All Comments on 'Making an Honest Woman Ch. 03'

Good story but cheapened by making her a total narcissistic slut. Keeping it with the one six week affair, whether divorce or reconciliation, would have made for even better reading imho. Of course it is author's story, but as soon as Bonnie comments about what she saw, it becomes much less nuanced and more straightforward. 4 stars. Clearly Ellen has mental issues.

Rereading this, I am struck anew by the writer’s perception. People often don’t know what motivates them. To the comment made that the author is "flogging a dead horse,” the is not correct, the author is exploring the ramifications of the betrayal, and the reasons for it, all realistically and with real insight. 5 stars and more if they allowed it.

Interesting so far. The one issue I have is, how many men did she have sex with? She sounds like my ex-wife. She was a child abuse victim and could not stop herself getting involved with males and then thought she did little wrong. She divorced me for unreasonable behaviour as I could not handle it. (She and others actually gave me PTSD and the trigger for it was my wife.) I still have love for her but I will never be able to ever live with her again as there is zero trust. She is with someone else now and 'Good Luck To Him.'

It is actually well written. Thr husband is a thinking man. It isn't a RAAC, but just the possibility that it might be has some commenters having a bad allergic reaction. Chill out. They have two kids. He was on the knife's edge of divorcing her even before he learned of the second affair (and probably many more given her "little piece" of the puzzle slip). He was sutibaly pissed off and she appeared to be remorseful. Heck she probably is but she is also a consummate, pathological liar with mental issues. She is trying to atone, moving out so he can live with the girls, but in reality there is no future for them. He noticed something was wrong, got a PI, confronted her, except she lied (as easy as breathing for her by that point), and he moved out. They fought. He spent time with the kids and saw her at dinner. They saw a counselor. She played the counselor also. He got an apartment, saw a divorce attorney, and the two if them went back and forth. They had sex one night, semes to be getting better and he learned of the second affair. What is so wrong in what he did. He is a good father and a good person. The wife appears to actually love him (or thinks she does more likely), but obviously she doesn't respect him by this point and lies easily to get what she wants to scratch her itch. He has now lost all respect for her and will.nevwe trust her again. She is delusional about wining him back. That is on her. Total time has been like what six weeks or so since the confrontation? He used the PI report to burn her last lover. She really doesn't have an emotional connection with these guys because whatever is driving her to chest is not why a woman normally cheats (neglect, not being desired or paid attention, feeling unwanted or unloved) but more like why a man cheats (conquest, "she's hot", need a break from my marriage, fear of getting older). It isn't an excuse. And once he gets more info, he is just done with her. Again well written.

2 stars - you are flogging a dead horse

Saying I am sorry cost absolutely nothing. It is easy, has no downside, and has no consequences. So why is it always used as a way to establish parity. She , and countless other eff around ad nauseum, discovery ensues, and she says sorry, and now we are all ok, all is well and no more issue. Right. The same holds tru for the stupid question better off with or without. What nobody, including such vaunted authors as within these pages, is that he has to live with himself 24/7 the rest of his life. Without at least a bit of self respect, what is left? By the way, Dr Drake needs to be brought up on formal complaint.

The way I feel about the story/wife so far is when she will be on her own, she will fall back to her ways. There is something going on with her. Possibly childhood issues, child abuse, less likely, her mother was a persistent adulterer, possibly, she is just wired that way, possibly. I suppose we will find out.

Well, here we go again...."I know she's not evil, and that she must have some rationale for what she's doing that makes sense to her, but I'm damned if I can figure it out." How very "modern". She's not "evil" because moderns/post-moderns don't believe in evil.This is not to say that some people lack evil impulses. We all have them, but when we act on them, we are "evil". Moreover, the more we cat on those impulses, the worse we are. But in the author's world, people just make mistakes. If you believe that tripe, you don't understand human nature or are simply a nihilist. Then, for a profoundly empty statement, the comment about Ellen having "some rationale" can't be topped. Unless all the adultery took place in a trance, she, of course, had "some rationale". After all, all purposeful action is accompanied by reasons.

Ultimately, we get the psychobabble" version of "De Debil done made me do it.": "It wasn't me. I'm only myself when I'm with you and the children." The "causes" of her slutting are deep, I tell you! Only years of "meaningful conversations" with (preferrably female) counselors can find the "real" reasons for her slutting.

“a chance to remember how much better we are together”

So she went from this, to spreading her legs for another man inadequacy months after the divorce? Sounds like you need a different chapter 4 IMO, so much change and so little time.

Excellent.

"If you don't want to have sex with me, then I don't see how you can get angry about someone else wanting to."

.

This little rant says it all about Ellen. It WAS all about getting better sex. She was a cheating slut. All the psycho babble in the world can’t refute this simple fact.

.

While on tne one hand it is admirable that he doesn’t want to destroy her….his almost eagerness to continue to deal with her daily — hey Ellen…dinner’s ready! — is pure wimpy surrender.

.

3 ***

Seems like this series might well be entitled "Making a Woman Honest".

Thank you for the good work, the clear presentation, the thoughtful approach. And thank you for the Epilogue!

LWlurker

After the second chapter, I was disgusted with the portrayal of both counsellors, Drake and Anderson.

After the third chapter it is impossible to accept Anderson's unprofessional approach. He needed to feel trust and she wouldn't accept that need and continued over and over trying to make him feel guilty for it.

