When he confronted her again, Sarah’s tears spilled freely. “I didn’t want you to come back to debt, to struggle. Someone helped us. That’s all. Don’t ask who.” Her voice cracked. To Michael, it sounded less like gratitude and more like guilt. He worried if his wife was in love with this other man. Did she plan to leave him?
That night, Michael sat in the darkened living room, the note clenched in his hand. The walls felt foreign, as though another man’s presence still lingered in every corner. He had fought wars abroad, but nothing had prepared him for the betrayal in his own home.