All Comments on 'She was a Ticking Bomb'

I liked this one, looking at the all important 'why' ...Of course there are different 'why's ' but this is an excellent example and well told. Thank you JW.

(Btw...found this under new stories tag, nothing showing in LW today)

When I read these LW stories I look for the same thing the WHY what would make a wife with a great husband, family and home risk it all for some lowlife

5*

It would give satisfaction and send a message to the wife. How she reacts to it will be the final tell if the marraige can be saved. The doubt and mistrust will ALWAYS be there! And it will NEVER be as it was.

Well written and difficult to accept. Yet I enjoyed it and was more realistic then most of us would like to think. Thanks for the story.

Thanks.

I'd like to know Dave's story.

"My friend looked as bad as he did when he first sat down, but he was nodding." - This SEEMS to indicate that Dave's wife isn't facing up to what she's done and/or isn't willing to do the hard work with him.

An honest look at the reality of life, which most LW stories have no thought for or impulse to capture. It’s a shame so many readers/posters are too fixated on their holy war against the feeling of being wronged and embarrassed, and too rewarded with insular (but comforting, in the way that lies we choose to believe often are) reassurance by the rest of the broken crowd to ever grow into exploring it.

Only things missing were references to unicorns and rainbows.

Not much here. A story about a piece of shit and the beta boy who definitely could have, and deserved, to do better.

Her only strike should have been in highschool when she lied and cheated on him with the football player.

For her to behave the exact same way again after being given another chance and being married doesn't say anything redeeming about her at all.

I guess the protagonist doesn't view himself as that valuable or deserving of someone with integrity and character.

This wasn't a new problem for Debbie but one she had already failed at and been forgiven for. There really isn't a lot of sympathy for such a cheap, two time loser.

Still appreciate the effort but it was like eating moldy fruit and cheese. Your protag apparently accepted that food with mildew and mold was all he deserved.

Love alone is proveably not enough for a good and satisfying marriage.

Honesty, integrity and respect are far stronger tools in building a satisfying marriage.

Love usually blooms in that good environment.

Stay safe.

Good segue into a story about Dave. I like the intelligent retrospective POV. A deserving and hard earned reconciliation for poor naive Debbie. Oh - and the lead pipe lesson for Peter the wolf was a gratifying guilty indulgence. Thanks. I enjoyed it.

I know as an anon I'm supposed to either troll you or give you a rough time with constructive criticism delivered in a 'not-so-nice' way.

But I just have to say how much I enjoyed every last bit of this story. I'v been on both ends of this little drama. I'v been cheated on in past relationships, and I'm not happy to admit it jaded me to the point of cheating on future relationships. The advice/wisdom with which the main character gave boiled down a complicated and emotional roller-coaster into a compact gem. Cheating is just so toxic. Open and honest dialogue is the hardest step. Both parties have to want it, too. If someone is holding back, it's truly a lost cause. Hammering that point home was perfect. A marriage has all the fluff of love and trust, but it was built with hard work. It's easy to forget that. It's easy to treat a relationship like something that's always going to be there like a comfy pair of shoes, but it's not.

And it never hurts to arrange an unfortunate set of accidents to occur to seasoned homewreckers, regardless of who. People that intentionally try to score married people aren't the cause of cheating, but no one is exactly rooting for them either. If a homewrecking bitch or bastard bumps their knee into a pipe, maybe they'll walk a little more carefully next time?

Have a lovely day everyone, and again great story!

It should be rated higher, but probably too intellectual for that.

Masterfully designed and executed. Bravo!

Thank you for the time and talent it took to write this story. Concise and thought provoking dialogue and wounded integrity and strength (in your main character), make this a very enjoyable read.

I can feel the "story" of the main character and can imagine how this conversation will change the friend he had the beer with and perhaps give him some tools and strength as he faces his own "crucible of fire" with his fallen wife. You have a way with words and... most importantly... story telling. THank you!

Perhaps a second chapter about how Dave ends up would be appropriate.

It was a snapshot in the life of a man who thoughtfully considered his options, his needs, and his wants. He could have made his wife tell family and friends she had cheated, but that would have made both their lives more difficult. When you truly love a person, you try to protect them, not hurt them.

