My Boyfriend Told Me He Was Leaving His Wife — Then His Wife Invited Me to His Birthday Party…

Eileen thought she'd landed the one guy on earth who didn't want a parade thrown in his honor. It was his thirty-eighth birthday soon, and Mark waved off candles and confetti like they were personally offensive to him.

"I really don't need a whole production," he told her one night, head on her shoulder, sounding almost embarrassed by the idea of being celebrated. Eileen found it endearing — a grown man who didn't need the world clapping for him.

So for his birthday, she decided to keep it small: takeout, a good bottle of wine, and a leather journal she'd had monogrammed. When she told him the plan, he grinned and said, "You're the only one who actually gets me." She tucked that line away like a compliment. She had no idea that there was a reason he did not want a grand party.