All Comments on 'The Lie'

This was a really enjoyable story, the reconciliation worked, the revenge aspect well thought out.

I liked it :)

She fucked his best friend twice…he told a lie..and they are equal? Quits?

Only words…which ever college u got ur accounting degree from…that college must really suck!( pun intended!)

Seemed dumb at first, but... A good, multi-faceted story. I'll say no more; people need to read it all the way through. 5 from me.

You scoundrel!

5

Yes, forgiveness is important and tough to do but its also important to not forget. And no matter what, if forgiveness is given easily then it will be taken for granted. At least if he had gotten even with Claire or some other young woman, then rebuilding would be easier. This is hard to believe. Still in my mind he gets even with a nice double d latina :P.

Kidding.

Thanks for the story though.

To you, I say "It's actually quite easy; just have the character seeking forgiveness to something to earn it". Ever heard of a redemption arc? Look it up, it would to wonders for your repertoire. Though I have limited faith in your ability to do it properly.

Then you shouldn't write a story about forgiveness, garbage story

I liked this story.a lot.. Perfect revenge on Barb and Jeff, and the forgiveness and reconciliation between Barb and the MC felt natural. Jeff got what he deserved. 5 stars.

Old story? Yes.

Love it? Yes.

Funny? Yes.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

A non-lethal bit of revenge and punishment with a heartwarming chaser of forgiveness and a dash of humor. Well done.

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Old themes are always worth revisiting when they can be expanded and illuminated with new ideas and approaches. Many a great author has resuscitated old and familiar characters and circumstances to great effect.

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Thanks very much.

He can forgive her but still move on his life alone. Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting and going forward as if nothing happened. Doing that is another stupid overused LW trope that tries to claim some sort of moral high ground when in reality it's just a warped and wrong approach.

Good one!

Not bad…

I loved it.

Good story. You can only BTB so many ways, but forgiveness, reconciliation and starting over has a million faces. 5/5!!!

‘Forgiveness is a sign of strength not weakness’ we’ve heard this time and time again with the RAAC fraternity and I agree with that statement. The strength of the one proffering that forgiveness is not in question, well done and fair play to them.

Unfortunately the one receiving said forgiveness does not and will not ever see the act as anything other than weakness and an open invitation for the future.

Finally a decent story!

Please don't apologize for writing good tales, some may bitch but too many of those are looking for a reason to bitch anyway. Their comments are just words. Thanks once more for putting your stories out there for us to enjoy. 5 stars.

somewhere east of Omaha

gave it a 2, just words is normally better than this. She cheats with his best friend and all is forgiven. Jeff is the predator while Barb is the victim. I guess no where in their fuck session did she say no and yet she the victim. another of she is to "STUPID" to say no. But Jeff is the predator.

The forgiveness was too easy, maybe. But a good story anyway. D

4* I agree, a RAAC story is hard to write. I would have preferred He get a "pound of flesh" from her before releasing her and telling her he lied.

Here is the weak point of the story "I thought about my kids. I could live without a wife, but I could not deprive them of their mother." First, they were empty nesters. That was the whole reason she was able to cheat the first time. Second, that is the number one excuse for cuckolds everywhere. If she's a cheating whore, she might not be the best person to mentoring and mothering those kids IF they were younger.

I believe I understand the concept you had in your head but I don't think this was particularly successful. Others will blast you on the reconciliation but for me it's more, you put up more barriers than necessary with the wife. 2 months? That's no small detail. Then there is the fact she felt guilty about seeing Jeff's wife but made no mention of her husband. The main issue is how she seemed to believe they were equal. I am not sure that is reasonable. Yes, he lied about HIV but that was just to fuck with her a bit and force shame, guilt and fear. I can't say that I would go that route but there are a lot worse avenues for revenge. That he seemed to accept he was AS wrong doesn't wash with me.

He basically gave the wife a pass AND the ability to write off her guilt. She isn't going to respect him. That tends to be the reality. This wasn't a one off. Major betrayals always include loss of respect. He can't get it back now.

Don't hate it, just dull and boring.

RAACuck story 1*

Love Just Words work, but this is a standout. Best ‘fuck you ‘ ever.

I always smile at the double entendre of your pen name…as well as seeing a new story from you. This short story was tightly plotted and well told. Thanks.