LOL she did not lie to keep him from being hurt .It never really is that's a rationale for the lying The lying is to escape the consequences.

so, to recap

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she has been cheating on him for years

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every time she is given the opportunity to confess she lies again

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he works a job that starts after the kids go to school, ends before they get home, and has the same vacation schedule

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she works a job that is primarily nights and weekends

/

yet he insists she get the house and custody?

/

he wants to leave his kids in the care of a turbo slut incapable of not fucking random men during the very hours she needs to be home caring for the kids?

/

This in next level cuck shit

LOL a pyschobabbler telling him his wife lied to him so he would not get hurt. Like boiling him in oil slowly so he would not feel the pain. Such an awful rationalization.

I agree with danoctober.

Windylicker is a great story teller, and I'm enjoying this story. There are things about this story that I don't like. There are things I wish the MC would say or scream at his wife, but that's just me.

WL, if you read these comments, I hope you will write more and choose to share it here.

Phew! I suppose this is how an academic is suppose to behave in this type of situation. The author, windylicker has done a fabulous job writing dialogue between all the character here.

I was enjoying this story so much I went to see what other stories they may have written and this is the only one. That's really a shame because this writer would be a great addition here at literotica as a regular contributing author. 5 stars.

So how many affairs has she had? He needs to man up and ditch her.

a veritable fiesta of psychobabble. In response to the wife's "It was me, but it really wasn't me" excuse for her affairs, we get this risible response from the counselor:

"She cleared her throat. "I would say that this sort of behavior is probably a symptom, the result of your wife's attempt to deal with a problem that she couldn't fully recognize or understand, because its origin and causes are hidden from her. I would counsel you that the fact that she has a problem does not necessarily mean that your marriage is unsound, and that, in fact, she has insisted to me, and I believe her, that she loves you very much."

The second counselor is also almost a parody.

I have to keep telling myself that

She keeps getting mad when held accountable most people would or do

He keeps giving openings but she almost admitted to a lot more

Take the house and kids and move on

Writing hints she is a lot worse whether on purpose to paint her one way or another or simply author keeps changing mind?

Overall I wish keep one way going

I met a woman who was in the process of getting a divorce tho I didn't know it at the time. She was pretty good looking and very enthusiastic sexually. She got a big settlement. She then went to a plastic surgeon, got a great set of tits and some nios and tucks and emerged quite a stunning red head. Moved in with me. 9 Yrs later I married her. One day after almost 2 yrs she took me to bed and gave me memorable piece of ass. Later she said she was going to go see a mutual lady friend. She didn't come home. After 3 days frantically searching hospitals, jails etc I got a message on my computer in the open that she had moved in with some guy. It was bloody. She didn't get a thing from our marriage but destroyed my 2 businesses and I lost all I had. 6 yrs after that still smarting but rebuilding my life a wild fire came along and wiped me out again but it didn't feel bad...more like taking a shower, I had nothing from my past. Rebuilt once more and the Fairy Godmother came around and as a result of my association with that woman I was suddenly infinintly better off. Funny how that works. Now 28 yrs later and doing great, I still look at the obits in the local newspaper hoping to see her name.

Some of the best dialogue I've read on here. Still gonna nitpick, and for that very reason. Dave says to Dan that he still can't understand why he cheated and doubts that Ellen would either. Umm it just might be the excitement Dave, the illicit naughtiness. The having your cake and eating it too. Being a poor quality spouse and weak with it. Big big ol risk if the marriage means so much to your life. Being so ignorant and poor of mind that you only realise the damage and fallout amongst the tears.

Read this again all the way through. It's been dissected enough, I will just say that it's one of the best I've read in LW. Please write again soon Wendy.

Sorry I wasn't clear about the wife's post divorce faithfulness. Normally I would agree 100% with your statement. In this case I was referring to her statement about moving into the apartment on campus. She tells her husband that she is going to win him back. So with that in mind I made the statement about being faithful. She wasn't going to win him back of she continued in her old ways.

I hope our society gets past blaming our immoral behavior upon some syndrome. She cheated because she could and wanted her nasty illicit fun on the side. No psycho babel excuses needed.

for not calling Ellen (the lying, cheating, slut) what she really is: A Sociopathic Whore. As a writer, you are way too nice. Maybe you can write the screenplay for Frozen 2.

His primary aim should be to get out of infidelity. The next step is to decide to divorce or reconcile.

At this point he is still living in infidelity as he believes her still capable of cheating once more. Until he is certain that this will not happen he should continue with the divorce as that is his only guarantee. Even then if he becomes near certain that she will not cheat again he still has the option of divorce as that is his prerogative being the betrayed spouse. This could happen even if they start reconciliation. He will always have that right in my opinion if he cannot live with the memories.

You will have to use all your powers to show that she is truly remorseful and worthy of the gift of reconciliation. I would actually enjoy you succeeding as few, if any, writers are capable of doing this.

You write well, so you stand a chance!

I don’t know how this is going to end.

Hoping it won’t turn into a BTB, but some other way. Reconciliation?

How?

I enjoy your writing, hope for more.

Well done Wendy

By the vague ending they are getting divorced, so how can she live in his allocated flat on campus?

