All Comments on 'The Lie'

In all these stories here, writen by american authors, there is this line of thinking, especially in a raac stories. That no matter what if a woman cheats, she is guilty but not at fault. She was seduced. The other guy is a predator, a seducer. She sometimes suffers sometimes dont, but the guy always gets assaulted at minimum and killed at max. I wonder if this is the realine if thinking if american men? If so , how retarded can they be? I had the oportunity to meet ugly, normal looking and exceptional looking women. Married. Some cheated . But others? There was one beautiful lady, who simply acted friendly with everyone, dismissed outright flirting, and simply melted around her husband and familly. And the guys coming on ti her were better looking, more money then her husband. My conclusion? A woman doesnt get seduced if she doesnt want to. She leads the seduction. A married woman owes her husband and a husband to her their fidelity. But the other person doesnt owe shit. So why you all always to the blame on them, looking for ways to make them suffers, all the wille your partners, gets a pass because they were seduced, or a leser punisment? Why you guys think that your masculinity rest in assaulting the other guy, or killing him? Instead of chosing to deal with the one who wronged you?

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. They can be very instructive.

My thinking at the end is that she really loves her husband and the thought that her betrayal had given him HIV was breaking her heart. His apology for what was a practical joke is his recognition that she does genuinely love him and was suffering. The two transgressions, the lie and the infidelity, are not meant to be equal, but I can see where it might be read that way. Her last comment that she was still mad at him is just a recognition that she loves him and would never want to hurt him.

I knew making the discovery on the 2nd instance of infidelity was a sticking point. I just didn't think the first time would be credible. It would be too convenient. I wanted them to have more to wrestle with.

I do tend to not write whole stories, soup to nuts, where every detail is wrestled with and resolved. My interest tends to be that pivotal moment when things change. So I didn't drag them through the counseling, although I'm sure they went, and I didn't wrestle with the trust issue, but I'm sure it was there. I just didn't have anything new to say about that.

If it helps, my next story is more of a revenge story. I mean, it's not all sunshine and roses...

Those two statements are logically incompatible. Jeff has to give you a "reason" to be forgiven? So if Jeff says or does whatever it is that compels you to forgive Jeff, then Jeff will have "earned" the forgiveness that you claim cannot be earned? It was an earlier line in your story that underlies the entire story: "It was becoming clear to me that I hadn't thought this through." Perhaps inadvertent, but true.

Its always a problem to write a story with a preconceived ending, but a poorly conceived scenario that logically leads to that ending. For what its worth, the contrivance and the failure of logic are very common in LW stories. So what do you expect for free?

How could Jeff be such a heartless selfish arrogant betraying asshole, and still be the MC's best friend? You might as well claim an aardvark can make himself look and act just like a kitten.

John saw no reason to forgive Jeff, but what was the reason to forgive Barb? Barb is the one who broke her vows to John, not Jeff. Barb is the person who abandoned her morals, ethics, self respect, and commitments. Jeff apparently was just being Jeff, the predator aardvark. Barb is the person who fucked a promiscuous man-whore, apparently with great enjoyment, and would have eventually passed a venereal disease to John for real. Did Barb think she was Jeff's only fuck toy? Barb is the person who blamed alcohol for her first fuck, then blamed her job and getting older as the reason for her second fuck. So why wouldn't there have been any number of continuing fucks, since she was still working and still getting older? Its hard to ignore that Barb was getting something she wanted from another man that she was not getting from John. So why has that now changed for Barb? Did she quit her job, bring the kids back home, stopped getting older? And Barb's suggestion to have the children's DNA checked acknowledges that she apparently deceived John so well that she may have been deceiving him for years.

Its now becomes obvious why you had to claim forgiveness cannot be earned. You wanted John to forgive Barb, but even as the author you could not come up with a reason that makes sense. That is the "something is missing" vibe that this story leaves unanswered. Jeff is the unforgiven predator, so why is Barb the forgiven cheating whore? I bet Jeff is just as sorry as Barb is, and pretty much for the same reason: getting caught and having to pay the consequences.

