Trust Loyalty and Respect

A short diatribe about how a loving relationship is ruined by a lack of trust and lies. No sex, no revenge, no reconciliation. This story is about getting caught by your spouse and how relationships die by a lack of trust, loyalty, and respect.

Special thanks to Mike and Chris for your suggestions and proofreading. I'm learning more from each of you with every new story I write. - Cindy

- TRUST, LOYALTY, RESPECT! Fuck up 1 and you lose all 3 -

It's funny how people can underestimate the consequences of their actions. My name is Ryan. The best way to describe me is to say that I'm a lover and a mild-mannered man, that gives his wife everything she wants. It took me two marriages, but I've now finally learned that being low-key, and giving everything to the one you love can lead to contempt and lack of respect. That will never happen again.

These spoiled women think they can do things and keep them from their partners. As long as they never find out, everything is good. They hide their guilt in different ways until they get caught, then suddenly they're sorry and didn't mean to do it as they explain that they never wanted their spouse to find out and get hurt. Do they even hear themselves speak? What are we supposed to think when they say, they never wanted you to find out? Do they realize they are admitting that they are doing it behind your back and are only sorry that they get caught? What an insult that is. I'm convinced these women Can't Understand Normal Thinking.

Sandy and I had met after coming out of dysfunctional relationships. After 3 years with her boyfriend, Billy dumped her for a younger, more attractive girl. Sandy left the relationship hurt and with self-esteem issues due to being dumped by the man she loved. She never got over Billy, and that always bothered me at some level.

My name is Ryan and I'm 6 years older than Sandy. I was married for 5 years to a smoking hot, sexy woman that rocked my world. I was madly in love with her and expected to spend the rest of my life with my ex-wife Charlotte. However, she took on several lovers behind my back during a time when I was completely under her spell. It took me a year of her cheating to learn of her infidelity, and it hurt me badly. I dumped her and swore I'd never let that happen again. After this, I knew that trust was going to be a problem for me in any new relationships.

Sandy and I were aware of each other's baggage. I helped Sandy overcome her self-esteem issues. She got into the gym and sculpted her body into an amazing figure. She spent her free time shopping for new fashions, hours at the salon, and the tennis courts. She turned herself into a confident, beautiful woman with my help and encouragement.

In return, knowing my history, Sandy worked hard to help me get over my trust issues. She always made me know I was her only love and how lucky she was to find me. Every day she made a point to tell me how much she loved me and made sure I had all my desires met. The sex was still great, and we did it at least 4 times per week. We still kissed and cuddled on the couch and loved each other. We even started talking about a family. We were each other's soulmates. Life was good, at least I thought it was.

Fast Forward

A week after our sixth anniversary, my world turned upside down. I noticed my wife wearing a dress I hadn't seen, and looking spectacular, which was odd for a late morning weekday. Now, I was not spying on my wife, but we have video security in our home that I occasionally look at when bored at work. I enjoy watching our dog Brandi, my small Dachshund, as it became a stress reliever from my high-pressure job as a Bond Broker.

However, when I saw the live feed on the video that morning, I became curious. There was the love of my life in a very short, sexy red dress and very high heels. Her hair was styled and her makeup was amazing. I hadn't seen her look this sexy in years, which caused my stomach to turn and make me anxious. I immediately gave my loving wife a call to see if I could find out what she was up to. I hit her number on the phone.

"Hi baby, just sitting here thinking of you. How's your day going? Tennis today?"

"Hi honey, I miss you. Nothing planned today, no tennis today because Kara hurt her ankle so I took the day off."

"Oh, that's too bad, I know how much you love to play. What are you going to do then?"

"Not sure, I have nothing planned. Maybe I'll go to the gym."

"Would you like to meet for lunch? I can come home and pick you up.

"That's so sweet baby, but not today. I'm a little bloated and not much into eating right now. I'll just have a protein shake at the gym. I'll see you tonight. I love you, baby."

I said goodbye without my usual, 'I love you.' I'm sure she caught that because I always say 'I love you' before we end our calls. She was lying to me, and I need to find out why.

