All Comments on 'Regret'

Too little variation in the multiple endings. One BTB option would probably have helped

From the cheaters viewpoint. If I had to choose, I would pick ending 2. Personally I would like more vengeance, but your 3 endings are more realistic. Great writing as usual. 5 stars. Thanx!

Loklie

I have seen it done a few times and it gives no satisfaction at all, much like kissing your sister.

AMerryman 2.0

Not bad but not a fan of several endings.

And this is a great example of how there are so many possible outcomes that it's silly when readers complain that a story is unfinished. Just finish it in your head the way you believe it would likely go, and you'll 100% satisfied every time.

In all of the different endings I saw one common thread. The husband tried to overcome his wife's infidelity. What if the roles were reversed? It is my opinion that women are more prone to take draconian measures in such cases. They rape the husband in a divorce, or they make him relegate him to infinite purgatory. Why?

I'm not sure I care for the alternative ending "style" that I occasionally see in LW. They make me feel that the author is not quite sure of the reality of his or her story or of the characters. It is not for the reader to put a conclusion to a story: it is the author's responsibiity. Naturally we might think "what if..." so and so happened, but that is a choice we make, not one that forces itself upon us as we read to the end of a story.

I don't care for multiple endings.

Each time, she said this: "So, I told you that I forgot one thing, right?" When did she say that?

When you offer multiple endings, it seems like you're trying to please everyone. You need to please yourself first and foremost.

Everyone should get another chance to make things right.

I stopped reading when i saw it had multiple endings.Author needs to stick to one ending other wise it doesn't flow and i wont read it.

Bad Bonnie, with the usual , "I'm getting old, and needed reassurance" , excuse. All three endings are realistic and reasonable . I think that number two makes the most sense and is , to me, the most probable of the three as written. Had she confessed as soon as she returned home, then number three might be possible. I just don't think a man, or woman, recovers from that kind of betrayal. Ever. I know the extreme BTBs are fantasy stories, and your scenarios are closer to real life. But, dadgum, it would have been satisfying to see a little more payback for Bonnie and especially Jim.

Guess you wanted to use those same epilogue paragraphs for all the endings, and some of the other options wouldn't work?

I can't see that any of the endings are preferable. He had no proof that they fucked, so in reality she probably lied, or greatly minimized the extent of the betrayal and the fucking. It seems obvious she did not change her behavior when she returned from her fuck fest, so its not like she had implemented any noticeable improvements or enhancements in being a wife and a mother. She didn't start trying to make up for her adultery until after she had been caught. If she had gotten away with it she would have done it again if another opportunity presented itself. Why wouldn't she? She enjoyed the sex and the romance and the thrill, and there is no indication she is a woman of ethics and self discipline. She did only as much as she had to do to try to recover what she lost. No report she did anything special to try to compensate or improve what she gave to her husband and children.

But if the pitiful cuck is willing to forgive and forget who's to say he's wrong? Sounds like he's too weak and lacking in self confidence to demand a program of retribution and compensation. There's lots of ways she could have atoned for her sins. All she did was wait for him to recover or die, emotionally and spiritually. Which ending is most likely is irrelevant. None of the endings recover for the husband and children what the wife threw away.

I would like to see a sequel following ending #3, where the husband leaves the pitiful slut after the children are grown and gone, and establishes a new life with a decent woman.

Thanks for a very thought provoking story.

...nothing else to say....

Well written, and each ending in and of itself is compelling. Makes for an interesting philosophical debate about Ben’s appropriate response, each of which is hard to fault, because it seems each response is honest and visceral, and borne of the multiple facets that define the individual character of each of the three distinct iterations of Ben.

The one consistent thread of the story is Bonnie’s depth of guilt and remorse, and in that, she evolves from a shallow narcissist to a seemingly remorseful, repentant and ultimately sympathetic wife and mother. As literary themes go, redemption is pretty prominent and compelling on the list.

An intellectual debate for someone like me, for whom the revenge or reconciliation question is never black and white, and always requires the careful weighing of a wide range of variables.

As a literary criticism, I always feel unsatisfied and unresolved with multiple choice endings. Kind of like not being able to decide what you want from the buffet table, so you take a little of this and a bit of that, each of which looks appetizing, but in the end, you’ve ingested an unsatisfying mix of mismatched dishes, and you’re not really sure what you just ate. Still, well executed plot(s) and well rendered characters, particularly Bonnie. Thanks for the story.

There is no way for 'her' to fix anything.

His loving wife gave him the burden of fixing himself. With 3 endings (BTW - 5 stars for that kind of creativity) added, there could have been 10 but from every angle, the rest of his life he would carry the burden of fixing himself.

