It started on a Tuesday morning. I was rushing to get ready for work when I knocked over my husbands gym bag by the front door. That is when I heard it — the buzz of a second phone sliding across the hardwood floor.
I almost picked it up and handed it back without looking. Almost.
But something stopped me. Maybe it was the way he had been acting lately — distant, distracted, always on his phone in another room. Maybe it was just instinct. Whatever it was, I picked up that phone and pressed the home button.
It opened without a password. The first thing I saw was a message thread with a name I did not recognize. The last message read: Cannot wait for next weekend. Tell her you have a conference.
My husband had been having an affair for two years.
I did not scream. I did not throw the phone. I put it back exactly where it fell and I made his breakfast like nothing happened. That same morning, I called a divorce attorney.
Three months later, he was served papers at his office. He had no idea it was coming. And for the first time in years, I felt completely in control of my own life.