Getting Even -

Lots of people are the victims of cheaters. It's a common problem. Dan Caruso had a unique reaction when he learned his wife Lois was having sex with her boss. You might be amused by the story. All characters are adults over the age of 21.

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I knew something was wrong a long time before I knew what it was.

My wife Lois had changed. She acted like there was something wrong with me. It was as she thought I was stupid, or boring, or inadequate in some way.

That was nonsense. I was a good husband. A good provider. Sensitive to my wife's needs. Most women would be thrilled to be with a guy like me. Lots of women still flirted with me, and every so often one made it clear that she'd be willing to have a no-strings affair. I never responded to any of those come-ons, but they were good for my ego, and they helped convince me that the problem was Lois, not me.

At first, I thought Lois might be getting a little too engaged in her favorite sex game. She enjoyed pretending she was a slutty little bitch who needed to be punished, and when she got into one of those moods it was my job to act like a big brute who would slap her around and "force" her to have sex. Sometimes she liked to act bitchy and provoke me into playing her little game. She'd act shitty until I got fed up. Then I'd get upset enough to throw her over my shoulder, carry her to the bedroom, then take off my belt and spank her ass until it was bright red. I'd flip her over and call her dirty names as I held her down and fucked her.

I'm sure that sounds pretty weird. But it's what she wanted, and it usually improved her behavior for a few days. Besides, I was her husband, and it was my job to satisfy her sexually. That was what she needed from me, so it's what I gave her.

But she was going too far. Something was wrong. Something serious. My irritation with her bitchy behavior grew, and grew, and I finally decided I had to find out what the hell was her problem. I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I suspected Lois was having an affair. Cheaters like to pretend that they are cheating for a good reason - that I must have done something to provoke her. It's a common form of bullshit for a victimizer to blame the victim instead of admitting they're doing something that's wrong.

My first thought was to call my sister, Betty. Betty had a very successful business as a private detective. She did all kinds of jobs for all kinds of clients, but most of her customers were people who thought their spouses were having affairs. Betty would put the suspected cheater under surveillance for a while, and pretty soon she'd get pictures of the spouse entering a motel with their lover. Things got interesting when the lover turned out to be a friend, sibling, or in-law. Divorce divorce proceedings are much more interesting and lively when a wife finds out her husband is screwing her sister. Yikes!

Betty never liked Lois, and she was happy to start tailing her. As I suspected, she quickly found the problem. My wife was having an affair with her boss. My feelings were hurt, naturally. I genuinely loved Lois, and I'd tried to be a good husband. But I was furious about being betrayed. As I reflected on our marriage, I could see lots of evidence that Lois had exploited me. Worse, I'd let her. My only sin had been to try to make her happy.

Betty saw that I was mad, so she made a suggestion. "If you'd like to get back at this bitch, I know a way to do it," she said. The motel where Lois and her boss had their little "dates" was a popular place for extramarital action, and over the years Betty had negotiated a nice little deal with the motel manager. For a fee, he would help Betty obtain video of the cheaters having sex.

It was actually very simple. Whenever a cheater would make a reservation, the manager would set up tiny hidden cameras in the motel room. He'd give them that particular room when they arrived. The cameras were motion activated, and provided high-resolution video. They came equipped with good microphones that captured every word. If I was willing to pay the fee, I could get a first-class sex video of Lois and her boss fucking on their lunch hour.

"Hell yes! I'll pay for that!" I told Betty.

"I had a feeling you would," Betty replied. "I'll call the manager and tell him we've got another cheater.

"Legally, the fact that Lois is cheating doesn't make a difference. Most states have no-fault divorce laws that make infidelity irrelevant. But when people have videos of cheaters in action, the cheaters usually become very willing to settle rather than going to court and risk the video becoming public. There's a huge industry that puts 'revenge porn' online. I'm sure Lois would rather not become a famous porn star. She'll sign anything after she sees a video that shows her sucking her boss's cock."

I found it very difficult to act normal after I knew what Lois was doing. I seethed every time she made some cutting remark or rude comment. It was hard to pretend I didn't know what she was doing. Sometimes I couldn't keep taking her shitty behavior, so I'd give her some especially rough treatment as I'd carry her off to the bedroom.