The only way this marriage survives is if John continues to deny reality and forgive Barb for her future whoring. If she gets drunk at the right time and opportunity she'll probably fuck around again. I wonder what excuse John will contrive to forgive her then? Maybe someone will write that story. Thank you for your effort with this story.

The reconciliation ruined the story. Once he had a negative hiv test, he should have divorced the slut. Never stay married to a cheater.

@Anonymous - You said, " If she gets drunk at the right time and opportunity she'll probably fuck around again. I wonder what excuse John will contrive to forgive her then? Maybe someone will write that story." EVERYONE has written that story. Once a cheat, always a cheat is a common theme here. The problem is that in real life, that mantra isn't necessarily true.

.

As for why he forgives her and not Jeff, he didn't spend 25 years sleeping next to Jeff, raising children with Jeff, coming home every night to Jeff... History and investment has a place in the choices we make.

Five stars. Points for making a statement about forgiveness, and that is given, and unlike revenge, not earned. It's a brief story, but why did it happen a second time, if she felt so guilty after the first?

Interesting story about an original way of getting some retribution on the cheaters. It was fun to read. Some people here are very rigid and will feel for sure totally betrayed because of the forgiveness in the story, and that is OK, but those same people forget we are human, and we all commit errors and make mistakes. At the end, it is in the hand of the cheated on, to grant forgiveness or not. Overall, I liked the story. It was well written, brief, and fluid. Thanks for the story.

He sure let her off easy….no way would I be able to hug her and go home early after a few days of finding out she cheated and might have gone on cheating if he hadn’t caught them. That isn’t forgiveness, that’s a lack of self respect.

Story would work after the drunken first time....... Maybe.

After the second time and in his bed no less........Never!!!!

They would both be toast. The only addition I would make would be to have Claire in on it from the start to prevent her from any unneeded suffering.

As for the Whoa is me slut ray recipient and the asshole.....Fuck them, they deserve everything they went through and more. Well everything except the RAAC that the slut got.

Well, you knew you’d get some shit for reconciling with the dumb bitch. I think if it had just been the one time, maybe she could be forgiven. The second time was not a sperm-of-the-moment event, that tells me she would have continued to fuck Jeff whenever he came around.

Once a cheater, always a cheater, is simply not true. Life has very few absolutes.

I agree forgiveness is given by the offended party and not earned by the cheater, but a truly repentant cheater is much easier to forgive. Plus 25 years of history is a major factor.

Well written as always.

Well written, unique plot, funny!

It's funny to read, 'never forgive, never forget!' A life dedicated to those absolutes is, indeed, joyless.

If Just_Words stopped at his first comment I would not have take this dig, his 2nd comment his reason is just shallow. Yes he slept, work, sweat with Barb for 25 years not Jeff which makes the 2nd time recreational sex of Barb and Jeff hurtful AND I suspect a beginning of a long term between the cheaters as Barb got over her guilt the first time and found a justification to do the 2nd time easier. She has already invited Jeff sober this time to have sex in her marital bed not a hotel. THAT IS BETRAYAL in the highest order and she enjoyed it AND that was the reason why I think she's going for more only stopped when the HIV fiasco got her out of the fog quickly. Yes I get the forgiveness but to rug sweep the betrayal quickly? Well if the husband is a closet co-dependent cuck then I can see your point. Divorces has been done with unwashed dishes as a reason FYI.

Forgive your enemies but never forget their names.

You were right, some would like this story, some wouldn’t.

I’m one of those who didn’t enjoy the plot at all. You write good stories, IMHO this is not not one of them.

Scores 2/5

One little word which is not even a word HIV, very funny but it definitely got a great response from a cheater. Great story

Good story

Good and great revenge but the friend needed to have his balls kicked in coming out of the motel he had to move to. Forgiving the wife was to simple. Me personally I’d have said and done what you came up with was great but the ass kicking and him telling his wife he needs to fuck another two times to make her feel how he does and the even the score

Love the quirkiness of the revenge. I would have made the wife do major "penance"--perhaps with a "tongue-in-cheek" approach that she knew was there, perhaps not--but she did the penance anyway out of gratitude that he didn't burn her cheating ass, and because she really did love him.