Of course, some things die hard, and even though I trusted Sandy after all these years, I still had a GPS tracker on her car which I seldom used. I had originally placed it there for safety, but sadly I was now using it to spy on my wife.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I left my office and went to my car and turned on her tracker. She was headed downtown and I started driving in that direction. My office was not far from downtown and fifteen minutes later I had caught up with her as I spotted her pulling into a parking garage. I parked on the street and waited in a doorway for her to exit the garage. Five minutes later my beautiful wife, in her high heels and sexy dress, was headed towards Fellini's, a high-end restaurant. I stood there with my stomach in knots, praying I was not going to be deceived by another woman.

When I saw her wave to a man in front of the restaurant, I knew I was in trouble. I moved closer, trying to stay out of sight and saw him greet her with a kiss. They exchanged some words as he took her hand and walked inside.

I quickly made my way across the street and watched through the window as they stood in front of the hostess with their arms around each other's waist. I noticed that Sandy was lovingly leaning into his shoulder.

Tears were starting to fill up my eyes until my anger rose. I wiped my eyes, pulled out my phone, and started taking some photos through the window. As I started taking them, I saw him turn to Sandy and kiss her with passion. I took some photos just as she was responding by kissing him back. My heart broke as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in deeper. At this point, I turned the video recorder on and captured the loving kiss they shared. A combination of pain in my heart and rage inside my head was leading me down a dark path. Before I could decide on what to do, the hostess took them to their table.

My blood boiled as I recognized the man, and it was Billy, her ex-boyfriend. The guy that dumped her and destroyed her life and now she was back in his arms. She knew how I felt about him, and that I made it clear she was never to speak with him again. She obviously didn't agree with my wishes. My anger was taking over as I realized that in just the last hour, she has lied to me, dressed sexy to meet with her ex, kissed him passionately, and is spending the afternoon with him.

This level of disrespect and humiliation was unacceptable and something I could not live with again. The promise I made to myself after my last marriage prevented me from being patient and accepting this level of disrespect. It was over, and all that was left was to hear more lies and excuses from my soon-to-be ex-wife.

Still full of anger, I drove back to the office and finished the day at my desk trying to understand how this could happen again. After feeling sorry for myself for the next five hours, I left for home already knowing my next move. I wondered if Sandy would tell me the truth about her day or continue to deceive me, as that would make my final move easier.

With a great deal of effort, I was able to suppress my rage and drove home to face the end of my marriage. As I turned into my driveway, I felt myself tear up for the loss of the woman I loved and respected.

Sandy was putting a nice dinner on the table, wearing a cute outfit, and acting very loving to me when I came into the kitchen. She gave me a big kiss and told me how much she missed me. Typical cheating wife bullshit, I thought. The bitch was trying to relieve her guilt and make up for it by showing more love than she had over the last six months.

As hard as I tried to act normal, it obviously wasn't working as she looked at me and asked, "Honey, are you OK? Did anything happen?"

I poured myself a tall glass of Mr. Daniels, tried to smile and relax, and said, "Everything's good, just a stressful afternoon. Let me get changed and cleaned up for dinner, and I'll be down shortly."

In the bedroom, I got changed and sat on the bed finishing my drink as I let the elixir wash over my body. After settling down I went down to the kitchen to see my beautiful wife smiling and happy as she placed dinner on the table. She was in a great mood, obviously happy from her day with her boyfriend.

As we were sitting there together, I started the conversation. "This is a wonderful dinner, Sandy. And you dressed so pretty for me today, thank you."

"I love you sweetheart and I enjoy cooking for you," she said with a satisfied smile.

We sat in awkward silence for several minutes while we ate. I noticed Sandy glancing over at me wondering what was troubling me. Was she feeling guilty? Would she tell me the truth about today? We would find out in the next few minutes.

"So, tell me about your day and what you did for lunch," I said in a non-threatening voice.

"Well, after you called, I went to the gym for a few hours, had a protein bar then came home to cook your dinner. Kind of a boring day," she offered as her answer.