Waking up in the morning, looking himself in the mirror, and pretend all is okay with the world. How long would that last before he decided to look for some strange.

Not out of revenge, but just to feel better about himself. To simply feel appreciated by a different woman. Someone he could pretend to himself just might see him as desired.

No matter, he'd always have that feeling she needed more than he could give her.

And her next business trip? Can you imagine that conversation? That conversation alone would be the very definition of the word, 'awkward'.

Refreshing tale of a woman taking the responsibility for her cheating. No blaming anyone, not even the lover.

I'm mildly skeptical of the need for the three endings, but who am I to pick on that, I did the same thing in a tale that I had trouble fitting an ending to.

Good job, *****

It means you’re deeply unsatisfied and you just want something more.

Being evil means enjoying the hurt you’ve caused. Evil is where you kill your spouse or your kids or your spouses family. Evil is is hurting the people you love to get back at the person you hate.

Cheating on your spouse isn’t evil, it’s a symptom of something else. As a result, I stopped reading.

I enjoyed this. Felt her emotion. Liked the ending options. I know in my case i would be like ending 1 so i would have no choice but to do 2 and divorce.

but she seems stuck on the idea that it's 'someone's job to build him back up'

it's pretty sexist, and i'm sure that weird attitude helped her justify cheating on him to begin with.

he needs to build himself back up. she may have caused his pain, but she didn't build a construct in his mind of a naive notions of love. he did that all on his own. maybe she played her role, and his culture fed him the notion, but it was his decision ultimately to agree with it. he needs to either purge his brain of all constructs of either 'true love', or that his true love is her. it could be either one, but it has to be one of them. that's the only way he'll 'build himself back up'. because right now he put too much self worth into how a wife will treat him. self worth is something you give yourself. i think that's why she believed it had to be her or another woman. the idea of her husband needing no one probably terrified her. she wanted an outcome that didn't involve investing her time and patience....only for him to take off the training wheels and ride solo. at least with another woman she could feel like he still needed somebody.

i hope my rambling makes sense. i truly believe any man or woman that has true self worth does not need a relationship. that a relationship is only a cherry on top. most adults are pretty mature, but stop growing at some point. they cling to relationships in order to avoid that growth, using their partners in some fashion. and usually a healthy relationship has at least half-way self actualized adults that compliment each other's short comings. in this story, the husband and wife have serious issues of self worth and insecurity. love had very little to do with why they stuck it out. if she loved him, like she brayed on about, she'd give him a chance to ease his insecurities the same way she did. he doesn't have to agree, the gesture would be enough. ' i love you, and value you enough to be with others. you'll not believe me anymore. but maybe others will tell/ show you what i already know' i don't think it's super mature to go that route, but it's better than her pretending to be a big tough adult, but being extremely passive in every aspect of their marriage. she avoided confessing until it didn't matter, and didn't really fight for his love in any scenario. all she did was stick it out with him. passive. it took guts to stick it out, but not a lot of courage, desperation maybe. maybe she quits her job? maybe she tries, instead of mouthing sorry, ignores her heart and focuses solely on winning him back. because her stories sound like lament, not dedication towards his happiness. and that's the rub, she didn't have to give up, nor sacrifice anything. so everything rings hollow. it's passive. even if she truly loves him. that's why cheating is so toxic. it makes everything else feel false. it takes a lot of actions to counter that.

When you provide multiple choice endings, I feel it dilutes the strength of the story. A good story draws you in and immerses you in the characters and events. You lose some of that investment in the story, when faced with options in how things end.

An interactive story can work if you have to make a yes or no decision at some point and then move on from there. This isn't an interactive story like that, as the story has already happened before the final choice is made. Even if you like one of the endings described in this story, reading the others diminishes its impact and makes it more forgettable.

Just remember the old saying. You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

I'm usually not a fan of the "choose your own adventure" style of story telling, but I enjoyed this.

The one where Ben comes home and never says a word... Just dropps the big brown envelope full of paperwork on the table in front of her and turns ans slowly walks out the front door... let her explain to everyone why.

Care for out and out multiple endings, there are exceptions like when other authors offer their takes on alternate endings, some of those are better than the originals. But this time I can say I can live with any of the three, I find them all quite plausible and not a baseball bat in sight, unfortunately. Signed: BTW

#3 for sure

MFH

To Anonymous: 11/28/19. You're probably miserable and want to spread the misery. What's the old saying? " Misery loves company", what about the children? Humans screw up all the time, expecting perfection is foolish. Healing the wound get's my vote every time. If, she "chooses" to fall again, divorce is mandatory. I love multiple choice endings.