She enjoyed being slapped around, which is something I'd rather not do. But when I learned she was cheating, I became willing to slap her face as hard as she wanted. She liked it when I ripped off her clothes forcefully, but I usually tried to avoid damaging anything. Suddenly, I was happy to destroy whatever she was wearing. She liked it when I swore at her, and suddenly I was happy to call her the dirtiest names I knew.

But the main thing that was different was the way I spanked her with my belt. I had hated doing that, and she regularly had to insist that she wanted me to whip her harder. Suddenly, that was not a problem. I bent her over my knee and whipped her ass with a fury I'd never felt before. It left her backside criss-crossed with pink welts from her waist to the back of her knees. In my anger, I tried to whip her hard enough to leave marks that would be visible the next day when she'd take off her clothes for her boss. I liked imagining how he'd feel discovering that his mistress's husband had given her such a hard whipping.

A few days later I heard from Betty. "We got the video you wanted," she said. "You can look at it anytime."

"How about right now?" I said.

The video was what I expected. Lois had done a good job teaching her boss how she liked being treated. As soon as they entered the motel room, the boss slapped her face, called her a whore, and ordered her to suck his cock. Lois acted as though she was alarmed. "Yes sir!" she said over and over. "I'll do whatever you want. Just be gentle!"

Her boss proceeded to fuck her hard and fast.. He was pretty good at role playing. He seemed to particularly enjoy treating her like a nasty slut who'd been naughty and needed punishment. I'd heard from Lois' co-workers that the boss was an asshole at work; maybe that made it easier for him to act like an asshole when he was fucking Lois.

"Please don't cum in my pussy!" Lois begged. She was getting pretty fond of pretending she was some innocent young victim afraid of getting pregnant. Her boss played along perfectly.

"I'll cum wherever I want, bitch!" he said.

"No! Please no!" Lois said. He ignored her, naturally, and she looked thrilled when he finally filled her pussy with his cum.

Watching that video was intense. It was exactly like the way Lois behaved with me.

"It looks like your wife is being sexually abused by her boss," Betty said. "When you called, I figured she was just cheating. Now it looks like he's threatening to fire her if she doesn't fuck him."

"Nope. That's not it. Lois likes being treated this way. She isn't satisfied unless I treat her like a whore," I said.

"Really? Lois likes this kind of rough stuff?" Betty said.

"No, she doesn't like it. She loves it," I said. "She demands it. Lois gets upset with me if she doesn't get it."

"I had no idea your wife likes this kind of treatment," Betty said.

"I didn't know until after we'd been married for a few months," I said. "I'm not sure I would have fallen in love with her if I'd known how she wanted to be treated. I'm not fond of acting like a brute."

"She seems to have found a guy who enjoys it just fine," Betty said.

"There's something about this video you may not have noticed," Betty said. "You know what's happening because you know that Lois likes it rough. You know she likes being mistreated and degraded. But it didn't look like that to me. I thought it looked like some rich, powerful executive sexually harassing his secretary. It looked like a boss forcing his employee to have nasty sex."

"I suppose it would seem like that to someone who hasn't been fucking Lois for years," I said. "Believe me, he isn't forcing her to do anything she doesn't love doing."

"My point is, this video is probably more powerful than you realize," Betty said. "I did some research about this guy. He's a bigshot. His name is Joe Johnson, and he's the chief financial officer of Major Fasteners Inc."

"I've heard that," I said.

"Think about it like this," Betty said. "What would happen if the CEO saw this video? He'd think Johnson is committing sexual harassment in a particularly offensive way. Johnson would lose his job immediately, and no one would hire him again. And his marriage would be over. Johnson's wife is a hotshot attorney with the biggest law firm in the city. If she wanted, she could threaten to use this video in a divorce proceeding, and she'd skin him alive. Johnson would give his wife whatever she wanted, because he'd know that if this video ever got out, he'd be in trouble personally and professionally."

"Boo hoo hoo," I said. "I'm mainly interested in using this as a way to divorce Lois, but it would be a nice bonus if it fucked up Johnson's life."

"Exactly," Betty said. "It's a win-win."

At first, I wanted to go straight home and tell Lois our marriage was over. But Betty said that was the worst thing I could do.