Yeah, I don't hold out much hope for Dave's marriage. If she has been cheating for a while and got caught, even though she may not know it yet, I doubt there is enough regret there to fix things. He seems like a nice guy, so I wish him luck. I just don't think that good things lie in his immediate future.

AS A STORY THIS EFFORT FAILED... miserably. To be considered a story there needs to be 'input" from 'Dave' of some kind, even if you can't actually finish it! This was like a court case with testimony from only one witness that was neither prosecution or defence! I gave it 2** for the idea and the warning before this tale began... otherwise I consider it a totally NON-STORY

An honest look at what can happen. Sometimes one partner can fall, and if they do then you need to ask the questions:

was it one time or many?

Was it voluntary or was there coercion (i.e. blackmail or otherwise being forced - rape)?

How long did it occur for?

Is it over?

Are they willing to fix the situation?

Sometimes you can reconcile, sometime you can't - there is no cut and dried answer.

As a story this effort FAILED. I hope you exorcised a demon or two. The situation is all too common in the life we all live, but most of the visitors here are looking FOR A STORY! What there was of it was absorbing, interesting and somewhat provocative. I think it needs some input from Dave's side of this tale. It started out as 'Dave's story but was overpowered by an attempt to 'give empty advice' I have helped friends with problems in my life but NEVER have I ever lead them down a flowery path to nowhere. It is, in the final analysis NOT HELPFUL, KIND OR USEFUL! I gave it 2** for the idea and a glance at a way forward, but I need to hear a bit from "Dave"

I think you need to continue this and tell Dave's story.

Great story. Perhaps another story telling what happened to Dave?

Insightful story.

I liked the examination of the psychological aspects of cheating. It was also a good lesson for me in a dialogue driven story. Well done 5*

This why rings true

He chose wisely. I hope they live happily ever after.

We all indeed need to know Dave's story. There is too much well-meant but hard to accept advice in this one. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

He stumbled upon one of the few realistic ways to rebuild a broken marriage. I still believe the only workable method is to take the marriage apart and rebuild. Nice story.

now we need dave's story

Well done. And the paragraph beginning with "Here is the thing:" was exceptional. I read it twice to appreciate it fully. I'm not convinced we need Dave's story for this one to be complete, but that's just me. This is Loneeagle: my login didn't work.

Have to agree with a few of the other comments, who like to read daves side

This is a really good start . Now we need part 2 to find out what happen next. Gave this 5 for good writing and story line . Now finish it.

Thoughtful and intelligent, you told a real story about real people. Did I say real? No three-year-old's tantrums, no SEAL background coming to life (thank God we seem to be having less these days), no computer nerds or electronic wizards.

Sometimes we have to take our lumps, but take them like a man.

Good Job!

R.

Very Good read. I only wish there was a second part to see how Dave ended up. Thank you

I'm not sure the pain ever heals completely. And you never forget completely. It's like any major event in a person's life. Some part of the memory is always there. But the trust? That's gone forever. It's the old joke about "belling the cat". How does one ever forget the betrayal and once in awhile wonder, "what's she doing now"? So while I appreciate your attempt to explain one man's reconciliation it certainly isn't a map for everyone.

It is what it is. May not be how someone else would handle infidelity, but for him it was the right way.

This is a well written story about the emotional scar of a husband wronged by his wife. The story deserves a sequel for those who want closure in these stories, but I for like that it stands on its own. Well done.

5* Good introspective story. Dave deserves his own story, but I doubt the marriage can be saved. A BTBs is in order then. Write On!

Nice. 5. I appreciate good writing but I especially appreciate something that gives me insight into people in stressful situations where right and wrong have many different aspects, people are trying to protect and justify themselves, it your story runs alongside the stories your characters are telling themselves and each other and we maybe all learn a little bit.

It was hard to feel sympathy for the husband during his tale of woe, because his unfaithful wife had shown her true colours in high school. Debbie stood him up and dated a football jock.

Any woman that does that is basically saying: "You aren't good enough. I think I could do better than you."

