All Comments on 'The Art of Living Well'

Well done, good drama, good pace, detailed storyline, you write a good LW story.

Also good to hear from a fellow Aussie!

Nice job ‘US’; i enjoyed it very much! Very true to reality. Come around to this category again. 5*

Thanks 4*

Love the story. AAAAAA++++++

Enjoyed it, dealt with the cheating and moving on very well.

The thing I find makes these type of stories more enjoyable to read is if he had been a bit more upset and sad about the cheating, having mild depression, then seeing the light again when meeting someone new can leave the reader with a more upbeat feeling at the end of it.

High scoring cheating non BTB stories often have that theme.

3 pages TOO LONG!!! 3*

Good first Effort.

4/5

I'd say that he pretty much burnt his ex

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Thank you for another good one.

bravo bravo bravo.

A story exactly as I love them. 5⭐

A breach of a clause of a contract leads to the breach of said contract.

Similarly, infidelity leads to divorce.

Then you go on with your life.

The BTB?? to do what! Especially since most are unachievable.

Close the door and move on.

On the other hand, I have a little improbable to find a new wife so quickly and so easily.

And is the new woman more beautiful than the old one? we don't care!

Richer? we don't care!

Smarter? we don't care! Sexier? we don't care!

It's his wife and a new relationship.

Well done and a good read to boot. Scorched earth isnt always the way. The best revenge is living well and doing it for yourself.

A good read.

For a first time in this catagory you have done well. I could not stop reading even for the poastal service. Thanks and looking forward to more of your writings

Well written. Damn enjoyable. If this is your first in this category, then you hit the nail on the head. Just keep writing. Thank you.

The story was very well done. I did not even begin to read all the rest afterwards. You don't need to explain that stuff, just enter pertinent points into your story like you did. 5 stars.

On the day that Randi's Foreigner-themed invitational posted, we have this foreigner to the land of LW paying a visit. In the afterword, he suggests this is a one-off, but the QuickMagazine 4 I am awarding him might encourage a change of heart. I've not read any of his other stories, since they mostly fall into categories I avoid (incest/taboo, transgender/crossdressers, gay male), but will check out any subsequent LW efforts. Not a lot of conflict here, just a MMC getting down to business, and then getting lucky. Works for me.

This was just a fluffed-up copy of the many stories that populate LW without an ounce of originality or particular interest. One standard scene followed by another standard scene in the normal ordered sequence.

Thank you for the read and your efforts explaining the Australian system. It might have been useful to also explain that living with someone in a de facto relationship for longer than a year and a day also gives rights if you break up, unlike in much (all?) of the US. The story felt pretty bland to me. One of the things about the LW category is that what draws readers to it is it’s capacity to roil a reader emotionally. For me at least, there was zip of that. “The signs were there…” you said over and over. But did you describe them in anything other than general terms? The humiliating precipitating event is handled so perfunctorily that I was left wondering what all the fuss was about I liked the way you described his deteriorating state of mind but with nothing to show why his mind was doing so apart from being told over and over that “the signs were there …” left me wondering if he was just emotionally scarred from his childhood trauma of a “broken home” and projecting the whole thing. Even the PI report is glossed over. Could our hero be “an unreliable narrator”? Apparently not.

Also, taking the money and calling his wife a “whore” at the final meet and greet… what a class act! She was 2 dimensional and does not remind me of Australia Women at all—who can be Dry pragmatic and “hard as nails;” they have to deal with Australian men so that is to be expected! :) She didn’t look him in the eye and call him “thief” for taking her money? Not happening. It is also. It happening because you stated that they had their own separate accounts when talking to the lawyer earlier. So that is a problem that needs explaining. Thank you.

I thought you did a good job for a story in this category…good on ya mate!

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It did read a bit more as a book report than as a first person story. Not near enough conversation between Mark and Kylie. We never really learned about how and why they came apart. By the end of the story, the implication seemed to be the trite old story of her being a little bored and selfishly wanted something different. When she played the “it was just sex” card at the end, my trite alarm went off 🤗

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The peculiarities of Aussie divorce law being explored and explained was interesting, and salient to your story.

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So…a solid 4 **** effort. Please do give this category another shot sometime!