Long Story is a repeating psychological mish mash of how the dull intellectual husband being upset, but he never vents which is unrealistic. He doesnt even confront her lovers, which makes him a coward. No wonder wife looks for excitement elsewhere, but then again she is a lying, cheating, sociopathic slut who fucks her customers which makes a her a whore.

For more excitement, read National Geographic.

Far too long and bland with a vague ending.Some information aboutwhat happened to Ellen's lover and his marriage might have boosted a crap story.

A nuanced treatment of a decent man coping with a suddenly shattered marriage. My only caveat is the lying of the cheating wife. It borders on pathological. Here he is in bed giving her a pardon for all past infidelities if only she'll admit them, and STILL she lies to him. And it was her undoing. I would have been interested in having them explore with the therapist the lying and the wife's suicidal risk taking, but that's a quibble (or a 4th chapter).

Far too long.The counselling adds nothing but bulk and where does the money for all these on top of P.I fees come from.He is a bog standard college professor not Bill Gates.Also the mother with school age children does not leave the marital home.

While you are correct that named commenters are no more or less anonymous than "Anonymous" commenters, but you forget the other reason for id's - Dialog! If I want to reply to a comment made by a named commenter, I can simply use their name. If it's one of half a dozen or more anons, it's more complicated.

Amusing to me is luedon wanting author to post a score from some vague test. Namers and some authors denigrate anons routinely. Yet numerous namers bios contain no written bio and leave default - no answer, none - responses as to gender, height, etc.

If wendylicker wanted anyone to know wendylickers gender, wendylicker would have informed one and all.

True a female could select male.

Even the name wendylicker is an enigma as to gender.

Quite clever, I thought as some people do make assumptions.

This story was not the best ''first story'' nor was it the worst. The author should take pride in knowing the great interest this story created.

Your comment: "Assuming that they do get a divorce, her celibacy or lack thereof is if no concern to him!"

Many of those I have met are very 'concerned'. (The ex-wives express it more openly, but the ex-husbands make it obvious in other ways, including stalking the ex.)

Clearly they have no legal rights, but concern is different. "There he/she is, happy, leaving me unhappy."

(Words, SB. Words are very important in human relationships. Even more so in ex-relationships.)

Lue

@cpete - If they are, indeed, getting a divorce, then who fucks whom is nobody's business, "little spies" or not!

@DrakenNoir - Same thing! "Faithful to her 'ex-husband'? What does that even mean? Assuming that they do get a divorce, her celibacy or lack thereof is if no concern to him!"

Your suggested motive of the wife to live alone on campus is how I see it as well. The wife has no excuse for her serial cheating other than "I must have some kind of sickness). The first scene in chapter one where she is rushing past her husband to go on her date while knowing that her husband must be on to her until he finally stops his wimp act and directly confronts her with her lovers name is a clue to her real personality and desire in life. She seems to want her stable marriage and her lovers on the side for as long as she can attract them. Without another chapter this is how I "imagine" how this story plays out.

I agree with the last couple of comments. Ellen loose and free on a college campus? No way that can go wrong (sarcasm font on for that comment). And it certainly makes sure that Tom is tied down and kept busy. Even if Ellen is sincere about her desire to become a one man woman and make Tom the only man in her life, this is not the way to do it. You don't lock an alcoholic in a bar or a distillery to try to cure them! You don't put a serial adulterer on a college campus and expect her to become faithful to her ex husband. Her therapist should strongly advise AGAINST this. You wouldn't advise a pedophile to work in a school would you? Of course not.

This can't possibly end well for Ellen. It's just going to get worse and all the while she will tell poor Tom that she's really getting better. She's really 'finding' herself. All the while she'll be telling him that she's catering more 'events'. Yeah, too bad they will all be on campus 'event's ' and they will eventually be on Greek Row. She'll probably start to get so busy she'll start missing dinners with the kids and Tom. And when it all comes out maybe Tom can finally move on and find someone who will love both him and his two daughters. Hopefully someone will tell him sooner this time.

Decent story. Should take the next step and go ahead and finish it. Burn, RAAC or whatever.

As good as this tale is, the author actually has another fine story hidden in as “the rest of the story” he is not telling us?

Is Ellen’s offer to stay in apartment and let Dan have kids and house an altruistic offer or an alterative motive?

Dan staying in house makes sure hubby keeps house maintained and Dan already punted on child support-so more money for Ellen with bonus of low cost Campus housing. Also Dan with a house and two kids limits his dating/mating prospects. Despite what Therapist said -a middle age man with two daughters is not a “Babe Magnet”. However an attractive divorced MILF living alone will have no difficulty with men…

On the other hand-if Ellen let Dan stay in the apartment, it gives him a great place to meet and bang the bevy of coeds on campus (Means-Motive-Opportunity). The Wendylicker has the Ellen character know if she is staying in house with kids gives Ellen two little spies that report on her every move to keep Dan and limits her dating life as babysitters etc. plus playing Mommy after working all day is now more difficult.

Ellen staying apartment gives her single life she wants but can keep hidden from Dan as she keeps him as clueless as ever as she seeks a “cure” and professes her love and attempts to win him back. Even if they never get back 100% -she has hubby keeping the domestic life for her with clean kids and upkept house for “Mommy time” and still the nights are her alone to do what she wants with who she wants. Author allows Ellen to not only eat her cake and have it too-but someone else bakes it for her.

Very Clever Wendylicker-well played into 5**

The author wrote at the beginning of this chapter - "This is the final chapter, as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for reading."