I did like the story, up until you had the three endings. Just should have picked one and let the cards fall where they may...

It was an interesting idea, but you should have made each ending very different, with different types of regret (hence the title).

1) He tries to forgive her and they stay married, but all the love slowly dies because he can't get over her cheating. Ben turns into a pitiful shell of a man and she profoundly regrets destroying the person she loved and devastating her family (your first ending).

2) He forgives her and they reconcile, going through lots of counseling to help him heal. They stay together and are happily married, but sometimes things remind Ben of her affair and he gets a bit withdrawn. She regrets that their marriage will never be quite the same as it once was (Variation of the third ending).

3) Ben is furious at her betrayal and demands a divorce. The kids are horrified that their mother behaved like a whore and hurt their beloved father, so all disown her. Her husband refuses all her attempts to reconcile and she's heartbroken when the divorce goes through. Ben moves on and remarries a younger, prettier woman, reinforcing all the insecurities that made Bonnie cheat in the first place. Ben gets the new wife pregnant and lives a happy life with his new family. Turning into a bitter old cat lady, Bonnie watches from afar as another woman enjoys the life she threw away. She bitterly regrets the infidelity that cost her everything.

If you'd included variant #3 and actually burned the bitch, this would probably have scored a 4+.

Guess avoiding reality is what was needed. One night drunk and never again....maybe. A whole week....not a chance in hell. She would have had to go get x-rays to make sure her ass wasn't broken from being hit by the door on her way to the curb.

Pick one, then write another story that utilizes a different ending. By the end it was awkward and annoying to scan for the differences.

Two of the endings were too close to each other. And it’s obvious you wanted to avoid the BTB ending. Love how that instigates the haters.

Thank you. I was warned that multiple endings were not appreciated in the LW category and that fact was certainly confirmed in many of the comments. Oh well, it was still fun and thank you for your kind remarks.

dont force the reader to have to decide how the story turns out, its your story so you be responsible for it and if the reader doesnt like it then too bad.

Why bother with the rest of the story that really wasn't a story?

"I hope you never stop feeling sorry, but we both need to get on with our lives."

I applaud this line. I think it encapsulates an honest feeling, often not described by other authors. You lose innocence but you gain wisdom and maturity. Things can't be "perfect" again, but they can be good in a different way if both sides want it.

when a little common sense along with consequence would have sufficed. TK U MLJ LV NV

Reconcilation sounds nice, but there is so much trust to rebuild.

Trust it won't happen again.

Trust that she means it now when she says she loves you.

Trust to be truthful to one another.

To rebuild all that is a lot of work.

Problem here is that children are involved. That was the husbands motivation to work at reconciliation.

The wife? Who knows? Instead of coming clean she hid her infidelity until the husband was notified. That hurt her credibility.

Staying married although logical, the marriage was in show only. The love he had for his wife before the truth came out was history.

The new love the shared was paled by comparison and would be stained forever with the husband doubting when his wife was away on business.

Who could live with that kind of betrayal and waiting for it to happen again?

she came home and told him the truth before he got the email. The trust would be cracked but not destroyed. But then again you love making the husband the bad guy even with in truth its the wife's fuck up.

Ending 4- He beat the other guy so badly they never could find some of his body parts. Ben felt a lot better about himself, and realized that the moralisers were wrong; violent revenge was very fulfilling and satisfying and woefully underrated. His wife never complained at the reaming her anus took 6 days a week for the next ten years, which worked better than "couples therapy" at defining the new marriage dynamic.

Ending 5 - Don't ruin the good story with this non-sense creativity

Why can’t an author just write a single ending?

So who took the photos and sent the email ???.....

I suspect in real life that more cheating wives end up in a marriage, giving everything, but receiving nothing in return. Two ruined lives for the sake of a few hours of unvloving sex.

I gave ending #3 a rating of 5 stars. The first two ending were good but they weren't real BTB ending just very sad. I like happy ending they make me feel better if there is a way to heal the broken heart. No I never had to face any thing like this but if I did I would like to think I could forgive if truly believed there was no chance of a it happening again and I was sure it was a one time only. Some are one and done but I think people can make a mistake and be truly sorry for it.

I suspect in real life that more cheating wives end up in a marriage, giving everything, but receiving nothing in return.

Horse shit and unicorns. Ive known men cheated on yet did as much as the wife as far as their life was concerned. That statement was pure over the top idiocy feminism.

An insightful, heartfelt story, very well written, short and to the point. It is quite a change on LW, to get the cheater's part of the story. She was genuinely remorseful and it came through clearly.