Pretty good, but it seemed a bit mechanical…not eliciting much emotion. I’ll checkout your other stories to see how you manage in genres with which you are more comfortable.

I'm not a fan of 'Loving Wives' stories, as I too hate Cheaters, but I read yours as I love your work. I must say It was by far the best one I've read. I think the category name is a bit of a misnomer anyway. I am also a romantic at heart so this was perfect for me. Easiest five star I've given especially given the genre. If you ever decide to give it another try I'd read it too, but I like your usual stuff much more. Thanks for Sharing!

Cliche: The story.

Well, not your best, but I've read much worse so I guess that's something. The first part had a few typos but nothing outlandish. It was also the most interesting and believable part of the story. When Mark went in to see what Kylie had to say, he should have let her have her say first, before he unloaded on her. Taking Jenni with him was good for revenge but could have backfired on him. Best to have let Kylie say her piece and sign the paper before revealing his plans and Jenni. Just so glad I never had to deal with the divorce issue as my wife and I had over 50 years of wedded bliss until the "death do part" reared it's ugly head. Thanks

Same old same old.

There's a contentious nature to this category which makes many of the LW readers just too lazy to look at other categories, when someone who writes this quality drops by it's a treat and makes me, at least, kick myself for not perusing the other genres. That was an excellent, well written and entertaining tale. Thank you.

Welcome to the wild west of Literotica, Loving Wives. Enjoyed your story. You know how to spin a good tale. I do hope you'll change your mind and post some more in Loving Wives.

Thanks for this moving and believable story. Please write here again.

Very good. You should write more in this vein.

I’ve found that many of the best LW stories, don’t involve scorched earth, or any explicit revenge. The story quality often follows how well the protagonist recovers. Impossibly complex revenge plots, snipers, all are okay for a laugh, but their real impact is establishing the story as hyperbole, and satire.

That was excellent, well done!

Whether you intended to or not, that was actually a perfect BtB.

Getting revenge on a cheating wife is a tricky prospect. Any violence directed towards the unfaithful wife and her lover will just end up with the betrayed husband behind bars. The point of revenge is to make them suffer, not make your own life more difficult!

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The best way of handling revenge on an unfaithful wife, is two-fold:

1) the husband picks himself up, quickly moves on, then lives a better life without her.

2) inflict lasting emotional damage as payback.

Your story handled both perfectly. By moving on so quickly with a bigger-breasted, decade-younger woman, he hammered Kylie on her two worst insecurities. He also proved that he was the more desirable spouse, and that Kylie had accidentally discarded a husband who was a real prize.

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Her ego would never recover from that double-whammy, and she'll always bitterly regret cheating on him and destroying her marriage. Mark hurt Kylie far more that way, than if he just punched her in the face. That's what a BtB is really about: making the cheating wife suffer lasting pain and regret for her betrayal. The fact that she also lost her house and kids in the fallout was just the icing on a delicious cake.

In my opinion this story was very well done. The story had it all, great love, deceit and heartbreak then new love again. Cliche, certainly but put together in such a way as to be believable. Kudos

A lovely romantic story. Easy five stars.

Good story!

5

Enjoyed reading it thoroughly.

Got engrossed much about his life that I didn't even care about Kylie anymore.

/

Good one UltimateSin.

Pfftt

Good initial story for Loving Story, May I suggest to you publish part 2 in Loving wives so the readers don't miss the second half. Often not, readers usually stay in one or two categories.

Grammar very good (excellent compared to my grammar)

The Flow was good, going from his father's history to romance, cheating, and retribution. Meeting Jenni was good. But for a period of time, his cheating fell off the face of the earth. Adding a paragraph on what the future Ex was going through would have made the story flow better.

Balance sex to the story: Exccelent

Descriptive: nicely done on the erotic scene

BTB/RAAC this is insufficient BTB Factor here. She had affair, then thrown it in her face, she is going out with a business partner, not as a "date" and coming back home the next morning. For that, she deserves, to be kicked out, and looked down on by her kids. I don't know how the kids treat her. Is she a pariah to them? If you can set a final showdown with her husband and the outcome of her relationship with kids in part 2 Good

Keep my interest: Very good

Storyline excellent

Overall 4.1

Well done!