So what you have read is what you get and you are left on your own to "assume" the ending.

What an intricate story. Great plot, wonderful characterization, Incredible insight into both female and male thought processes and internal dialogue. The ancillary characters are seamlessly woven into the story. You have provided the reader a dillema that will keep them coming back for Chapter 4.

Alyssa,will ride her bike over to see her mom some afternoon,using her key she will let her self in,and find her mom getting fucked hard in the ass by a young grad student, then she will understand with great clarity why her mom dumped her and her sister and moved into an apt. by her self....this visiting every day for dinner and chat like nothings wrong can not work...false hopes to the girls,and when not "if" Tom or Allie misses a dinner cause they have a date it will all come crashing down..great story tho !! Solid 4.5 *..would b 5 but too long between 1st an 3ed chapters...Please keep writing !...stlcris

HDK's concern could be satisfied if all authors included their scores on the test mentioned in Vandemonium's recent story.

In 'After Friday Night', the husband noted:

"The test produced a result for every individual between 0 and 360. Most male brains scored between 0 and 180"

Problem solved.

Lue

I just don't know he could be a man who valued monogamy and find a way to stay with a woman who felt "If you don't want to have sex with me, then I don't see how you can get angry about someone else wanting to."

Rather than her behavior being something aberrant, it sounds like some of her attitudes are felt very deeply.

Also, I think that the ship has already sailed on the possibility of staying together for these children's sake. They already know too much.

I'm just saying that the writer gave her gender away with her added details. I may not be Sherlock Holmes, but I easily identified this writer as female. That isn't a bad thing, but we all know that when men write as a female character, their thoughts do not always follow the path of female logic. (An oxymoron?) The same apparently can be said for females writing from a male perspective. I enjoyed the story and am fine with the ending. The wife not only lied repeatedly, but she also failed to understand how much of a deal breaker it was.

So the Mrs. wants the bachelor pad? I wonder why?

Does she fight for her man and family? Or is it just another ruse to get vertical with air tight with college guys and have her own place to do it? She must protect the children! Tough call for the writer. I must admit I don’t see it ending well in my head. Get the camera installed before she goes in there. Fire in he hole!🤘

This is far from done. If she takes the apartment she will have a place now to see her lovers. And what is her " Nedical Condition ". He deserves the truth.

I know I will be in the minority on this, but I am happy the story ends up in the air at least a little. The story and characters belong to the author. He doesn't owe us a conclusion. I have seen how the "abusive psychotic bastard" that my dear friend divorced turned into a friendly co-parent in 10 years of living separate lives. I wonder if she doesn't regret exploding the marriage over his affair.

Things are never so black and white when it really is us in the fire. It's easy to make declarations when it's just theory.

So I hope you get more ideas and give us more of your kind of stories. And tell Wendy I think she's lucky to have you.

R.

This marriage was over at the first discovery of cheating. He just prolonged the pain of finding his wife to be an unrepentant, amoral, cheating slut. The only one in this story with any grasp of reality, was the 14 year old daughter. Good work though. It kept me interested to the non ending. Gave you a *4, would go 5 quickly for definite ending.

Who do you cheat? You cheat people you don't know, or people you don't care about. Ellen really doesn't care about her husband, or her children. At least not enough to forgo her desire for strange cock.

Why do you cheat? You cheat in order to get something you cannot earn or obtain honestly and legitimately. You cheat because it works, and you have no personal ethics or morals to restrain yourself.

It is a very tepid and shallow relationship if a person cannot tell that their spouse doesn't really respect them. It is a very obtuse or blind person who cannot see that their spouse has no compunction about cheating or conniving to get what they want.

Ellen has been cheating for years. Dan has never noticed, suggesting that Ellen has never changed, and has always been a cheat and a liar.

So we are left with a woman who has no soul, no heart, no substance. She has said and done whatever it takes to get away with her cheating, and she has been successfully cheating for years. So Ellen will of course change, she will become a more careful and sophisticated cheater. Why not? Ellen has nothing left to lose, and everything to gain. She has no place to go but up. If she wins Dan back, perfect. And if she doesn't, she's still got all the other men out there who will be a fool for some cute middle aged physically fit pussy.

Again, the major plot fault is that the children are supposed to be deaf dumb and blind to their mother's true nature. Ain't gonna happen. Another plot fault that is revealed in this story is that Ellen admits to being a serial cheater, out of boredom. Her private therapy sessions should have made that known, and the therapist would never have advised Dan to reconcile with such a mentally or morally deficient woman.

So, a bit lame and contrived, but a decent first effort. Thank you for your time. I look forward to future stories.

When should it occur to him that he might not be the girls' bio-father?

For me, the issue is it was never brought up at all in the story. Not at the beginning, middle or end. Dan seems to think lack of honesty and commitment to marriage is worse than actual sex. If true, why doesn't he revisit that night in therapy or privately? Given the way he's portrayed, it does seem like an issue he'd want to know answers to. But he never brings it up.

Good point indeed! Why WASN'T her failure to be honest right at the start brought up with the therapist. Of course, now that we know that there was at least one other affair, I guess we know why she eschewed honesty!

Where do you write about the wife being an honest woman? She told her husband in therapy that he only knew a fraction of her affairs so, when will she come clean? Ending here is avoidance of the logical story line - thanks so far!