Too many women are obsessed with the passing of youth when they really shouldn't be.We all age! No one has found the fountain of youth yet!! 5*s for a well told ,simple story.

I can buy her regret after one incident, but not 3 days.

#2 due to the fact she was full of delusional BS.... Three nights of lust means there is more to this story. It was not a drunken oops, but a desire to get some strange. She only got guilt due to coming back to her family.

/

She wanted more - let her suffer as her 3 kids and ex-husband that deserved none of it. I can only hope the kids rally to their father and let her sit on the sidelines. Three nights was no accident, period.

/

3* for the story without a real ending. Hooyah...

Ending #3 is the best outcome obviously the BTB trolls will hate that ending. As the 'STORY' is told from the wife's perspective it's obvious that she is truly repentant and will never cheat again and that she truly loves her husband. The husband never saw her having sex therefore his emotional turmoil and anger will be less than it would otherwise. He is therefore in a good place to forgive her and with counselling be able to let it all go and get life back to normal.

Jim neede beatdown.he suffered no trouble for pain he caused

If this story was real life rather than a fantasy. Then #ending 3 would be the best outcome. I agree with anon 3 months ago who really says it all. A truly loving wife would never cheat but if she did and the husband forgave her she would be the best wife a man could have forever after. She would be driven by her guilt and would strive to make her husband as happy as he could be.

I STOPPED READING THIS WHEN YOU HAD SEX WITH A MAN YOU "HARDLY NEW."

Every husband wants a wife who is their personal subservient sex slave, lol!

Ending #3: BTB. PERIOD.

#4 Ben regains his dignity by kicking you to the curb very publicly. He humiliates you by telling everyone he's looking for a new woman, one who isn't a disloyal cheating slut. He shares with everyone, what a lousy lay you are and he can't imagine how some idiot would fuck you for a week. The pictures from the week are circulated to all of your friends and family. His actions end up getting. you fired and you lose your career. Your relationship with your kids survives but they are always disappointed by your selfish, self-absorbed behavior. Ben finds a good woman to marry. You find a seemingly very nice guy bur three years into the marriage you find out he's cheating on you. This kills your heart and now you know how Ben felt! Oh yeah, almost forgot, Jim's wife finds out and takes him to the cleaners. He works at the local 7-11 in his town. One late night at work he's pistol whipped and robbed.

#3 is the CUCK ending...

She didn’t heat one time when alcohol had clouded her mind. She fucked him three (3) days in a row. She didn’t and does not deserve Ben. Nice story.

my first wife cheated, just once, and it destroyed us. even though I found Love and married again, 15 years later I still sometimes feel the pain of betrayal and heartbreak. so even if she thinks he has forgotten, she is wrong, no man forgets being cheated on.

my first wife cheated, just once, and it destroyed us. even though I found Love and married again, 15 years later I still sometimes feel the pain of betrayal and heartbreak. so even if she thinks he has forgotten, she is wrong, no man forgets being cheated on.

Sure covered all the bases. It looks like the one constant in all the endings is that he will always be looking at her and thinking cheating bitch. Pick whatever floats your boat or think up an appropriate ending in your head. It's just words after all. Well written 5 stars. Thanks for taking a lesser worn, though not unique path.

Need to write another ending, more detail on how she was outed. The husband getting angry. Of course a divorce or revenge for the guy.

Sorry but I didn't care for any of the endings. If it had been Ben cheating on her could and would she have forgiven him? Tough one, guess it's best not to get yourself into that kind of situation in the first place. Still liked the story though.

Here is a suggestion, pick an ending!! So many endings just makes the story suck.

I like your stories generally but not this one. Not at all.

None of the endings give her the treatment her betrayal deserves. Number two is most realistic.

I see 26thNCuck is using his alternate where he pretends to not like sucking dick and eat cum out of his wife.

There is another option, the relationship gets better than ever. It's not because of the infidelity. It's because of the work that must happen afterwards to make sure it never occurs again.

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to get your life back. Think about it this way. Let's say you go through life really loose with promises and obligations. You skate buy. You meet someone you truly love but your behavior is so normalized that mistakes are bound to happen because you never learned how to change.

Then one day you screw up spectacularly and can't believe how much you hurt someone you truly love. You knew it would hurt if caught but you've never been in this situation before. You feel so horrified by your actions and so guilty for the terrible pain causes that you finally realize you have to change. You set about doing anything and everything possible.

Over time your spouse realizes that you are still there but going beyond anything they could imagine you were capable.

Do you really not think the relationship would be better than ever? Maybe its not as common as misery but I have seen it with my own two eyes. And no, it's not me.

I liked this better than when I first read it. #3 for sure.