"Don't let that bitch know anything has changed," Betty said. "Right now, you need to meet with a divorce lawyer. You need to do some advance work to get ready. You need to cancel all your joint credit cards. You need to move your money to accounts she doesn't know about. Believe me, I've seen lots of people divorce cheating spouses. It can be very punishing if you aren't prepared. You need to get yourself ready so Lois can't screw you over when you serve her with divorce papers."

Betty was right, of course. I went back to my office and started making a list of everything that needed done. I needed to change the passwords on my computer and all my online accounts. I found some very useful advice on the web from people who'd divorced cheating spouses. I learned a lot about ways to protect myself during this difficult time. I eventually felt confident that Lois would be completely surprised when she was served with divorce papers, and that she'd be powerless to take advantage of me in court.

But there was one more thing I decided to do.

Lois' boss was married to a high-powered attorney at the biggest law firm in town. Frida Johnson had a reputation for ruthlessness in court; just seeing her name attached to a legal action made the lawyers who faced her want to settle without a fight. I decided I'd let her know about her husband's affair, and give her advance warning before I filed for divorce. I was pretty confident that she'd be interested in dumping her sleazy husband, and it would be easier for her if she knew what I knew. I wanted Joe Johnson to suffer for screwing my wife.

I called Frida Johnson's office and set up an appointment.

"I can't imagine how I can help you, Mr. Caruso," she said as I entered her office. "I specialize in corporate law. Is that why you're here? If not, perhaps I can refer you to one of the other attorneys at our firm."

"That's possible," I said. "But I need to talk to you before I take any legal action. I have physical evidence that your husband and my wife are having an affair. I plan to divorce my wife, and I felt it best if I let you know about this in advance."

Her eyes narrowed. "That son of a bitch! You have evidence?"

"Absolutely," I said. "I have a video of them having sex in a motel during their lunch hour. I'm sorry to give you such bad news. It must be a shock."

"It's the least shocking thing you could have told me," she said. "That sleazy asshole has cheated before - I just never had evidence. I decided months ago that I had to divorce him. I guess I have to quit stalling and get with a divorce lawyer. A video, you say?"

"Would you like to see?"

"Hell yes!" she said.

Her eyes got wide as she saw Lois and her husband going through their kinky routine. "My God! I've never seen this side of Joe," she said. "I'm so sorry he's victimizing your wife this way."

"You misunderstand," I said. "Lois loves that kind of sex. Insists on it. Your husband is just giving her what she wants."

"She likes being hit? Being degraded?"

"Being whipped is her favorite," I said.

"Ick," she said. "Well, I can see why she would be attracted to Joe. He's a jerk. If she wants someone who can be an asshole, Joe is more than qualified."

My meeting with Frida was not going anything like I'd expected. I was telling a woman her husband was having an affair. I'd expected sadness. Tears. Surprise. Frida wasn't sad, tearful, or surprised; she was furious. She later explained that Joe did a fine job of pretending to be a different person while they were dating. He treated her well, acted like a gentleman, and projected a masculine confidence she found to be very appealing.

"I've always been attracted to alpha males," Frida said. "Joe acted like one, and it fooled me for a long time. But he's not an alpha male. He's just a jerk with a big mouth and a small dick."

The one good thing about Frida's situation was that she'd insisted that Joe sign a prenuptial agreement. Something about his flirtatious manner made her suspicious, so she'd included a clause that stipulated infidelity would cause the cheating spouse to forfeit their claim to any shared property. In Frida's case, that was a big deal. They were a power couple with a mansion, a vacation home, an investment portfolio, and all kinds of expensive stuff.

"At the time I had him sign this, I had no idea that it would ever become important in our divorce," Frida told me. "Infidelity is hard to prove. The actual reason I insisted on that clause is I thought it would help him understand that he had to be faithful to me. I figured that if he knew he could lose everything, he wouldn't cheat. That arrogant prick must have been pretty sure no one would ever figure out he was banging your wife."

"I don't have a prenup, unfortunately," I said. "But it doesn't matter. I want Lois out of my life."

"Mr. Caruso, you've done me an invaluable service," Frida said.

"I think it would be best if you start calling me Dan," I said.