Intriguing. Captures many of the main social and psychological issues in a situation like theirs. I for one enjoy a well written, intelligent yearn, that is more realistic than not. I appreciate stories like yours that explore the characters thoughts, feelings, and "the what drives" them to make their decisions. I felt you did a fabulous job with the husband. Sure, I would like to see their story continue, especially the psychological exploration of the wife. But I can understand why you cut it off at this point, since it is really the husband's narrative perspective.

Kudos. I hope you will write more. Don't let the naysayers get to you.

Not sure where I first read that, but there's truth to this. You started Chapter 1 with a great opening confrontation, a nice hook. And then, never revisited it. Speaking for me, that initial confrontation is what drew me in. Why would she do what she did, when he gave all signs of knowing her marriage was on the rocks? If she wanted a divorce, it made sense. She was following through with a plan she knew would hurt him that night. She was prepared to do it anyway. Even if she was relying on him having no actual evidence, the fact that she knew he thought she was leaving to have an affair, and was about to leave anyway until confronted with proof, was hurtful.

As pointed out by many other comments, how did this not come up in therapy or outside it? A good hook at the beginning is great, but it's a thing I wanted to see revisited. Dan seemed to struggle with wondering if she was sincere, it seems like that night should have been deconstructed at length in therapy.

As a first submission, awesome. I hope it won't be the last. Been a nice ride.

Ok. Since we finally get the title into the story (when you see it in a movie my wife's family always, quietly, applauds), I am guessing it's done???

Though, I too would like a little more closure. Oh sure, it may be better than the near "Sopranos" ending of chapter 2, but it looked like you were trying to close holes within the story with this chapter, and you did, for some points. Still a lot of little details left unfinished. I think I would have preferred the story to end at chapter 2, if chapter 3 is the end. Leave us the "Oh shit!" of a short story. Shit like that is ok for short or Flash stories. But the more you get invested into a story, the more resolution you feel you need (I think that's why I hated the Sopranos ending. If it was a "Twilight Zone" episode, not a problem. Bookworm steps on his glasses. Fade out. Wait, wait! Does he find another pair somewhere? Are there other survivors? What caused the war? Who started it? Is there radiation? Does Meredith die of cancer, or starvation?OR just leave it at "...Steps on his glasses.")

Now we've got her 1099 to deal with. Left hanging. Is she a closet millionaire? Is her business both a catering business AND an escort service (would account for the millions)? If not an escort service, we know she cheated at least twice now. Do we, the readers, want to know how many men she's cheated with? Do we want to know "who" she cheated with (colleagues, or people they know, or all strangers)? And when did she start? Did she truly lose respect for him. Or did she not have it from the very start?

Someone said something about a gun in act 1 of a play. That's a good analogy. If it were a one act play, then it is just part of the scenery. But in a multipart, 2hour play, I sure would like to know what the hell the gun was there for.

Irregardless, damn fine writing.

Enjoyed it a lot. I look forward to any other stories you may write.

Loved the first two chapters, and was hoping I'd be able to give highest marks on this one too. Still, definitely an above average submission. I also appreciate that the story did finish. It's always a risk on the part of the reader to start a story that only has the promise to be finished. You didn't let us down.

The main problem I had with this chapter, was that there were so many things raised in the first two chapters that were just abandoned. As that guy from Star Trek famously said, if you show a gun onstage in Act I, it needs to be used by the end of the play.

In one therapy session it came up that her need for recognition might have led her to cheat. In another therapy session, the possibility of "mind games" was raised. Was it either, neither, or both? We don't know at the end.

Dr. Drake seems very committed to them reconciling at one point. She seems to believe Ellen in all aspects. Yet she does not seem shocked in the least when Dan reveals she's had more than one affair. Did Dr. Drake also know this? If so, why was she pushing for reconciliation before Dan even was aware of the bigger issue? If Dr. Drake didn't know, why did she still seem to be pushing toward reconciliation? The behavior seems odd, without some hidden motive. And at the end, Ellen is "... still working with Dr. Drake ...", who clearly was ineffective, at best. Again, at the end we don't have answers.

How long was she doing this? With how many different lovers? Once again, we don't know. These things might not bother me quite as much if the title wasn't what it was. I don't think I'm the only one who assumed based on the that title, we'd have a story that ended with some kind of full disclosure to important issues raised.

The last, of course, is the initial conversation the night he confronted her. In subsequent chapters, she seems terrified of losing her marriage. The night she KNEW he suspected, she seemed the opposite. Why that disparity? There doesn't need to be proven infidelity to lead to divorce, just suspicion it exists. Dan told her in no uncertain terms the marriage was over if she left. Yet she was still willing to take that risk. Given what comes later, this seems incongruous. And despite a lot of scenes involving therapy, this night never comes up. Why? That part made me beat my head against the wall.

I did enjoy your contribution and hope we'll see more submissions from you. I hope you take my thoughts on this chapter in that context.

Shouldn’t be the end...how about more chapters? End it here & the story is left hanging. You are a really good story teller and have written a compelling tale. Thanks for sharing...

Guess I have a different definition for that word than another commenter.

She lied about first affair until presented with the evidence.

She denied second affair until that position was

untenable.

She implies or reader is led to infer she had many more affairs with her ''little piece of the past'' statement.