Very, very good. Thanks.

Really very good. No surprise that her reasons for cheating were as well worn as the Appian Way! But for such a short tale, it trod that road expertly.

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5 *****

According to the CDC web site, the minimum window period for HIV exposure to be picked up on a test is 10 days. Not clear how much time passed here between the first cheat and the bar reveal, but with the second cheat, it seemed to follow pretty quickly. And there is not much here about why she is worth the forgiveness.

Forget: “try writing a story about forgiveness. It isn't easy”

How about: “stories about lying about AIDS/HIV are always a total hoot!”

Don’t confuse the SOURCE of any ‘dislike’ of this story as being rooted in the forgiveness part.

You’re focused on the wrong variable.

A very good variation of a story read before.

Forgiveness is really for the person doing the forgiving. He forgave her so that he would not be consumed by hate, fear, and vengeful thoughts. That takes bravery of a different and scarce kind. Would I have forgiven her? Not on your life. Had it happened just the first drunken time, maybe, but the second intentional sober time, she would have paid with hellfire pouring down on her. That's why this story gets a "Hate it" rating. kirei8

It is an OK story, although I did not quite see that Barb was truly sorry, or what, if anything, she did to repair her adultery.

I enjoyed it very much. I give it four stars and maybe 4 1/2 if I could.

Worked for me. I hope it took Jeff a long time to learn thr truth.

Cute; 5*

It's always the part of the affairs in these stories I don't get.

The first time she was drunk, her husband was traveling and she got taken advantage of by a friend she thought she could trust. When confessing she said she was so upset that she threw Jeff out after they had only fucked one time. Why would she let the second time happen? She wasn't drunk, her husband was at work rather than out of town... What happened to her disgust with herself between the first and second times?

Good job. 5 all the way.

It worked. Good tale

Great story and the best revenge scenario!

I don't hate it, but it's hard to like because of the shortness of it- the too short period of time between him actually seeing his wife cheating, and having a good time while doing it, and forgiving her. Her 'feeling the guilt and shame' and him causing her distress was not enough. There needs to be time, lots of time, for emotions to settle down. She felt guilty after the first time, the second was just fun, the third and fourth if she hadn't been found out?? Nope, they needed a separation.

Wow. Thank you J_W, very interesting story. I ranked it 5 because it really was interesting and well written, as are all of J-W's stories. Please write some more. Tanglosax

Liked the story and the lie on HIV to shake things up. Just don't know how he can walk out and not say anything and the reconciliation came very, very quick. They never broke up, never told the kids, never worked it out per say. Just a quick I forgive you.

Good story. My biggest problem with getting back together with her was she cheated in my home, in my bed. Not once but twice. Be real hard for me to overcome that.

Yeah, I'll give this a like, not a love. Just_Words has written some classics (at least in the QuickMagazine world), "Work Spouse Detonation" being the one I remember the most. Not sure what he intended originally, but the events described here seemed realistic and logical. Guess the 4 is because it'd be good to know more specifically what Jeff's life was like now, but the author didn't go there.

Overall I liked it but forgiveness came too easily.

"She gave me AIDS, Jeff. Barb gave me AIDS." - Not to inject reality into a fictional story, but you don't get AIDS, you get HIV, which these days is very treatable.

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I don't know, there just wasn't enough there to decide if I liked the ending or not. I would have liked SOME explanation for the second time, given how much guilt she felt from the first time.

The HIV revenge was a nice twist. The reconciliation seemed awfully quick.

4 stars!

Statistically most marriages survive cheating. This lovely story required no suspension of belief, the cheating wasn’t egregious, and they had a 25 year history. Plus a fairly original plot.

Good job

Chilleywilley

Don't worry about the haters, it was a fun take on cheating and dealing with it. Short and too the point. I've written some BTB and some about forgiveness. You always get hate when there is any forgiveness and reconciliation, but remember two things. First, almost every mean-spirited note come from somebody who has never written a story. Secondly, it is your story to write as you please! Nicely done, I'm giving it a 5.

Sorry, but the reconciliation didn't work for me.

And her being mad at him? Really? GTFOHRNWTBS.

Good story overall, I enjoyed the HIV plot and everything else, minus him taking Barb back or Jeff surviving obliteration.

Good story, well written. If anyone doesn't understand "forgiveness" then they have no children.