You rocked it, well done.

Loving wives is one of my favourites here on Lit.

I’m a BTB man, but do enjoy a well thought out meaningful reconciliation. Not a RAAC mind you, they leave me cold.

Me?

Happily married 38 years, four sons. Just love the stories.

Well matey, what about Storm, do you think they can pick themselves up?

I have my doubts. Go Broncos.

Scores 5/5

Oh, by the way, please write some more in this category

Thanks.

Nice story. Kylie needed some burning, but this story felt pretty realistic. Like most LW stories it ignores the WHY did she cheat, after 20 years? It seems odd to me that in so many LW stories the wife's cheating starts so late in a marriage, usually with no reason given. Same with this story. Like your other stuff much better.

Good story, I enjoyed it.

Good story and I enjoyed it. I do think the author's math is off when the husband says, "Having had no relationship with her to speak of for nearly forty years,..." He is supposedly 60 when he says it. They were married for 20 years. Otherwise, I do wonder where the hubris comes from to announce she has a date and stay out overnight, but that wasn't the point of the story.

I found the information about Australia’s divorce laws interesting but honestly the story was pretty much cut and paste from 10,000 others. Just formula stuff. 3*

A very sweet story. It wasn't your best, as it felt kinda rushed and there wasn't much erotica, but it was still enjoyable. As an Australian it was also interesting learn more about the divorce laws in this country too

Somehow bloodless.

Interesting. 5 stars from me. I think in real life many men just move on and "live well" actually.

I don't think Australia's marriage laws are all that great - especially that separated for a year provision and even "if married less than 2 years, mandated counseling."

I have been married and divorced in 3 US states - Illinois, Missouri, and Georgia. First divorce in 1976 in Illinois. This was a no-fault divorce with children involved. She did get the house and primary custody while I just paid child support plus all medical and dental. I had good benefits from work so that was covered. From filing to final decree was less than 6 months. My second marriage and divorce in Missouri ALL happened in less than 1 year. A classic lust filled rebound mistake, but easily corrected in just 3 months from her filing. No children, no maintenance, no asset split and I really suffered no harm. She married her new boyfriend very quickly. I got promoted and moved to Atlanta. Pretty quickly bought a new motorcycle, acquired some new hobbies and all new friends, and found a woman to marry again. That relationship and marriage lasted about 15 years and just kind of ran out of steam. I don't think she was cheating, but she moved out with her son I had helped raise and send thru college one day while I was at work. Again that divorce just took a couple of months but neither of us fought it at all. We actually remained friends and she still has my last name. I actually invited her and "plus one" to my final marriage to another Georgia Peach. And they came. That marriage lasted the longest 20 years until 2020 and COVID. I live alone on 8+ acres in the North GA mountains now and I am busy and content. Que sera.

Well done, but bland.

Thanks for the story. Mark really did himself a favor by leaving her instead of going BTB. Kylie’s weak arguments showed they had become incompatible in their values. Why feed emotions for a failed relationship? He handled himself well and truly lived a good life after her.

Not horrible, but it seemed WAY too long with a lot of unnecessary filler that didn't add much to the story. Since most of your stories are in a couple of categories I never read I suspect this will be your first and last story I read. Being unfamiliar with Australian divorce laws let me just say that it seemed kind of petty to simply disappear for 12 months before getting divorced. The old "head in the sand" approach to divorce instead of confronting your problems head on. Not my cup of tea. You'd think he would have wanted to get his problems out in the open instead of running from them. And bringing your about to be new wife to the final divorce meeting certainly seemed both out of place, odd and demonstrated a rub your face in it attitude. Guess he really was still upset.

Good story but Poly isn't cheating but it is possible to cheat in a Poly relationship just as easily as a Mono one.

It was good but for me this type of story always needs a confrontation. They were two people who were very much in love. Why didn't she speak to him? Why did she stray when she still loved him? What did she expect when she stayed out all night? I gave a 4 because it was a well written story but just lacked a proper confrontation.

5* Very nicely done. Good character development.

Give her more than enough rope to hang herself and she pulled the trap door herself. She knew the consequences of her actions and made her choice. So glad to be given the final confrontation with the appropriate dialog for maximum shock value. Just beautiful.