He was a fool to marry Debbie... and paid the price when the slut cheated on him years later. She literally gave him a preview of exactly what would happen if a good-looking guy hit on her. He was a fool to forgive her then and an even bigger fool to forgive her cheating when they were married.

I think people who forgive their philandering spouses lack self-esteem. They're given the choice between staying with a woman who has proved that she has no respect for them, or ditching the slut and finding someone new out of the hundreds-of-thousands of potential new partners.

Be brave. Dump the whore and find someone new that isn't a cheating piece of shit.

That's the advice he should have given Dave. It's a shame he didn't have a good friend to tell him the same thing when Debbie destroyed their marriage; it could have saved him a year of heartbreak trying to patch up a relationship that will never be special again.

so what happens to dave?

...take on this type of situation. Enjoyed your analysis of the why, and the path taken to forgiveness. Personally, for me I would not forgive her especially seeing how she cheated twice going back to high school, and seems easily swayed. But that's just me. I like that pete got delt with. A fun sequel would be if Dave's story was the opposite, and he went full on nuclear btb...well written as usual. I enjoy all your stories. 5 stars. Thanx!

Loklie

Continue? That’s true to life and marriage.

Allow me to translate for moblane, silentsound, and probably others.

"Your story didn't give me the stiffy I was hoping for. Not enough violence, either. And none at all against the WHORE wife! Where are he-men? Why so many wimps? How could he love his wife? One star cuck-shit."

Probably should have titled and described it as just a conversation. As such, it was well written and insightful.

The wife felt guilty, and confessed the cheating. He loved her, but made her earn her way back. Best of all, he got a little payback on Pete. I'm a die hard BTB fan, but you made me believe this one. Like a good tv show you set us up perfectly for part two. Dave's story. Thanks for a good one.

She is damaged goods now. Get revenge on both sooner than later. Break some bones. Itcwill feel good!

Very well written story about infidelity and it's aftermath. I'm not sure that I could have reconciled so easily, but l hope that I would love her enough to try. I do know that I would have crushed both of Peter's knees. Definitely a thinking man's story. I'm thinking that I would like to hear Dave's story next.

That’s not deserved. So he has to suffer for life over something he had no part of. The truly stupid thing is, why would you care that she needs to be forgiven while you live in pain?

This was a good story that was well crafted. Thanks for sharing it.

A story rooted in reality. Really well done.

A 5* story. Enjoyed this one just they way it ended.

Well written story!

Why is everyone asking about Dave's story? This was never about him, it was about Dave's friend. Dave was the excuse to have Dave's friend tell his story.

You created a well-thought out insight into one of the most potentially destructive events that can happen in a marriage. Not a bad code of behaviour to live by!

'Nuff said.

Kind of Scheherazade-ish. Good for you, I guess.

But I found the love and marriage premise weak, based on personal inadequacy and self denigration: "We go through life with bravado and stupidity, thinking we're fine, enjoying our lives, and then we meet someone who teaches us how incomplete we are without them." Too bad, for you. An alternative is: "We go through life being and doing the best we know how, and then we meet someone doing the same thing, and we join forces in friendship, love, but mostly mutual respect and gratitude." If you need someone else to make you whole, then you are bringing an incomplete person to the partnership, and why would you foist that onto someone you supposedly love? That's not love and respect, that's selfish and deceitful. Its also a common precursor to a failed marriage.

"We let them in, we see ourselves through their eyes, and our worth gets tied up in their love for us." Vapid, and pathetic. YOU determine your worth, and only you. If your partner no longer finds value in you or your relationship that means the partnership needs revaluation or replacing. It doesn't mean one or both of the partners are flawed, just that the pieces of the puzzle no longer fit. It takes some effort to assemble the puzzle and keep it together, but you control only half of the pieces. If the wife wants to fuck other men it should be her failure, and her loss, not yours. There are plenty of good women looking for a decent man to form a partnership with. But you have to look, and you have to maintain your decency.

As to forgiveness and reconciliation, that's totally dependent on the people and the circumstances. Divorce is a great way to escape a toxic relationship, but its a dumb way to punish a good partner who made an understandable mistake. Garbage should be dumped. A good but broken person should be given a chance to heal. Seems a shame to let another man get the benefit of what a flawed woman learned and corrected after you threw her away.