Two quibbles: She never really answered why she fucked the guy (Jeff) after the first time, just talked about how guilty she felt when she was with Jeff's wife Claire. Did she not feel guilty every day when she was with her husband?

And she said it was only the "two times"? The first time when she was drunk...the second time when the husband (John) discovered them, at which time the husband remembers thinking--and I quote..."Between the grunts there was laughter."

Ummm, sounds to me like they were VERY comfortable with each other while fucking--which suggests that there had been considerable progression in their affair--like they'd been boning each other quite a while.

Enjoyed the approach and the plot twists. Kudos on freshness. More please.

Why are you writing a story about "forgiveness" when you know from the start that it's hard and won't work! And if you think you'd forgive your wife if she cheated on you twice with your friend, that's up to you. One thing is true, forgiveness can only be given, but stupidity can be inherited!

What a great way to get revenge. Loved the story.

That was good, very creative. John didn’t have any ugly confrontations or make accusations. It’d have been perfect, if he’d had her served a fake divorce petition a couple of days after his lie.

Creative, but I don't see how reconciliation happened so quickly and easily. In the epilogue, he mentioned how people make mistakes. Getting drunk with a trusted friend is a mistake, and one she should have admitted to afterwards. Cheating a second time, especially deliberately, changes it from a solitary mistake to a decisive action.

Very well done. 5*

Y on earth did Jeff not get the test as soon as he was told it’s the first thing I’d do instead of believing a guy I’d betrayed

1*, I would have given it lower if I would have.

Not for the reconciliation. For the way it happened and the wife's character/personality.

The damnedest thing is her being mad at him for lying to her even knowing why he did. I can't even fathom a man (a proper man) taking her back after her behaving that way. No empathy for him at all. It's all and only about her. Why the hell would a man choose to be with her?

Going with the wife's story as being the truth (that she fucked the guy only twice), does any reasonable person think she would have stopped at the 2nd time. I don't think so. The guy was a very close family friend. They too much access to each other. He was a sleaze bag. She was a cheat enjoying her cheating ways.

She was feeling old and all that bla bla bla. Didn't her husband feel the same? Couldn't she have gone to a shrink? Couldn't she have done something about it that did not involve getting involved with another man? Like talk to her husband of 2 decades for example?

And about the sleazebag. My thinking is he characterized that way to shift the blame (indirectly) from the wife. His sleaziness is extreme for a best friend, a non-blood brother to not notice over decades.

Things don't add up. I could go on. But, this is a comment not a story in of itself.

Again, 1* for the obvious reconciliation agenda. It wasn't organic. The story didn't flow.

Writing a story about forgiveness is easy:

My wife cheated, and I confronted her. I laid the gun on the table and said, “You know what you need to do.”

I walked out the door, and heard one shot. I knew she had repented, and would not be corrupting our daughters.

Now I could let go of the hate, and move forward. If the Man above accepts her atonement, then I will be with her again someday.

ZK

Thanks, I enjoyed this even more on the second read.