Excellent story for the first time in this category! Keep them coming. 5 BIG FAT BLAZING STARS!

Well done.

There's no reason to excuse the romance element of the story.

It's the most popular 'after betrayal' plot in our kind of LW stories.

How much is too much? That's a matter of opinion.

I have no problem with how it's used here.

So well done writer.

Top ratings from me.

Mark's whore mother, and slut wife should have been sold as sex slaves in a third world country, and die of horrendous diseases...

Well written, enjoyable 5*****

Good stuff. I would have wanted to know why she thought she could go on a date with another guy, stay out all night, and return home thinking everything would be okay. Only women in G.Anderson stories are that stupid. She was keeping her cheating secret until the date thing, so why do it?

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Normally I don't care why the cheating spouse did it, but on rare occasions, it could be an interesting discussion between husband and wife. I'd like to know why she went on the date the way she did. It's like she went from 0 to 60 in one step, just seems strange because she must have known how he'd react.

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5 stars from me. It was an interesting story, I'd like to see more from you in the future. Thanks for posting.

Excellent story. Thank you.

I fell in love with Jenni as soon as she swallowed my cum. Give me a freaking break...what a load of stupid sophomoric shit. The dialog also sucked. 3/5

We'll written. Enjoyed reading it.

Stories where the cheated on spouse just walks away and there's no conversation at all leave me feeling a bit empty

He suspected. He got evidence. He walked away. If the cheating wife portion the story is going to be that black & white, that short and that emotionless why not list this as a Romance story?

Well done the wife got divorced the husband found a new love and they lived happily ever after sounds good to me.

Nice romantic story of love lost and found again. Some men stand by their principles. Good writer. Thanks for the story.

Good to see Australian divorce laws represented well (though the story implies physically leaving is required).

Well done

Straight out of the LW playbook. Pretty boring, one dimensional characters, zero drama. It will of course score well with the LW fetishists, but this was an assembly job rather than anything creative.

Really well written. Hate to here that you probably won't write in LW category again. You nailed it on the head as far how a cheating spouse should be handled. After they break their vows voluntarily they don't deserve any future consideration or contact. Many men feel that they have to get revenge to feel better and make the whore pay.

If they really thought about it they would realize that completely ignoring and showing how as far as the wife is concerned they don't matter at all. Will eat at them forever. Better to move on and build a new life than to waste time and energy on a useless whore.

Like I said really well done and done right.

It's a pity that this should only have been a one-time visit by "LW". I really liked it.

Very nice, good flow.

Very well done for your first LW story. I hope you try for another soon.

Well written but cookie-cutter and not believable. You did a good job of evoking sympathy for the husband, but you left it as an utter mystery what happened. Why did this wife who clearly loved her husband and knew his views about fidelity do this? The more interesting story would be about the cheating wife.

Very well written, keep it up. 5 stars

As always you knocked it out of the park... I love 100% of the stories I choose to read. I look forward to your next one.

Not bad, son. I love Australia, and your people too. 5 stars, the Bear approves. Keep writing.

The BEAR

Reading about our (Australian) laws for research is one thing.

Yes, it all seems reasonable on paper, but the reality is different.

In general, the courts rely on the burden of evidence.... with one exception. The Family Court. There, they use a principle called the 'balance is probability'.

Sounds very reasonable, right? The reality is that it can be used to summarily dismiss or ignore anything they wish.

The next thing is that the lawyers won't represent you if they can't secure their payments first. Now will the court, unless you apply for, and be able to show reason for a waiving of court costs.

Lawyers can put a 'lien' on your house, which means they have a note over it, stopping you from doing anything with it until their bill is paid. This can happen even if you cover your own legal expenses, but your partner does not. The net effect being your can be blackmailed into paying it out anyway.

Settlement between the couple is done AFTER legal costs are covered.

You don't have to have counselling, that's true. But now they have something called meditation. This is mandatory. The idea is that you go there and work it all out, so that a recommended outcome can be handed to the court and the court doesn't have to do any work. Depending on where you go, you're going to pay a minimum of $5000 upwards for a single day.

There is a schedule of charges for court appearances. The final hearing is priced at $6600+.

It does not matter if you end up bankrupt.