Her comment about her not bringing affair home or affecting family is self-delusional. Husband would not have hired PI if wife's attitude at home had not changed considerably.

Though her verbal attack may be seen by some as having naught to do with honesty, when she expresses her vitriolic hope that he become lonely, sued for sexual harassment, and lose his job, she IS HONESTLY expressing her long held disrespect, contempt, and hatred of husband.

Talented effort by author resulting in most amicable divorce. Parents placing children first. Family will dine together every night.

In closing, just because a character in the story does not want to know certain facts does not exclude writer's responsibility to provide those oft hinted about details to the readers.

Thank you for this story. I have been poking around this site for several years, mostly in this category, and yours is by far the best-written story of its kind that I have seen here. The characters and their voices are natural, the story development and pacing just right, the emotions well-described and believable...

Please keep contributing!

better, idk that second Ch idk maybe shouldnt have been written, hard to say bc i like ur writing felt off for this series. there was something in here on page 2 i think, i wanted to comment on but dont remember, so probably isnt worth commenting on it lol, ty for the story, will be putting u on follow and waiting for more stories from u

Human people, making human mistakes and trying to working through the messes they caused.

Really looking forward to subsequent chapters.

The number of comments you rec'd on the first two installments was astounding, and is testament to the quality of the writing and depth of the viewpoints on the problems and solutions.

I am disappointed you chose to stop it here, would love to see how it all works out (or doesnt).

I am looking forward to your next offering.

"Making an Honest Woman the title so how does that fit where the story stands today."

What more does she have to be honest about? She started out being dishonest about her affairs, she ended up being honest about them.

But WendyLicker's subtitles have been more informative than his title.

Lue

and real life drama. Good plot twist in wife other affairs and I liked the explanation for her lie. If wife told truth she is toast, if wife gets caught in lie she is toast, if lie succeeds-wife is OK. a 1 in 3 chance to save the marriage -so lie was hedged gamble.

no easy answers and life's lessons come after the test. Sometimes Shit just happens and you need to roll with as best you can as the author had written the main character.

well done

At least three of the most imposing figures on Literotica read your story. Whatever they say completely outweighs anything I could ever say or anything anyone else could ever say. When you have writers who have been around, topped the charts, and know writing as well as those three do and they read your story, you know you've arrived and didn't just write smut.

Another sure sign you succeeded is if Swingerjoe didn't like it and makes a nasty comment. You know you didn't just write smut. You punched all the tickets.

I find it hard not to agree with ohio but I this instance I must. This is not an ending. Making an Honest Woman the title so how does that fit where the story stands today. I have enjoyed the writing and in a particular many of the insights and rationale that has been put forth. I won’t say that every question in a story has to be answered but in this story almost every question is left unanswered. I would agree with ohio that I would look forward to future posts by wendylicker but will read no more if this is their idea of an ending.

I just looked back at the sub-title and the current score.

That subtitle tells a lot about what to expect from the story and where the author is coming from. Interesting. I should have paid more attention before reading on.

And the score, whilst lower than that for the earlier chapters, is still marginally above 4. So readers like it, despite the many complaints in the commentary.

Lue

However the story was very boring and dull. I felt like I was watching a Lifetime Network movie.

The number of comments received is the true measure of how many readers were engaged by the story. As Wendylicker surely knows, no one posts in Loving Wives for unambiguous praise--as they say, "here be dragons".

The great HDK, who is virtually never wrong, has pointed out in the past that writing the beginning of a Cheating Wife story is child's play; the skill is in writing a story that has an ending. This story has an ending that I find perfectly reasonable--for the author to decide that we don't need to know who moves where, or which spouse re-marries first (if at all), or where Alyssa goes to college, is completely appropriate.

Above all, the story does what Loving Wives fans look for in a serious piece of fiction (as opposed to a stroke story)--it engages our emotions, gets us to care about the characters and situations and what happens next. In that way, "Making an Honest Woman" is totally a success.

Thanks so much, and I am among many readers in hoping for more stories from you soon.

Best, ohio

The writing is so much better than anything we've seen over the last several weeks.

Since the story ENDS with him deciding to go ahead with the divorce there is no reconciliation of ANY kind, let alone a RAAC.

His use of scratching an itch analogy wasn't meant to minimize what she did, but as an example of how we're sometimes driven to do something harmful even when we are aware of the damage it can cause.

I WASN'T proposing an open marriage! I was responding to YOUR comment where you raised the possibility of HIM proposing an open marriage, but then described a marriage that WASN'T open, except for her!

Sorry but the ending just doesn't feel right to me as a reader, especially after that last chapter's cliff hanger that brought us all back.

3*

Not sure if your comment extends this far, but that's debatable. Suppose you have a husband and wife who are both lovers of another woman, both singly, and together? Loving devotion to both the spouse and a significant other, on the part of both, and the significant other. Not an "open" relationship, but definitely having sex with someone else. You probably didn't intend your comment to spread that wide. A couple where one is cheating and lying to the other about it has no chance, after detection. You are right about that. You don't cheat and lie about meaningful things to people you love. That, by definition, is narcissism.

Great story, by the way, Author. End it where you choose. It's your story, and you'll never satisfy people who want you to recount history from the dawn of time to the final apocalypse. Don't worry about comments by those who are envious because you are a better writer than they are, either. Are you sure you aren't some veteran just playing tricks on us?

