both spouses suffering or being happy, their outcomes should have been similar. having Ellen end up paralyzed was a little bit to much also, you could have found a little more clever, not so drastic punishment for her character

I disagree. While she does end up in a terrible place, she climbed down each rung in her decline. The husband cheated, which is always a shitty move, but he owned up to it instantly for all intents and purposes and didn't even fight her flat-out stupid REVENGE (cheating back was a revenge plot, not justice) plan, but she just had to take it a few more levels by not only picking someone he knows, she picked someone she knew not only worked with him, but was in their social circle and would definitely torment him about it and spread it around to make him a laughing stock. Even though she went through with her hate-fueled vengeance plan, he stayed civilized and accepted that it was all HIS fault. He divorced her for the DISRESPECT, and he was right to do so, and THAT is why she hates HERSELF. If she couldn't forgive the cheating, she could have done what he did and civilly divorced him, but she just had to get her pound of flesh and when first you seek vengeance, dig two graves.

I liked the author’s courage to say “nobody wins”

Wow quite a storey, you have quite an imagination, and once again ver6 well written, not really a happy ending so I only gave it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not a bad story but just horrible people/characters. It was no fun reading about them

Pathetic childish people

You know the author has created a sick dystopia when the most positive thing that happens in two chapters is the fact two of the cheaters who destroyed multiple families with their selfishness end up together. Some suicides among this rouges' gallery of adulterers would have actually brightened the outcome.

Wow, hate to say it but this situation probably happens more than anyone wants to believe it does !

Kevin should just have left the house and refused to stay while she cheated with Mike. Maybe it would have not been so bad (though with the video probably not much of a difference). It was cheating. Just like Kevin admitted what he did 12 hours later. Very messed up and sad situation. Denise had every justification to be pissed and hurt and angry and WANT to exact revenge. She chose poorly. Kevin obviously caused the the dominoes to fall but by listening to her slut friend's advice Denise irreparably caused them all to fall. A plague on both houses that needn't have been. 5*

She went so far overboard with her "getting even" but he doesn't point that out in the story and takes too much of the blame himself. That fact lowered the scales to 3 stars instead of the five it would have been. Good writing but unfair plot twist.

I would have attacked Mike straight away win or lose wouldn’t have mattered. I feel this is the best of your stories so far,

What a fucked up pair. Why would you ever admit to something you know was a mistake and would never do again. Then he acts like a pussy throughout. The wife was just a dumb bitch!

Oh hell no! Not that bitch.

Moral of the story-don’t marry a known vindictive bitch

Far too much whiney self blame. He got drunk and made a mistake, she blamed him. Then later she got drunk,, but of course that was a valid excuse?.. That she was drunk was of course after much plannning, and in the marital bed, another her point just ignored, even though it is of great import. Then we again have toweringly stupid house giveaway,something that is noted on so many stories and is so hugely ridiculous it destroys the story line. The self blaming repetition got really old really fast.

Many people saw Denise's video. How many of them thought that she was too impaired to give consent?

Whooh!!! His was spir or the moment; Hers was premeditated. There is a very big difference. Her revenge backfired. She should have listened to her cousin, not her friend. If she paid attention to his suffering, she'd have realized he was punishing himself for what happened, and on top of that, if he'd been sober it would never have happened. Knowing that should have been enough for her to realize that it wasn't intentional, sure punish him, but you don't go out and fuck his arch-enemy for revenge. That's just plain stupid, and divorce is the only alternative. Well done, even he is a wimp.

XYZ

Wow Denise was really, really dumb. Accepting Mike's lies, deviating from her original plan, letting Mike film her, downloading the DIY divorce papers for an ultimatum, making her husband hear her with Mike who just wanted one quick fuck to video. Mike is exceedingly dumb also. As he sends all the video to the MC. Gets him divorced and demolished. Disinherited. And on the rum. What a moron. Would have preferred that MC got with Aimee and not Jayden which was out of left field. Revenge sex is often not a good idea (except the February Sucks scenario or equivalen). MC was drunk and did not remember almost any of the night. She did way more than balance the scales. Fucking someone in her husband's extended circle of friends is insane. Ellen is a force for chair and evil. Denise never listened to Aimee. Her mind was poisoned by Ellen and her husband's betrayal. Hers was so much worse than it became a bridge too far. Why did she just ditch her kids? I know she had to move for employment but a state a way can be once a month at worst + holidays and birthdays. She never recovered from her depression and self loathing. Why would a Financial Advisor for a national finance company, give consent to be filmed. Unlikely they make it after her stunt with Mike but zero chance when he finds it was videotaped and sees rhe video even if fast forwarding. Brain dead.

Sorry, I'm usually on the side of the husband, but don't see how Kevin coming out pretty clean and then marrying the woman with whom he cheated as a good ending. Not saying wife was better, she wasn't, but he was just as culpable. You wrote his character as "making a mistake" while she was premeditated. How was his not? He had plenty of time to decide not to go to bed with Jayden. He may not have been vindictive, but he was more than guilty and should have suffered for his actions. His self-righteousness was terrible. Wife should have just divorced him for what he did, but she certainly didn't deserve worse than him. I feel sorry for kids being raised by this clown.

Something my Father told me once, "If she will cheat with you, she will cheat on you." so the ending is sus but good story line pretty consistent character traits, not something every story follows. With one exception, I don't follow Denies's as easily as the others but without that flaw the story wouldn't work, so I get that.

Great storytelling. Thank you.

…how awkward and unbelievable it is for Denise to decide to bang Mike in the first place. It just didn’t ring true.

I know it’s “necessary” for the plot, but it just feels wrong for the characters. I believe that the characters should drive the plot, and not vice versa.

I thought part 1 was fairly good, but part 2 felt rather pro forma.

Who wakes up with a strange woman and immediately calls Mommy? Who lets some asshole walk into his house and fuck his drunk wife in his own bed?

So sad and miserable.

Her payback was scorched earth. Never go fully scorched earth if you plan to be with that person. Yes, he fucked up badly. But what she did WAS infinitely worse. She kept saying, 'even the scales', but all she did was burn the bridge. There was no way back for them. One drunken night, and a volunteered confession has a bridge. Maybe you beat him up physically, verbally, withhold sex for a very long time. Or you find a total stranger for a singular hook-up...but that's touchy. Even that may burn the bridge forever.