You are restricted in the amount of evidence you can supply... a 10 page affidavit, and 5 annex's or exhibits. This is as opposed to general court matters, where evidence is allowed if it exists... because it's evidence!

An affidavit can be rejected for certain criteria, like being repetitive or overly verbose in the judge's eyes.

The worst of it all is that generally, a court appearance is a matter of public record. Not so for the FCFCOA, the Federal Circuit Family Court of Australia. Their, in the interests of protecting the privacy of the children, you cannot divulge any aspect of the proceedings that identifies any party involved, including via social media. If you do this, you are going to jail for 12 months.

It's also my experience that as a party to proceedings, you may have a particular right. If a problem comes up, then you better know that right exists, and you better bring it to the attention of the proceedings, if not, things can just continue on. If you don't know that right exists, then it won't be applied to you.

In short, the whole process is a minefield, where your interests come last, even sometimes too the detriment of the children.

If it was mandatory that people had to understand the process of divorce in Australia before they got married, the institution of marriage would vanish like a spring must on a sunny morning.

It's pay per representation, pay per outcome, and keep paying for your foreseeable future, while 'people' can dick around with your rights afterwards,like visitation, and get away with it.

And woe betide you if any claims are made about impropriety on your behalf. The onus is on you to disprove them completely, or you are going to have judgments against your in the interests of safety and protection.

Your better off just becoming a deadbeat and disappearing, because there will be no justice unless you can really, really pay well for it.

And you can't even tell anybody about what happened to you.

Another comment regarding Australian divorce laws.

You had it worked out for this story that his property interests were protected. That setup is about the only way it could happen, but a clued-in lawyer could challenge even that.

In reality, a lawyer will tell you... don't leave the house. It will be seen as abandonment. Makes it a bit hard if she gets the same advice and refuses to leave, doesn't it? You've both got equal right to the property.

That becomes a bit of a problem, if you need 12 months of separation, doesn't it?

Although you still can be seen as separated while in the same residence, you're still forced to live with her.

From the same anony poster who explained the Australian divorce industry.

Bloody auto-correct. That was meant to be 'balance OF probability', not 'balance is probability'.

Cheers

...and sorry about the half dozen other typos in my posts about Australian Family Law.

If you can't decipher it, it comes down to this... You're screwed.

I really enjoyed this story. My only wish was the how and why she cheated. I know the MC didn't care but for a wife that was so adamant on being faithful, there needed some explanation.

Great story as always. Though one thing I didn't like was when you implied that poly people are really just looking for 'acceptable' reasons to cheat which isn't true. They're relationship is built on honesty and trust like any good healthy relationship is so idk whether you meant it negatively or not.

Great pay back on the cheating whore wives!! No mercy and sympathy!!

Very good and real . I agree with writer 100% . Never get that trust back all the way. I admire people who can get past it but completely understand those who can’t.

Excellent story.

I really enjoyed it from start to finish.

Although I would like if at some point you could tell the story from Kylie's point of view, in order to know her reasons why she decided to be unfaithful and lose her entire family.

Greetings friend.

UlimateSin, you can write well, in terms of proper grammar, spelling, paragraphing, and being clear as to who is speaking, flow of events, and all those aspects of a story that make it pleasurable to read.

On the other hand, you created a very cliched Main Character, yet another fragile, rigid, uncommunicative man-boy that is all-too-common in LW stories. You use his instant shut-down of all contact with his cheating wife as a means to rob the reader of the emotional payoff of a very central and important confrontation. Then the story shifts into a very Hallmark soap opera of the story of his new romance. I find that very boring. Whether BTB, RAAC or somewhere in between, the focus needs to be on dealing with the betrayal and its aftermath in that relationship. If you need to show that the MC ultimately does OK afterwards, fine: just say he met a nice woman and had a happy marriage and life. The rest is less than irrelevant. IMHO, YMMV.

One quibble, though. Actually two. First, You mentioned a third child at the end, Steven. I'm confused, there was Charlotte and Tom in the beginning, but I don't remember a Steven being born to Mark & Kylie. And that leads me to the second observation: The monologue, in the beginning, read like word vomit to me. I had to slow down and carefully read things to ensure that I understood the setup. Once you started the dialogue it became much more clear.