The "open marriage" you suggest wouldn't be an open marriage. It would be a "hotwife" relationship -- which I never suggested. I merely stated that if they were both open and honest about sex, and gave each other a little freedom to explore, their marriage and family could have been saved.

Not for nothing, but such an ending would also give the title of this story some validity. As it stands, I'm not sure how the wife in this story was ever an honest woman. If Dan had forced her to become honest by allowing her to do upfront what she had been hiding from him, THEN he would have truly made her into an honest woman!

Who performs the marriage ceremony has nothing to do with whether two people entered into a covenant with each other.

Might want to check the primary denotation in any dictionary!

if a person is having sex outside of their marriage or relationship. there is no way they are completely devoted to their spouse or significant other or the relationship.

@sbrooks - RAAC without the reconciliation == it read to me as though someone wrote a RAAC story and then didn't even bother to upload the last page.

As written, I cannot conceive of this person standing on their own two feet and forging a new life for themselves. The whole conversation with the daughter about how it was no big deal, his wife was just scratching an itch, felt to me like someone already trying to just ignore the issue and move past it. He's fully aware that she can talk circles around him, and by having her over for dinner every night, he's practically inviting her to do just that.

"I would tell Arlene to proceed with the divorce." Yeah, he said that. He's also said a lot of things, and has drawn a lot of bright lines and given a lot of last chances, and keeps finding reasons to not actually enforce any of them.

At the end, the wife gets pretty much the best she could hope for at this point. He's at home playing Mr. Mom. She gets the right to come over on a daily basis whenever she wants the comfort and security of home, and has her single apartment when she wants a life of her own. She doesn't get sex from him, but let's not forget the "he never gave her a vaginal orgasm" thing (and, gee, have to now wonder if maybe her latest lover wasn't that unique in giving her one), so perhaps she can deal with having to get that elsewhere.

There's no way he can move on with her still so entwined in his life, and she has every opportunity she needs to suck him back in.

I'd say it ends on an ambiguous note, but the only non-RAAC ways I could see his life possibly going are (a) the on-campus apartment means she's pretty close if he ever wants to drop by, perhaps after finally deciding to give her another last chance, he walks in on her with her lover, and (maybe?) grows some balls, or (b) a supermodel gets lost on her way to a StangStar story, and he gets a rebound girlfriend who bitch-slaps him into freedom from her (or, at least, a more pleasant slavery).

My comment was in response to the statement that she was a "mere bookkeeper," where the story clearly states that she was co-owner, handling the business side. True, we have no idea of her hours, but they could just as easily be full-time as part-time, and we were told that they were making pretty good money.

It doesn't need another chapter. It was great for what it was -- an exploration of a situation rather than a journey to a conclusion.

What I felt made WendyLicker's story so different from most LW stories was the insights into the husband character's personality and his thoughts. He was seen to be more sensitive to both his own and others' feelings and, as an academic, thinking things through as logically as possible for one deeply involved in a difficult situation.

This was shown especially in his concerns for the two daughters.

And, unlike HDK, I prefer men who have the capacity to understand feelings and motives. If they come with the capacity to cook gourmet meals for the family as well, that's a bonus.

Lue

Ps: We should all be concerned about the deception currently occurring in Sherwood Forest. I hope that AMerryman and Maid Marian find and expose the imposter as soon as possible.

I don't necessarily disagree with your SECOND statement, but your FIRST statement, the one I was responding to, had the following:

"If Dan had proposed an open marriage, ... she could continue sowing her wild oats and scratching that itch" A marriage where SHE could continue sowing HER wild oats, isn't an open marriage! An open marriage would have allowed him to sow HIS wild oats as well, except that he didn't want to, which makes him proposing an open marriage a non-starter.

I am sure that given the audience only a truly rebel author would make the protagonist

swallow a toad!

In this chapter we learn that she files her taxes separately. He has no idea what she makes. Two kids selling lemonade are co-owners, that doesn't mean anything. The story gives us no idea about how busy her business is. All we know is that it involves Ellen and her friend. Ellen spends a lot of time away from her family and has now suggested that she will be the one to leave them.

reasonable man

I understand that they are getting divorced and that she can do as she pleases however, the link I was alluding to was that she was going to be living in the University Housing where he is the requestor for the housing and the person responsible for the property. She also strongly hinted that she was going to be "cured" and then try to win him back.

You're just espousing easy platitudes. Yes a Covenent. If in church in front of God. But what if it's done by a harried worker in the county's Hall of Records. Without using gods name used once. It is certainly a commitment. Yes, one of the strongest you'll can have, a binding legal contract linking you to one another. But a Covenant? I think not.

And I think the absolute closest human bond (for most) is the mother-child bond. I agree marriage is the closest bond entered into, and this is crucial, voluntarily.

Also, why is the counselor lying? Why can't it be both? I know I've lied about minor things all the time. "Oops, I forgot to tell you I ordered the new Rossignol ski boots. Sorry honey." There, a lie. I didn't forget, I wanted to prevent, possibly for ever, the pain of disappointment in me I know she will have as I drain our Christmas savings, and the pain of making the payment to the credit card company. AND I didn't want for her the pain of "disappointment" she'll feel (that look on her face...), and the tongue lashing I am now going to get. Though mostly it was the tongue lashing, some of it was to put off the look of disappointment I know she'll feel. There, Not one or the other. Both. Though not necessarily equally.