What bullshit is this????😭😭😭😭😭😭.. she's been banging his best friend for 2 months(according to the cheating slut). I'm sorry, there's no other option but divorce 🤭.. we are talking multiple betrayals here. Betrayal of trust, vows, beyrayal of thwir home/marital bed, love, SHE WAS FUCKING HIS BEST FRIEND FOR FUCK SAKE.. how the fuck do you just forgive and forget that? This shit would've probably went on for years had he not found out. Am I the only one who thought the tramp had some nerve to be angry he might've had H.I.V? She was banging a man whore and it never crossed her mind she wasn't the only one and she's risking more than just her marriage.. I don't give a flying fuck if they've been together 1000 years.. cheating is fucking cheating.. betrayal is fucking betrayal. There's no in between. Why would anyone in their right mind stay with such a treacherous slut🤔.. she had no qualms about fucking his friend in their house in their bed. I can't imagine being able to trust the gutter slut after that. There was ZERO emotion in this story. It didn't fit the level of betrayal. She wasn't just lying and cheating. She was cheating with someone he considered his best friend. That would've totally mind fuck me. It's bad enough being betrayed by 1 person, but 2?!. .. the story got a bit confusing.. when he first found out, he said "I can live without a wife, I can't live without my kids" but in the next sentence he screams "empty nest syndrome "so I'm confused. I thought they had small kids and he didn't want to be a part time dad, so he was going to wait it out until the kids leave. But then the empty nest syndrome bullshit was said. He had no reason not to divorce her. There was no kids in the home so no child support, visitation agreement. The MC just gave me little bitch tease 🤭... I definitely got cuck vibes . His emotions didn't match🤷🏾‍♀️.. I definitely understand the low score. It's a shit story. I gave it a 1 even though it didn't really deserve anything. It was boring, stupid and severely lacked engagement and emotions. The little emotion it did show didn't mesh.. I would be LIVID almost ready to kill both the slut and the prick. Fuck no I wouldn't be consoling her.. are you high🧐😭😭😭😭... once I found out.. it's a wrap.. I'd be working to get the cum slut out if my life as quick as possible.

@Anonymous - I get the feeling you didn't like this story? I may not have succeeded in my goals, but it's clear you did not understand it. First, she wasn't cheating for 2 months; she cheated twice in two months. There is a difference, but I don't think you would appreciate it. She was a woman lost and trying to find her purpose. It happens too often and when friends turn out to be predators things can go badly. Second, she wasn't mad about the HIV, she was guilty. She thought that the man she genuinely loved was dying and it was her fault. Her telling her husband she was still angry with him was a way for her to slowly climb back to the realization that she had been undone. It was a form of sarcasm. It wasn't literal truth. I've known some loving people who did that. As for zero emotion, I may have failed, but I disagree. This is a man who keeps the pain inside, not as expulsive as you seem to be. Last, this is going to upset you terribly, but a brief cheat is horribly hurtful, but for adults it is not the end. People overcome it every day, although I don't recommend it. Don't feel you need to read my stories in the future. I don't think my stories are for you.

Hey Just Words, do you know the one about casting pearls to swine....that's what you are facing by the hard core BTB they are unfortunately not in touch with reality, slavery was abolished a long time ago in the USofA, except for women.

Reactions without careful thought can get you into trouble. Good story.

Good story well laid out.

The central point is can you really forgive?

Forgive past the point of hearing horrible,barely audible voice,"I wonder if she's still being faithful to me.?"

I never could.

Brings back memories, my now ex wife also cheated , after about two weeks I told her I had an std, so she went and got tested, she got arrogant when the test came back negative, I said toher tha I never had a std, she was furious, I said it's best to get tested, with a smile on my face

Good short story on the topic. Creative way to get back at Jeff. Good writing.

...initiated by JW. Clearly, forgiveness is a controversial topic on Lit.

I find the characters pretty well developed and the logic of their actions well thought out - reinforced by JW's subsequent comment.

I struggle with the plot flow, especially the timing. Incubation for Aids leaves the two month timeframe a real stretch - that would be for two incubation periods: the cheating wife becoming infected enough to pass it on, then another period for the hubby to manifest symptoms. Nit-picking? To some I suppose.

Forgiveness is an individual thing. What a short story character might do does not influence, nor necessarily coincide, with what I might do. Author's choice there, folks.

Overall, a well crafted story. Thanks.

Keep 'em comin'.

One of the best revenge stories I have ever read.

Good to a point however there so be no way in hell to take the slut back.

You may forgive, but there is no forgetting.

Jeff is found dead, Ralph found without a tongue after a brutal mugging.

Barb awakens one day to find that she is alone, nearly homeless, and without income nor savings.

John is not heard from again. He is enjoying his second chance at a full and rewarding life.

Everything else is noise.

I think that's because forgiveness, at any level, is impossibly difficult. Even if you're just writing a fictional story.