Dave has to figure out if he's married to a flawed woman, or garbage. And he may never know for sure.

It is a very thought provoking story. Thanks for the effort.

Some readers can't get it through their heads, that stories don't always go the way they think it should. It gets tiresome to see many of the comments in LW. They should write their own story.

That is true.

Well worked dialogue.

But what about the morals?

We've seen this plot before.

That every wife can be seduced,

if the seducer is good enough.

Is that true?

Well, thankfully not.

We'd have a lot more divorces

if that was true.

You see, a good wife defends her marriage.

If she can't handle the seducer,

she gets help.

If it's a work she files for sexual harassment.

Outside work she gets help from husband

or friends.

If she's not a good wife, her marriage

is always in danger.

Be it financial, emotional or sexual.

In such a marriage the husband has to do

most all the fighting for it.

Only he can decide if it's worth it.

Some husbands accept a bad wife.

Some even think they deserve nothing better.

And they may even be right in thinking that.

The moral of MY story

is that a good wife can't be seduced.

And that's the wife worth fighting for.

Taking the pros and cons from this story,

adds up to 3 out of 5 from me.

Nice work Just_Words, but bad morals.

@Anonymous Re: "Nice, and thought-provoking" - I agree that we don't need Dave's story for THIS one to be complete. This story is complete, but some of us would like to read Dave's story. A caution to Just_Words: Only write it is the spirit and muse moves you. Too many stories are written to satisfy a demand, and come up short.

A bit short, but a very good read. 5

... Wishing we learned what happened to Dave's marriage.

But I do understand that this ultimately wasn't the purpose of the story, and, for what it is, like it quite a bit. This was a very mature take on reconciliation. Only a true dumbass would have a problem with it...

Except that I seriously doubt Dave will take the same road - as his friend told him, it's one thing to learn from you wife that she was unfaithful, but it's a completely different thing to learn it by yourself.

In any case... thanks for the share, author.

I enjoyed this. 5 from me.

Good story

No translation need. I listed what I found unsympathetic about Debbie.

Debbie lied to cheat on him with a football player in highschool and she did it again after they were married.

She confessed when her husband got back because she figured out she was just being used by the jock/now salesman. She did care for her husband, just not more than her cheap desire for what she believed a certain other type of man could give her.

I believe too much blame was assigned to the seducer here because she had already endangered her relationship with her husband over the same situation years earlier.

It shows an ongoing contempt and lack of respect for her husband in favor of who she views as alpha or popular males.

She showed a consistent preference for a certain type of man over her husband and was willing to betray him both times in favor for that type of man she perceived could give her something her husband could not.

I didn't 1 bomb this because I respect this writer and his writing is quality in evidence here.

I do think this wasn't much in the way of a story though I do appreciate his skill in how he crafted it.

Debbie simply comes off as not really worth the effort with how she is portrayed her and it does look as if the MC could and deserved to do better.

He claims love as the motivator and that is why I commented on love definitely not being enough.

No translation needed. Hope you're secure and doing well.

Very good story that should be rated higher. Normally I’d say people are entitled to their own opinions, but some are just nonsensical. Lol. One, because she wanted to go on a date with a football player in HIGH SCHOOL, that means she’s a whore for life. Lol. Or because only the one guy tells his story and not Dave, it’s a non-Story. That’s coming from someone who’s never written anything. Lol. Anyway, nice job!

Enlightening and interesting man-to-man therapy session.

As a story it's mediocre.

Thanks for sharing Just_Words.

Back to the forest men......

AMerryman

My favorite stories are ones, like this, that give us a window into the soul of a relationship. Excellent job. It is why I like most of ohio’s stories.

A good story until he went after the revenge.

Better would have been his wife standing up the ass and telling him no... but it seems like she couldn't do that for the sake of her marriage... tells me something.

In all these LW stories, trust is spouted as the critical ingredient. But, why?

Why should any spouse ever have to raise trust as a question in their minds. You are either married and loyal or you are not. Either your spouse is committed and loyal or she is not. What is there to 'trust'? I don't get it.