It's entirely possible to be devoted to your husband/wife, be a terrific parent, place a top priority on the family...and have sex outside of the marriage. A marriage isn't only about sex.

Dan's character, as written in this story, seemed more upset about his wife's lying, and her violation of his trust, than her infidelity. I think that if she had come clean as soon as it happened, he would have taken her back. The repeated lying and mistrust was what killed the marriage. Given that, had he presented her with the option to continue having extramarital sex as long as she was honest with him about it, perhaps that arrangement may have worked. Or maybe not. Either way, it would have been a more interesting ending to this story, IMHO.

Not sure what to make of this story. I normally like a story that ends normally happily with me wanting it to carry on. This one doesn't end happily but that's not a problem, my hesitation with this story is that it has ended in such an inconclusive way that I am left with no real feelings either way. Did they reconcile, did the girls accept the situation happily, did he find another partner, did she, the questions are unending and that's the real frustration.

Having said all that it's the authors right to end it how they wish and that should be respected by us the readers.

I suppose that I have really enjoyed this story and I am sad it has ended. A great story thank you.

@Anonymous reasonable man Re: "Great writer" - She WASN'T a bookkeeper for a small catering company, she was part owner, handling the business side of things. I don't think the size was ever mentioned, but there is this from Ch 1: "For the first few years it wasn't much more than a hobby; recently, though, she's been making pretty good money."

@swingerjoe Re: "Open Marriage" - You're assuming that he WANTS an open marriage, where it's pretty obvious that he wants a partner as devoted to him and their family as he is. Besides, what you described wasn't an open marriage, as she was the only one "open."

@SystemShock - This isn't being "dragged out" because this is the end! Check the author's note at the beginning again!

@CaOldDog Re: "Interesting conclusion" - What you missed is that they are getting divorced,with him getting the house and custody. As a divorcee, she can have all the lovers she wants!

@Valint Re: "Disappointing" - How can it be a RAAC without a reconciliation? They are getting divorced, that's hardly RAAC! It may not be BTB, but she's losing her marriage, house and family. I don't see how your epilog fits with this final line: "I would tell Arlene to proceed with the divorce."

@etchibopy, the author stated upfront that this was the final chapter!

That the author stated at the beginning of this chapter - "This is the final chapter, as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for reading."

Thanks for the story, it was worth every penny I paid for it ;-)

Keep up the very good writing and think carefully about developing an ending where there are not so many unanswered questions.

Just thought people should be reminded of that - his boss's boss. His direct boss is usual the chair of that department he's in.

Has a very real feel to it. Still can't believe you're a first time writer; your dialogue is superb. "Etiology" - throwing SAT words at us? Entertaining and educational. Just like some other authors do with geography, or pop or country songs.

Can't wait for the next installment. Honestly, I like when stories are all put out at once, or at least very quickly, like daily; but a "delayed" "serial" is ok too. But, usually, in serials you know when the next installment will be, usually weekly. Anxiously wondering if the car going over the cliff edge still had its occupants in it? Did they dive out in time, just seconds before the car plunged to a fiery drop, or were they still seatbelted in, screaming as their lives flashed before their eyes, visions of Little League games superimposed over the empty creek bed rushing to meet them.

Any ideas how soon the next installment might be? Of course if you need the time to put out as excellent the pieces that has so far been produced, take it (thought bubble: but please hurry)

Who is this pretender that claims to give out fives and sprinkles cute little emojis all over the place? I was dubious, but I am now convinced. aMerryman's anonymous account has been hacked, perhaps by Russians, or even Iranians! Everyone knows that 3 *s is the absolute limit for aMerryman, although he once read Hamlet and pushed his score up to 4 *s. The Sheriff of Nottingham has been alerted and will be watching for the knave that soiled the good name of one of Robin's finest!

(Often and Easily) Maid Marian

This is a RAAC without even giving us the courtesy of showing us the reconciliation.

All of this was basically the first third of an actual story. We got handed a bunch of questions--how long has she been cheating, why did she start and continue to cheat, what the everliving fuck was up her behavior on the night he confronted her. We never got the second third in which the questions were answered, let alone the conclusion in which the husband gets to react to that information.

And it's okay not to answer the questions if you're going to write a story in which the answers don't matter... except that's not what happened. The husband straight-up realizes that he's a passive wimp who is weak against deceit from his wife, and that the only way he can protect himself is to get away from her to avoid being drawn back in... and then promptly gives her daily access to him, and doesn't set any boundaries to her stated plan to make him ignore everything that's happened.

The way the story ended strongly implies that the epilogue is "Well, she eventually wore me down, and after everyone convinced me that this somehow wasn't really her fault, I took her back, and then around the time the girls were off to college, she left me for her lover or started being blatant again about her affairs, and I finally realized I needed to grow some balls and actually leave this time. It's a shame my daughters no longer respect me now, between the years of indoctrination from their mother and my bizarre fixation on justifying her actions to them."

When the wife suggests that he live at home and continue taking care of their daughters the thought that comes to my mind is that she wants a place to bring her future lovers while her children have their dad to continue the parenting duties. The author never offered any clues into the wife's "alternative marriage" where she builds her business and has hubby do home duty while she explores multiple lovers. The fact that she is living in the University's facility quarters is a link in the chain to her husband taking more responsibility for her and the children while she continues to play.