2nd read - John is a dumb-shit. He had the perfect out; the doc office called John a day later telling John there was a lab test procedure problem giving off false-positives invalidating his HIV findings AND John needed to be retested. Now John has a clean/negative HIV test. John could pass that story off with a clean test certificate to prove the story to his CHEATING wife.

\

John letting her slide on fuck#1 as being drunk is OK, but she was NOT drunk the day John came home for his files finding the CHEATERS mattress testing. That fuck#2 was a SOBER WILLFUL ARRANGED INTENTIONAL CHEAT. John is a fool that is NOT very bright for letting that coitus slide.

\

This RAAC sucked. With totally disregarding to the law of "once a CHEATER always a CHEATER (just matter of time)".

\

3***, hooyah

Just re-read it. Great story, one of the best posted on this site in a long time. I skimmed other comments, lots of ignoramuses as always.

I marked this as a favorite when I first read it; and I'm glad I did.

I didn’t hate this story, I loved it.

GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. Thanks.

Forgiveness is actually earned- by contrition. It is given by the offended, true, but even God requires truthful repentance. She wasn't the least bit contrite, just scared for herself and deserved far more revenge than the little she got. Once is a mistake. Two is planned and purposeful, ergo, no forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn't easy. Writing about it even more so. Giving forgiveness doesn't require it to be earned. Reconciliation does. "I honestly don't know." That one sentence is why I have a problem with the reconciliation - it feels unearned. If the MC hadn't intervened, it probably would have continued.

I can appreciate this story for what it is. A solid 4.5* (rated at 5*)

If the wife's confession is truthful, there is no realistic chance her sexual activity with Jeff could have had any impact on the MC's HIV status at the time he lied to Jeff and Ralph in the bar. Both the wife and Jeff display an embarrassing level of idiocy about one of the most widely discussed illnesses of the past four decades. This is perhaps not surprising given their willingness to engage in adultery with a close family friend. The reconciliation is rushed and poorly justified in this uncharacteristically weak submission by J_W.

I've felt so guilty. I couldn't live with myself." - She felt so guilty that she did it again.

\

"She had cheated on me with my best friend, and yet she felt the guilt and the shame" - YET she felt the guilt? She SHOULD feel it!

\

"I'm still mad at you, John." - Fuck that!

\

"Barb was quick to admit that she understood my actions and held no grudge against me." - As well she should.

\

"She and Barb were never able to repair their relationship which I think was a source of great loss to them both." - I feel bad for Claire, but Barb deserves to lose her best friend.

Nice touch...worth a 4 Star.

I was waiting to hear that someone, maybe one of the other women, got a gun and killed Jeff or the cheating wife.

Great revenge. I don't think I could forgive her.

Such fu#ken excellent pay back! Lmfao! Barb owes him two blow jobs a week AND anal sex at least once every two weeks; for a whole year to be at least remotely even. Glad Claire is a good sport. She realizes she is better off without that predator ex-husband. Thanks… so good!

Nice story of a half-cocked BTB that goes wrong but comes right in the end. 5*

Nice story. AAAA+++

Please

Nice original tale with no physical punishment and never done before. Jeff's life probably deflated to the level he deserved. John did what I for one would be incapable of doing, and tried to repair his marriage. I would have stayed true to my values and divorced Barb.. I would have cut off all comms. and not tell her of my revenge lie. If she cornered my I would have told her I stopped loving her several years ago and I hope she suffers the rest of her life. I would not have addressed the fake woman...of HIV. would have sat my kids down and told them the truth adding please do not tell your cheating mom. Again a well told tale which has motivated me to read more of your works...

What total BULLCRAP!!! Spineless wimp cuck!!!

No one goes back to a cheatslut over getting revenge. Spineless cuck

Nicely original, but he was way too quick to forgive. I have no problem with a believable reconciliation, it's usually more realistic than scorched earth btb .... but .... it hardly seemed earned in this case.

Once a cheater, always a cheater.

How do u forgive for betrayal? Can the sight of your wife fucking your best friend and beings happy about it ever go away?

