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

Laura's parents were her main source of support. She stayed with them as the next bits unfolded, but she remained in touch with Eileen.

Laura filed for divorce that Monday, calm and unbothered, like she was crossing an item off a list she'd been carrying around for years. She kept the house, the good coffee maker, and — everyone agreed — the moral high ground by a landslide.

Eileen, for her part, packed up the leather journal she'd bought Mark and returned it, unused, for store credit. She later said the actual best part wasn't the slideshow or the book — it was watching Mark's boss quietly ask someone else at the party for his number, "just to follow up on a few things." Turns out his "visiting his sister" hadn't just been a lie to two women. It had covered a few leaves from work too.