"Dan, your video proves conclusively that Joe cheated. It will make my divorce a lot simpler. I'll be able to toss that jerk out of the house with nothing."

"Nothing?" I said.

"Almost nothing. The pre-nup says he gets to keep his retirement account. But all other shared property goes to me. We've been contributing to an investment account that's gotten pretty big; he's going to go crazy when he realizes I'll get every cent.

"And that bastard is going to lose his mind when he finds out about this video. In retrospect, it's obvious to me that he married me for my money. It's just deliciously ironic that he's about to lose everything," Frida said.

"Dan, do you have a lawyer yet?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," I said. "That's the next task on my list."

"I know just the lawyer for you," Frida said. "She is ruthless. She'll rip your wife and her lawyer into itty bitty pieces."

"Does she work here? At the same firm as you? I'm not sure I can afford her rates."

"Don't worry about a thing. Dan, you paid an investigator who produced a piece of evidence that is worth millions of dollars to me. You've provided me with enormous emotional satisfaction. The very least I can do is pay for your lawyer. Besides, I want to make your wife suffer as much as you do."

"I doubt that, Frida," I said.

She laughed. "Well, maybe it's better to say I want to make her suffer ALMOST as much as you do. The lawyer I'm recommending is as good as it gets, and folks in this town know it. When your wife's lawyer finds out the name of your attorney, he will tell your wife to accept whatever kind of settlement you demand. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Frida," I said. "I began to realize Lois was a bad wife right after our honeymoon. In hindsight, I can see that she got married to me because I was easy to exploit. I've suffered for years. I'm anxious to pay her back."

"Oh, you'll get payback," Frida said.

She walked me down a hallway and introduced me to the lawyer she'd mentioned. Cindy Mansfield didn't look ruthless. She looked young, and cute, and perky - kind of like a college cheerleader.

"Cindy may not look like a predator, but that's exactly what she is," Frida said. "She'll make your wife and my husband beg for mercy. Then she won't give it to them."

Cindy asked a lot of smart questions and made some good suggestions for how to prepare. I realized quickly that Cindy had extra motivation to do a good job for me. Frida was a partner at the firm, but Cindy was still a young lawyer working to prove she was worthy of a partnership. If she could make Frida happy, Frida would work to support Cindy's goals of becoming a partner. As Frida and I explained the situation, Cindy showed me an evil smile. "Oh, this is going to be loads of fun," Cindy said. "There's nothing I like more than ruining the lives of arrogant assholes. Joe and Lois sound like my favorite kind of victims."

"Happy hunting," I said.

"Dan, I think it's time to show me your video," Cindy said.

We gave her the thumb drive and a warning. "This is going to be pretty shocking," Frida said. "Be prepared to be appalled."

But Cindy wasn't the slightest bit shocked or appalled. She sat at her computer, watched the video, and actually seemed to be bored. She was less than half way through when she said something that surprised the hell out of me.

"Dan, is it safe for me to assume that this is the kind of sex your wife enjoys?" she said.

"How did you know?!" Frida said. "I thought Joe was abusing his poor secretary!"

"But that's not the case, is it, Dan?" Cindy said.

"No. It's not. Lois likes it rough. She demands to be treated this way. But how did you figure that out?"

"I've seen this before. It's very common. Have you ever heard the phrase 'topping from the bottom?' That's what your wife is doing."

"That's new to me," I said.

"It's simple, actually. Psychologists who specialize in sexuality talk about 'tops' and 'bottoms.' Let's say you have a fairly conventional relationship between a dominant man and a submissive woman. The man is the top, and the woman is the bottom. The top decides what the couple does sexually. The bottom does as she is told. It's mutually satisfying.

"In this case, your wife is acting like some poor little submissive victim - a bottom - but she's actually in charge. She's doing the job of the top. She's topping from the bottom."

"Where did you learn that?" Frida asked.

"Law school," Cindy said.

"I don't remember taking that class," Frida said.

"It came up in a special seminar for students specializing in divorce law. There were a lot of juicy little tidbits in that seminar," Cindy said.

"I don't doubt it. So my husband is pretending to be a top, but Dan's wife has actually turned him into a wimpy little bottom, right?" Frida said.