4. I liked it, the reconciliation was pretty fast though not unwarranted, the wife really sounded remorseful and guilty especially when she thought she had killed her husband. From how Ralph was reacting though was kinda expecting it would come out she was sleeping with him too, banging both his friends. My only real complaints were were we never saw the effects on Jeff in the epilogue, thought it wasn't necessary I would have liked a confrontation, and maybe a bit more dealing with the forgiveness and reconciliation.

Procedural things—given Jeff’s philandering, it seems odd that John has no idea of his proclivities.

Philosophically, I think the key to the story was that “he didn’t think it through.” Otherwise he would have realized that two months was not enough to get a diagnosis of AIDS., The effectiveness of the lie required something he didn’t know—that Jeff had been an ongoing adulterer for some time. It didn’t add or detract from the story but it points out something our hero does not recognize about forgiveness. Sometimes even the vilest can find forgiveness. Grace is a powerful thing and in a universe marinating in mystery, very real. So, never say never… ?

Always enjoy your stories. Thanks very much for ALL you wonderful contributions.

I don't understand why a husband should seek forgiveness from the slut wife? He can do whatever he can to manipulate to get revenge. She don't deserve a chance. He just lied to give pain, but they betrayed and backstabbed. No Mercy and No forgiveness.

I liked the initial plot but the whore didn't have a lot of space in this story to become sympathetic.

5 stars -

What a great short story this has turned out to be.

This is probably the best idea for a story in the Loving Wives category I have seen so far. I cannot imagine getting that kind of revenge without some form of violence. The fallout in any community would destroy the perpetrators for the rest of their lives. They would have to change their names and move to another location far away, just to escape the stigma. I am not a RAAC supporter, but this one works for me.

I enjoyed it. It was a concise and mercifully contiguous tale that got the job done. The revenge was sufficient to satisfy the reader and the reconcilliation I found appropriate. No pickaxe handles were harmed, or even used, in this story which is a great way for a story to go! Thank You well done 5*****

original and well crafted.

Loved it! 5 stars.

What other2other1 said.

Agree with other2other1;

The punishment and the reconciliation worked. Very well, actually; as you said, it’s hard to write a balance reconciliation.

Love the premise -- it's far more effective than all the "and she got AIDS and died a horrible death" stories.

Good story, really liked the revenge on Jeff. People make mistakes and should be forgiven if not repeated. Well done

You got my interest and I stuck with it, thanks for the read,

But I was looking for a face to face from him and huis ex: best friend, 5*

Nice and somewhat original. At least the revenge part was. 5*.

Well told. Is it okay to lie to a liar? I suppose so. But then, of course, Ralph was there. And he spread the lie to people the mc had never met. Is that okay, too?

You may get flak from the BTB crowd, but this is an excellent short story.

Dumb

Good story but the reconciliation happened WAY too easy.

The story was really good. I was wondering if the health department would get involved with a rumored HIV positive status.

Very good story. The best revenge and a good reconciliation. No one died. One time mistake after 25 years works for me

HA, HA, HA so funny !

Dropping the HIV bomb was like turning a light on and seeing the roaches run everywhere, lol. I guess if the love was strong enough, the forgiveness will follow in it's own time, but it's a big wad to chew on. Glad John was big enough to give his wife a chance to patch things up. Well done.

Love the lie but how could his wife, in any way, be mad at him? 4*

Can't imagine why you aren't flooded with comments; this is an excellent story with a different twist. Since no one seems to be knocking your door down to congratulate you I guess it puts a big lie to those claims of wanting something different.

Anyway--5 stars from the Low-country.

I loved it. It's always best when the real predator is the one who gets to pay the price. This is a perfect case of the victim becoming the victor.

Sneaky use of of Truth. Because, in a way Barb had killed him.

Great stuff

As usual. You packed so much good stuff into this short story. It’s hard to write a forgiveness story, but you nailed it. Thank you

You're right, writing a story about forgiveness isn't easy. That's quite clear after you tried and failed miserably.

It wasnt bad, there just wasnt much there...

A very unique method of revenge.

This is another great story from JW. Perfect revenge on the womanizer, and false friend, Jeff with the HIV story. I probably wouldn’t have forgiven Barb so quickly, but that’s just me. Very few authors can pack so much punch into such a short story as Just_Words.