You don't go through married life questioning whether there is trust or not... that makes no sense, and suggests that the Negative answer is a possibility. Call me naive, but surely that is how it should work (did in my marriage).

I don't get the alternative.

You screen name and first sentence go together well.

His f’up was taking her back the first time in high school. Why bet your future on a girl who has already cheated on you, humiliated you and shown herself to be weak? Move on. Once you are married and have children you have more to lose but before you are married? Walk the fuck away. Every time. No hesitation.

on this one, they act as you treat them. If you want a woman that cheats. then keep forgiving her.

a ticking time bomb, who?

There’s another chapter? Hmmm. Have to read that

What I don't understand is why Peter worked so hard to seduce Debbie. Surely there were easier conquests out there.

To answer sbrooks question, its the challenge. Same as some people would climb a mountain,the next guy- walk around it! As the Doors song goes, People Are Strange. Thank you for your story

Or who, when, where, it should only matter the he/she did it. That's all.

You cheat on me, no questions asked, it's over period.

To answer your first question

If you are curious, here is a very large study done in the US in 2007 (over 70 000 people, over the internet)

https://www.impactlab.com/2007/04/27/adultery-survey-the-20-rule/

According to this :

Women’s motives range from the need for more emotional attention (40 percent) to being reassured of their desirability (33 percent) or falling in love with someone else (20 percent).

There is also the 2012 UK adultery survey but that is a much smaller (2000) and more biased group in my opinion. In that study, the reasons were, in order

1. Emotional fulfilment

2. Improve my self-esteem

3. Seeking romance

4. Felt taken for granted

5. Sexual excitement

6. Loneliness

Yet, the two studies seem to concur on that particular question, so this is probably the answer to your question.

The answer for men is substantially different, as could be expected.

So it's very good to kick the cheaters to the wind (I read some comments) but you have to realize that your wife has some feminine needs like emotional fulfilment and self esteem and if you do not work on your relationship at all, someone else might fill the void :-)

p.s. Thank you for free stories, I don't like them all but some of them are quite good.

Maybe the best thing I've ever read on Literotica. I think there is some familiarity behind those words.

Why? Entitlement. People cheat because they feel entitled and give themselves permission to cheat. Everything else is just an excuse to justify shitty behavior.

I never feel bad for the snakes who get kneecapped. It seems like restoring a balance to things if they die childless and those genes leave the population.

Why try to save what is broken. Traditional response was divorce the cheaters. That was when men did all the cheating with secretaries etc. That is why court rules are the way they are now to favor the woman. However now that femaale cheating has achieved parity (huge increase since the 90's) and among certain age groups has exceeded male infidelity rates, now all the sudden every counselor and every book expert ( Esther Perel et. al.) says divorce is not the answer, and you need to overlook, forgive whatever. So, now that men are victimized the woman needs to be allowed to do what she wants and divorce is not the answer. Sure, wifey can have an affair,but heaven forbid if hubby seeks divorce,after all women have so many sundry needs. If wifey has self esteem issues, no amount of compliments from hubby will work, his comments are devalued compared to co worker or lounge lizard. Face it , women will cheat and are better at hiding it. This story was stupid. Man a wife was one night stand with confession. Man b may have had a wife with extended long term cheating which required hiring. A pi. Not comparable. Not justifiable. Just stupid to inflict man a views onto friend b. Author just presenting excuse to overlook and forgive, in accord with modern group think and counseling directions. Low score

Just boring ...

If the horns fit...

also, "your" girl is still the same insecure slut who opens her legs for attention and now she knows the betabux cuck she married will take her back as long as the crocodile tears flow for the appropriate amount of time. Gj, ge.

These commenters are real stupid. Things happens and there is no one answer to all. This story points out exactly that and that is why it is a good story, though there is little to no plot.

To the author - stick to your guns.

As for cliche that courts protect woman, that is utter nonsense. First of all. it is almost always that mother is more caring about children than father so the courts have to protect children rather than male ego. Second, cheating is rarely black and white, there is usually guilt on multiple parties. Third, just read some statistics how many women get killed or beaten by men in their life. The LW cliche of super-evil wife that prevails in BTB stories is idiot fantasy by dumb BTB writers. Family relations are almost always more complicated.