Sad that just words has become just that All words! And a lot of gas!

It was a great revenge until it wasn't. I don't think a man of honor allows others to treat him this poorly

Damn your good. I can't even imagine writing a forgiveness story in this scenario.

A plan with a purpose, and it worked. Thanks for your writing.

That was a great forgiveness story, I loved how you set it up, how you wrote it from start to finish,

Decent and clever-ish story. It was short and sweet, but I think her explanation for her second romp with Jeff was very weak indicating some character issues that are likely to resurface, and I think the MC took her back a tad too readily for it to be totally believable. Reconciliation in a situation like this is likely in many "real-lifes", but I think it needed some more time and turbulence. All in, it was a well done 'short'.

Nope not reconcile

If I walked in on my wife fucking someone else. Forgiveness wouldn't even make the list.

Great concept of the revenge lie. Execution could have been a lot better with some effort. Especially given your talent as a writer.

The reconciliation was a bit too easy and definitely too quick. And the equation of his lie and her infidelity was a stretch. Well, more than a stretch. It just didn't work.

Seemed like you were in a hurry to get this done. Still worth the read and the price.

Would have been better with a different reason for the second time... Or if that was the only time and she was drunk. Harder to reconcile this way but a great read and not unrealistic.

Not once but twice isn't a mistake of course.

He should keep searching for a love the loves him enough that he can trust her to do the right thing when things aren't perfect.

It's a cuck story.

@Anonymous - It's a story about forgiveness. Sooner or later we all do something and require forgiveness. It may not be cheating, but it will be wrong. Forgiveness is messy and forgiveness is risky. It's hard work, and it's what we do when we want to make our lives better.

Pleasant ending.

There is no forgiveness for cheating. You break all the sacred vows-love, commitment, honor, respect, friendship and above all trust.

This is a great story. I'm not a fan of reconciliation, but I think it suits this one. Even though it's short and doesn't have that much character development, you can see the wife is really concerned about the husband’s health

Thank for sharing this story

I like this because of the form of revenge. Jeff throwing up is priceless. John seemed to get through all the stages of grief after being cheated on really quickly, but it's a story. So be it.

@Calico75 - I'm not sure he got through any of it. He decided that their years together deserved a second effort. When you do that, you drag all that hurt and anger back into the home with you and then you deal with it. There was love and compassion between them, but in my mind they had a rocky road ahead of them for some time to come.

Nice payback! It doesn't really make the situation with his wife any better but it's still good for a chuckle. 5 stars.

LOL good revenge

Every time I think JW can't get any better than what I've just read he confounds me and does the apparently impossible. This was possibly the best yet and wasn't in any way negatively impacted by the reconciliation. Five brightly burning supernovas.

Well written, good story. But, my Neanderthal cries out for more vengeance.

5 stars and mostly because it did not involve any physical violence.

The part that matters most to me was the SLUTS second go around with the ASSHOLE. She said it was one and done, but slid back for another go at it. Technically, the marriage was dead after the first infidelity. PLUS if the RAAC was possible, then there would never be any sexual activity between them until she and he had completely STD free bodies and HIV takes at least 6 months to be detectable.

However, the second sexual session, buried it forever with absolutely no chance for a RAAC.

I don't know man. The wife acted like she was so aggrieved that her husband would scare her like that with the HIV story. But that is nothing compared to her letting another man inside of her body. She did it twice, and would have continued had the MC not been lucky. It''s not about BTB it's about keeping your self-respect intact. What happens when she 'feels old' again and another smooth talker comes her way?

@ Anonymous - In my mind, there is forgiveness if we work for it. She got her wakeup call and I don't see her doing it again. However, this is one of those no-excuses transgressions. She faces it, or they are toast.

Forgiveness is an appropriate gift to a humble and contrite heart. It is given, not earned.

The story had a nice balance. Four stars.

JPB

Nope I don’t think so!!!!

Believe he let her off entirely too easily. Obviously, Jeff is not the sharpest crayon in the box. Since the story didn't indicate that he had gotten himself tested.