She saw my face and noticed my eyes watering up and she quickly looked down at her plate.

In a low voice I said, "So Sandy, how do we do this? Do we just meet with the attorneys or are you going to want to go to counseling first?"

"What are you talking about, honey."

"Divorce, of course," I answered.

"Stop being silly. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the end of our marriage, divorce, splitting up, figuring out how we can do this and remain friends."

"I don't understand. Why do you want a divorce?"

"Really? I'll give you a few moments to consider your question before I answer."

Suddenly she became nervous as her hands were fidgeting with her glass and not looking into my eyes any longer. She was silent for a few minutes.

"Did you follow me today?"

"No," I lied knowing it really didn't make a difference but for some reason, I didn't want her to know. "Why would you ask me if I followed you? Is there anything I should know?"

I could tell she was still confused and not sure what to say. As all cheaters do, they deny it. As expected, she said nothing was going on and didn't understand. "Why would you ask me about divorce?"

With a sad look on my face, I stared into her eyes for a long moment, hoping she would open up and tell me the truth. After a long silence I said, "Well, let me show you what is troubling me, Sandy."

I opened my phone and showed her one photo of her and Billy kissing when they met outside the restaurant. This photo could have been explained by a friendly hello kiss. I didn't want to show her the other photos until I heard more of her lies.

Her mouth dropped and I saw some tears start to well up in her eyes. She of course came up with the excuses. "Honey I can explain, that was just a hello kiss. Nothing happened. How did you get this photo?"

"So, how's Billy doing these days baby? I'll tell you how I got this photo. I was across the street coming out of the Software Corner when I thought I spotted you walking hand in hand into the restaurant. I crossed the street and went to the window to see you standing there, with his arm around you. My first thought was that it wasn't you, but of course, I was wrong, it was you. My second thought is why is she wearing that sexy dress and high heels? She never dresses like that for me anymore. I then noticed you were with Billy, and everything immediately came into focus. I started taking some photos just when you leaned up and kissed him, and that's how I got this photo."

The next photo I showed her was with her arms around his neck with her short dress hiking up to her ass, which was on display.

"You really looked hot in that dress and your hair and makeup looked spectacular. Were you on your way to a modeling shoot or applying for a job as a hooker? Tell me, why did you dress like that for him? I don't remember the last time you wore something that sexy for me."

She put her head down into her hands and cried as I glared at her waiting for an answer. When she didn't speak, I continued.

"You know my new S22 phone has an amazing camera, and it lets me zoom into a photo with great clarity. Look, let me show you," I said zooming into her left hand, which was wrapped around Billy's neck. I zoomed into her ring finger, which was now void of her wedding rings, and held the image up to her face.

"No wedding rings today? Funny, I don't remember you ever removing them during our entire time together. Today must have really been a special day.

Do you now understand why I'm talking about divorce, honey? You lied to me this morning about your day. You took off your wedding rings. Dressed like a slut to meet your old lover. And lied to me again about your day a few minutes ago.

You sit here and continue to lie to my face and tell me you went to the gym today, and did nothing for lunch. You wore your sexiest outfit for your ex-lover and spent the day with him while I'm working to make our lives better. You broke your promise never to see him again, you kissed and flirted with another man in public, treated me like a fool, and lied to me just now.

I don't know if you fucked him today or anything else, but it really doesn't matter. Whatever you say will be a lie in my mind. But what you did showed me was that you don't keep your promises, and you will lie to me to cover things up. You went out of your way to look nice for an ex-lover; you were intimate with him, you abandoned your marriage by removing your rings, and then lied to me over and over. That's a good reason for divorce in my book, and you knew that."

Sandy was shaken to her core. She just realized that she really hadn't thought this through. And the way Ryan went over everything made her feel like a cheating wife. Up until this moment she just considered it a little teasing and flirting, nothing serious. For the first time since Billy reached out to her, she realized that this had become an emotional relationship, and could easily been seen as cheating on her husband, not physically but certainly emotionally. She was still crying, and knew that if this had been had been her husband having this affair, she would be acting the same way. "What have I done?"she said to herself.