Brilliant! 5 stars. This author is clearly a man of keen intellect and power of introspection, he 'tells it like it is', as modern parlance has it. Finally, someone who understands that most people are not wholly good or wholly bad and that sometimes good people do bad things. Bravo, maestro!

So, the question remains...would Debbie forgive her husband if he was seduced by an ex-high school flame and cheated on Debbie because he had unresolved issues with ex-flame? Seduction works both ways. You can't be successfully seduced into cheating unless you're of a mindset to do so in the first place. Somewhere in their mind having the attention, validation and ultimately sex with this person takes precedent over everything else and you make a conscious decision to cheat. Cheaters use the word "seduced" likes its ultimate excuse for cheating and its absolves them of their bad decisions and shitty behavior. Debbie just had buyers remorse after she found out Peter had no real feelings for her and she was just another conquest in a long line of women.

So, unless Debbie had some kind of therapy with a professional to deal with her feelings of insecurity , self image along with her reliable issues then she's prone to succumb again when temptation presents itself again. The story never demonstrated that Debbie had changed and had developed the skills to remain reliable and committed to the relationship by resolving her insecurities and self image issues. Why would you ever want to give a person a second chance if they don't have the necessary life skills to deal with their insecurities to resist the next smooth taker down the line. Reconciliation is a risky investment for the betrayed spouse with no guarantee how long their spouses remorse will last. Be sure you can afford the investment of your time, love and emotional attachment and commitment if the cheating spouse fails to stay on the fidelity wagon.

Very different but I liked it a lot.

What a great. Way to approach a problem

Absolutely brilliant.

Her attitude is crucial.

We ALL make mistakes. Good girls, those who never played around in their youth have less 'tools' to help them recognize and fend off an experienced predator.

Was she drinking?

Had she been drugged initially?

Then there contrition.

Is she sorry for getting caught? Or is she conscious of the pain she caused?

These are very important when considering trying to reconcile.

The asshole who prefers married women???

I like the taser, a zip tie, and shove him in a trunk over night.

He'll be a gelding in the morning

Good story I look forward to the next part

No. It’s not just about the spouse who was betrayed. It’s also about society as a whole. Brutal, shocking, disproportionate revenge serves 2 purposes.

First, it restores some measure of power and control to someone who has been victimized.

Second, it sends a message to everyone else: consider carefully before you betray someone!

In an ideal world, everyone would do the right things, just because they are right. Unfortunately, in the hellscape we currently inhabit, some people will only do what is right out of fear of being punished.

ZK

RAAC crap.

Yes, there needs to be a law against predators like Peter. Let's call it the Peter Protocol.

I disagree with MC when he said his wife did not suspect the predators motives that he was smooth and moved with baby step, His wife knew from at least the very first lunch but I suspect a lot longer than that why do you think she kept secret all of their lunches prior to that fateful night? She kept them secret because she knew they wouldn’t pass the husband test. She knew!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Why preface it by saying no raac and then raac the poop out of it?

The only way this could have been worse is if you somehow coincidentally included holocaust in it.

I like this story, glad that the MC got past the hurt and was able to work it out with his wife. I'm also glad that justice was achieved with some busted kneecaps.

"No, don't go looking at me like that. I was playing poker with three friends all that night. I even lost $50 to each of them - exactly $50 to each of them. I was gracious and I paid in advance."

===> Hehe. Exactly $50 to each and in advance. Rofl. At least she had a ton of guilt and confessed as soon as possible. Not only remorse but her penance was withstanding her husband's sadness, anger and rejection. My only criticism, is that personally, no matter how damaging, I woukd have to know how Peter got her into that room and what they did. Did she have regret after the first time? Did they go all night? Was she intoxicated? And thiugh hr knows some of it: why? That means therapy for her and counseling for both of them, even while he internally processed things. Forgivable? Yes. Reconcilable? It depends. Think so in this case, but not enough information, though the immediate confession and her total honesty afterwards is a big deal. 5 stars.

It takes a great story about a remorseful cheating wife to make me agree with a reconciliation. This was one of those stories.