I didn't mind forgiveness. But to be honest, I don't think he owed apology or asking for forgiveness. He took high road as far as I'm concerned.

I liked that. you cheat on your spouse and are going to be upset about being lied to? gtfo

I love this story, no matter how many times I read it.

If not forgiveness, then mercy.

Thank you. Good story.

I loved the idea of the story but I wouldn’t have forgiven the wife that just seemed to come to easy⭐️⭐️⭐️

@ Ocker53 - Chalk that up to my lack of writing skills. The idea was meant to be it's the beginning of forgiveness with a lot of work ahead. Both people expressed their pain, but it wasn't mean to be an equal exchange. Oh well, practice, practice, practice...

Reread this one just now and lowered my original rating from 4 to 3 stars. There really is no logical reason for the husband to give the slutwife the free ride that he did...and there really is no foreshadowing or any other points of reference in the story that provide a foundation for the unconditional forgiveness and reconciliation with the Husband and slutwife at the end. She basically gets off without any punishment or consequences whatsoever which is simply nonsense...

3 stars

I'm not sure how to rate this story to be honest. She cheated and was by definition lying to her husband. First time is maybe possibly could be considered a mistake. She says she was remorseful and regretful after that so why why why fuck Jeff Again? Sorry I think she's still lying. He tells a huge lie about HIV and only after it all kicks off and days later tells the innocent other wife he made it up. She must have gone through hell and he's supposed to be her friend? That's not the act of a friend. He loves his wife enough to forgive her but puts her through the he'll of her thinking she has HIV as well as Claire. Sorry neither of them sound like good people. The whole story makes me feel dirty. But it was well written so how do I mark it? On writing quality or the plot? Confused. BardnotBard

LOL! The wife and cheating husband had it coming. Not sure I would have forgiven her so easily. If a spouse commits infidelity without cause, they should have to make some sort of restitution to restore the offended partner's dignity. Remorse, shame, apology isn't enough. You have to have reason to extend grace and forgiveness to them. My first wife cheated on me with her boss for almost a year while I worked like a dog on a professional practice for our two minor children, and we separated for almost a year, then ultimately divorced despite her demonstrable remorse. I only initially stayed for our 7 and 8 years-olds but could not get back the sense of intimacy. I don't believe it's so easy as portrayed here. Maybe because it was 25 years of marriage rather than 9. The only fault I find with the fictional husband is that he should have told the other wife Claire as soon as the cheating husband confessed all. Almost wish I had thought of that revenge though, but would probably have lost my professional license. My revenge was getting shared custoday and finding a real loving wife who became like their second mom. The Ex hated that and became very bitter. Tough! This fictional cheating wife got off easy.

@Anonymous - Sounds like you have lived a version of the stories told here. My version was easier on me in that I did not figure it out until after. I never felt the end of this story was intended to be a complete reconciliation so much as a first step with a lot of work to do. The complaint she gave him is the way some wives apologize. It's like recording a score against them. Anyway, I was just trying to write a story where wounds might be healed in time, but following them through the pain was far beyond anything I wanted to suffer through.

So did he at least tell the kids mom is a cheating slut?

Nicely played. Still there is a big difference between one time while drunk and then a second time, which the MC saw. I get that the author didn't want to go through the added material of how to reconcile. I get that thr MC could forgive quickly because he hurt her quite strongly and made her feel a ton of guilt, i.e. giving her husband HIV, humiliated in the community (go Ralph!), then finding she was negative and assuming he had chested, etc. He also got the truth rapidly because of her guilt and what happened to Jeff. But... actual reconciliation, while possible, considering it was only twice, is still a hard road with counseling, therapy for her, lot of communication, and time. But I understand from the author's comment, that the author didn't want to go down that long and tortuous road, so most of that stuff is assumed to happen off page at some point. Is a nasty, but powerful trick. Only works when the spouse knows about the cheating but did not confront yet and knows the cheating partner. Well played. Jeff can die under a rock alone somewhere. 5 stars.