Her heart was hurting and she felt sick to her stomach because of the pain she had caused her husband. She had to get through to Ryan and save this marriage.

"Ryan, you have to believe me, nothing happened! After lunch we went our separate ways. But you have to believe me, there was nothing going on, it was just a lunch," she said now sobbing looking for a way out. "I realize now how this looks, and if it were turned around, I would feel how you're feeling now, and I am so sorry. Can you please try and forgive my stupidity?"

"This is beyond stupidity as you did this with your ex-lover, the one person you promised to avoid. Can you explain why you got dressed like that for him without your wedding rings? Can you explain why you were holding hands and kissing him? Can you explain why you continued to lie to my face? Tell me, darling, that's nothing to you? And yes, if this were reversed, I'm sure you would feel quite differently."

"Ryan, I know this looks bad but I took my rings off when I was touching up my nails and forgot them when I realized I was running late. It's sounds lame and I can't excuse that, but I can only promise you it wasn't like I was trying to hide them. He knows we're married."

"He knows you're married but still wants to see you and kiss you passionately in public, and you went along with everything. That's a lame excuse, going out behind my back with your ex-lover and lying about it is a deal-breaker in my book."

A little irritated, she said, "I'm not sure what to say except it was just lunch with a friend and I just wanted to look nice."

"Well, it doesn't matter! You lied to me and you met with him. Do you think I'm a complete idiot? I know this meeting had to be planned for a while and you hid it from me, never bothering to mention it. And when I saw the two of you kissing like that, well it's clear you want more than I can give you."

"Ryan honey, we can't get divorced over something like this. Nothing happened. He was in town and asked me for lunch. I know I shouldn't have gone and I know how jealous you get, but we had a long relationship and I thought one lunch after not seeing him after all these years wouldn't be a big thing. I think I dressed extra special to show him what he lost when he dumped me. I kind of wanted to put it in his face about what he lost and how happy I was. It still hurts when I think back to how he dumped me back then, and I wanted to get a little revenge. Yes, I kissed him, but it wasn't a romantic kiss, more like two friends just meeting or saying goodbye. You have to believe me; I don't want anything to do with him. Please, baby, let's work this out. I'll do anything you want."

"Really? It's nothing? You'll do anything I want?"

Hearing that she had a chance to save their marriage, she smiled, anxious to hear what she needed to do, and said, "Yes, of course. I'll do whatever you want, baby."

"OK Sandy, I'll give you one chance and one chance only. I only have one request. Let me see your cell phone?"

"Why?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Well Sandy, if it's nothing then give me your phone. I want to see if there are any text messages to him and what you two have been saying to each other."

"No! You don't need to see that," she said looking down at the floor. She knew that if I had read the messages, it would hurt me, and reveal a lot of things she wouldn't want me to see.

"That's what I thought. So, let's get back to my original question. How do we want to do this?"

She started crying and asking me to forgive her and that she'll never do it again. This brought back the heartbreaking memories from my first marriage. I couldn't believe I was reliving that nightmare. This time I was not going to believe all the lies and let things continue.

"Wait, please wait Ryan. If I give you the phone, do you promise to give me another chance? You must know I love you and I've never cheated on you before. I may have gotten wrapped up in a stupid on-line relationship and yes, with my ex-lover, but I was being stupid and acting like a teenage girl. The flirting and compliments felt good and all of it stroked my ego, and I know how childish that sounds. If I give you the phone, you have to promise that you'll give me another chance."

"I can't do that Sandy. But I will promise you that if you don't give me the phone, we are one hundred percent done. My next action will be to call Mark Wilson, the attorney I've already spoken with, and I'll have him complete the divorce paperwork this week."

She knew there was no other choice and knew exactly what I would be reading - their romantic texts for the last two months. All she could hope for now, was that I understood that it was a foolish emotional mistake, and she was still all mine. She still believed that since there was no sex I would understand and forgive her. In her mind she had to make me know that she never had physical sex with him or anyone else.