Just nits to pick... overall thought the plot was well thought out and I enjoyed reading it. 5/5

I agree with the way you handled her cheating. Just divorce and leave!!!

A very well thought out and plotted story.

I enjoyed reading it and hope you change your mind anout submitting more stories unde the LW heading.

Well done and thanks for sharing you skillful writing style.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nah

The writing was good, but Kylie knew his stance on fidelity - so why? You needed to explain that . It was literally what the entire story was building up to and you ignored it.

3 Stars

If that's your first foray, please keep it up

Excellent job capturing the essence of a good loving wives story. One commenter mentioned a need for more information on why the wife cheated, but that's what made this story great - we all know she cheated because she could and would again until he eventually divorced her saving the world from 3,000 words of why she deserved to have sex with other men.

A good story well told. You met the criteria that you set for yourself quite well: neither a RAAC nor a BTB. In general, those are the best LW stories as the characters are not forced into contorted positions just to serve the plot line. Thank you both for the story and for the education on divorce Down Under.

This story group is tough so don't worry about ratings. A 4* here is equal to a 4.5 or a red H. Keep writing here because your stories are heart warming as well as real. Thanks. Slick742

Missed the revenge. 4/5 stars.

jopstorm(1945)

What kind of wife spends the night away from home with no explanation to her husband in advance and then breaks into hysterics when the husband is gone? The problem with LQ is that this unrealistic shit is the norm. All two often the wife is brain dead.

She says she loves him. I don't believe it. People that love someone look put their loved one above themselves. They would never do something to purposely hurt them, like selfishly fucking someone else.

I liked it up to the meeting. The story had a measured pace and tone that seemed realistic. The meeting, the discussion, Jennifer's presence and participation in the humiliation of Kylie wasn't consistent with the preceeding events and character development thus far. For someone presented as having moved on, his anger seemed a little too surface. Bringing Jennifer there only served to humiliate Kylie

Why? He moved on hadn't he. That's what you wrote.

And as for Jennifer being present at all. Its such a masculine fantasy scene. It's a common trope here. The new woman is perfect in every way and behaves just like the betrayed husband wants... a woman with a male brain doing the exact same thing a man would do only she has breasts and a vagina. It's the same with how daughters are written. They act just like men wish daughters would. But they don't because we aren't men.

In reality Jennifer would feel some contempt for Kylie but she would also pity her. Kylie's loss is her gain. Also, the betrayal was in the past. Kylie isn't actively seeking to harm Mark emotionally, physically or psychologically. She isn't out to actively destroy Mark's career, relationships with his family. She wants her marriage back. That's typical. Jennifer, like most women, wouldn't want to personally add to Kylie's pain. There is no reason for us to be present at the meeting and certainly wouldn't actively pile on pain and hurt. If the wife was actively trying to hurt our partner, well that's a different story. Jennifer participating in that humiliation, throwing the relationship in Kylie's face. It's such male btb nonsense.

And quite frankly, if Mark had moved on totally, he wouldn't want to cause Kylie any further pain. What's the point? Revenge? I thought this story wasn't about that kind of revenge?

4 stars.

That meeting was just weird and not particularly consistent with the tone of the preceeding events. It's not that they had a meeting, closure is important. For someone who was very calm, measured and clearly moving on, he was awful aggressive, antagonistic and extremely angry. The author is clearly male and wrote Jennifee from that point of view. I'm not insulting men. I am merely pointing out that Jennifer's actions in regards to the ex wife and that meeting are nit realistic.

I don't understand why a 45 year-old man would want to have FOUR more kids. I see from some other stories I've read by UltimateSin that it isn't *just* American writers who have their divorced male MC get re-married and have a stupid number of extra progeny with the new wife. Seriously, in this day and age, having more than 2 isn't necessary anymore (and is bloody expensive), and *wanting* more than 2 means you have a screw loose, imo.

good story and exception happy ending. Sneaky move on the house deed and a good idea. Good that there wasn't a real BTB and or revenge, just move on.

Other writers should take note, reconciliations aren't the only happy ending there is and also, living life well is the best form of a revenge. Maybe the lover could've gotten punched in the face or something but ultimately is was the cheating wife who deserved the outcome.