\

I never understood the, "I no longer felt attractive" crap. Who cares? You're happily married, with a good family and a partner who loves you. What does it matter if the rest of the world thinks you're a troll? For that matter, in this story, she apparently WAS attractive, either that or Jim wasn't fussy! So that should have been enough. On that same theme, women in these stories seem to think that if guys want to fuck her that she must be attractive. Unless she's a troll, a woman doesn't need to be attractive, she just needs to be available.

I read options 1 and part of 2. Lazy writing. There are thousands of stories here. We don’t need three more paint by number additions. Commit to one story and make it great!

I like in this one that the wife actually gave a shit after the fact, rather than only paying lip service. She genuinely regretted her actions and repented, and I believe her. Still don't know what I would do in a similar situation.

@angelrider I do agree with you that if they both commit, they could have a truly excellent marriage. Not as good as it potentially could have been before her failure, but an excellent marriage. They've already suffered a "heart attack" and the heart muscle is already damaged. They do have the capability for many years of post heart attack living.

If I were the husband, I would always have the thought in the back of my head. "She did it once already out of nowhere, how do I know she won't do it again." It would be hard to let my heart trust again.

Life is an obstacle course and a race we all have to participate in. Sometimes when we get tired we stumble and fall, some of us do that alone but some of us have support and sometimes we forget to recognise that and try to survive on our own. But when your support take your hand and lift you up, regardless of your shortcomings, is when life really starts. If one cannot forgive how can you then expect any forgiveness yourself. Do not miss understand me, blatant cuckoldry I hate with a passion and will chance stories of this genre immediately. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it best "Kindness is more important than wisdom and the recognition of that is the beginning of wisdom." Sorry! English is not my first, second, third or fourth language, so I hope I made any sense. Thank you for your writing, keep at it you are really good.

She regretted what she did and felt remorseful for what she did whilst away. Her trip home was full of fear and worry about what she'd done etc. Unfortunately she didn't think of those things when 1. Dancing with Jim 2. Deciding to fuck him 3. Carrying on fucking him for three further days 4. Nor when she got home and realised her trusting husband didn't suspect 5. Nor in the time after the affair until the email arrived.

In other words I'll fuck myself stupid with another bloke without a thought for my husband and children. I'll lie and deceive him and keep doing it because I want to keep my relationship going until the next time if there is a next time. But when I'm caught its a mistake and I'm very sorry. Yes she was regretful but for me her regrets were losing what she was happy to pretend weren't there when she had her 3 day fantasy fuck fest. Sorry what she did was not a mistake it was a betrayal of her children and husband because she could do it and it made her feel good about herself.

The multiple endings didn't work for me either. Normally I really enjoy your work but this one not so. It didn't work and the plot idea was poor. Having read a lot of your stories and enjoyed nearly everyone so far this one just felt well below average. BardnotBard

5, however, no exploration of her reasons/reasoning, no real issue with the possibility of stds, no exploration of the effect on the children, etc etc. We as people so often make poor decisions without looking forward, the pebble in the pool effect, the waves just keep widening reaching parts unforeseen and unknown.

4 stars. Yes some alternate ending but not a lot of depth. Her lack of confession is a big deal. Only the third scenario had them talk out what happened. The other two had zero chance with just trying to bury it. But most of the dialog occurs off page, as the reader sees little to none at various points. Trust is broken. Repairing it to even a patch job is really hard work.

I think a lot of guys (with kids) would try with a one time, impulsive excursion, provided they learn some of the details and maybe get a polygraph for the wife. But without confession or special circumstances the second option #2 with divorce is the most likely endgame.

Option #3 seems more appropriate if she either confessed and really owned what she did and they went to counseling or she had at most one night with Jim and regretted so deeply that she did NOT pursue more activities. Remember it is the shared intimacy that is a big deal. The first night she was drinking and letting her hair down and the asshole puruaed her relentlessly. She may not even know the full circumstances as to what Jim did. But the second time and the "quickie" is execrable. Her guilt only hit her on the plane ride home.

Doubt she would do it again but still without limiting the betrayal to a one night stand after drinking and dancing and/or confession, option #3 looks like a pipe dream.

It was pretty good. I don't normally like alternate endings, but I liked the contrasts here. I do agree with some of the others - you obviously cannot sweep an affair under the rug and as much as people in LW like to pay out counseling as some sort of hellscape scenario that tries to blame the betrayed partner for the actions of the cheating partner, the truth is it's not like that and it does work and it does help.

The author did himself no favors here. This was an ill conceived submission. The unacknowledged selfishness of the wife permeates and poisons all three variations. It is telling that her granting the husband his freedom was not one of the options.