Well thought out and well written. I'm not sure I would have the courage and the forgiveness to take back the cheating wife. Forgiveness is a very difficult thing for everyone. As for the lie, that was probably more vindictive than any fist fight could ever be. It might as well have been a verbal hand grenade! This author really causes you to think! 🔅🔅🔅🔅🔅

Might have been good but the wimp literally ran in RAAC.

Sorry even though the whole "Ive got AIDS" but was great the "Im mad, oops no Im not" came so quick this ended up being a waste of time and essentially a cuck story.

The reconciliation ruined it for me. Once John had his negative test results it should have been off to file for divorce, Never stay married to a cheater.

Unique! Generally a story reveals itself slowly. This one was obvious from the aids declaration, given the title. But it was great fun getting there. An easy 5, very well done!

The author was good at weaving this take. Very nice indeed. I almost liked it.

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Once again the cheater got off scot-free. With a little inconvenience thrown her way, and without any effort at all to redress her cheating manage to have her cake and eat it as well courtesy of the beta male husband who did all the work to repair the damage she wrought ON HIM. He even apologized to Claire ALONE and admitted the fiasco was his error.

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So the stupid husband thinks Jeff was a predator so no forgiveness there but what about the wife? He thinks she's a victim?! The recipient of multiple orgasms a victim?! Heck his wife was the one who let herself get drunk and flirty with Jeff

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I get it giving forgiveness but no way I'd do what the stupid MC did, taking the blame of the HIV fiasco -- heck, let the cheaters own it and get myself separated from the cheating wife.

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The story is very well written and the plot clever. The next forgiveness story you write could possibly dig a little deeper into the emotional roller coaster that comes with trying to forgive. My fourth story in editing now, runs fairly parallel, but is quite long. That’s how I know you’re still kicking around another way to present it. You are right!! It is hard. And yet, just like all the crazy plots on LIT actually happen, so does forgiveness. Really enjoyed this. Careful with your tenses, just a few places. 5*

Cookingwithgas

paybacks are always worth a lot of fun

Would be harder to achieve again than the forgiveness.

Each case is different. Forgiveness is a lot harder than staying angry and bitter, but you will be a lot happier if you release those who have wronged you.

Like a few other readers the story and forgiveness doesn’t feel quite ‘right’

He caught them but then kept quite about it. Pulled his HIV revenge at which point his wife apologised and confessed. She said the first time she had to much to drink alone with a male friend and a mistake was made.

Ok, at this point I could easily see reconciliation. Some time would be needed etc but then their was a second time (this must have been when he caught them), no alcohol involved and the guilt she felt when she through him out after thr first time didn’t stop her doing it again. At this point it was cause she wanted it.

She couldn’t face Claire because she felt so guilty but presumably hid it so easily from her husband. He noticed no difference in her so she was not feeling to bad for him.

Said she was sorry but only after she thought she’d got HIV from her cheating and wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore.,without his HIV scheme and secretly catching them who knows how many more times may have happened?

Then she gets furious when she thinks he cheated, would she have been as forgiving as he was if he’d slipped with Claire? I think not, women are very unforgiving when the shoes on the other foot do to speak.

And in the 21st century are we really excusing women for all their infidelities because their ‘victims’. Women are as capable as men in making major decisions, their mothers and wives who shoulder a lot of responsibility and make important life decisions all the time but when slime with a man whose not her husband she suddenly becomes a sheep, easily led ? Really women are stronger than that.

And a drink msn can make mistakes just like a woman, doesn’t make them predators or sme big bad wolf. Saying the wife was the victim of a predator is supposed ncorrect, she made a drunken mistake then didn’t get caught and enjoyed the excitement until she thought she caught HIV.

The forgiveness may have been the right choice but it was a little to easy. No counselling or anything.

Not a bad story, fairly credible in fact if one leans on the side of forgiveness.

no....just....no.....the forgiveness came way to quick....yet another story written while sitting on the toilet.

I can get with forgiveness and reconcil..stories...but no way does this work the way it was written.

Great twist to a cheating wife story. I'm a sucker for happy endings

I loved this story, as many people say you can't help who your heart decides to love. And I loved the HIV angle as well, worked better than pictures.

I liked the story. I agree that forgiveness must be given. What about trust? Is he just giving that back to her?