Cheating Doesn't Pay

Many thanks to snowbear for editing this story

I have learned a hard lesson about how easy an average man's daily life can turn into a real mess. When the events in this story began a few years ago my family consisted of my wife Anne (age 38) me Larry Dragonhjelm (42) with our children Angelica (8) and Elliot (6). Though were not the very happiest family in our Scandinavian county capital we had managed to keep it together, probably because we regarded that as best for our children.

Everything began when I met my old classmate from school, Tom Holmér on a Friday after work at the alcohol store. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years and as the store was rather crowded that day we had plenty of time for talking. To our surprise we found out that Tom's wife Cecilia was working at the same office where my wife Anne had been the last six months and he asked me, "I didn't see you at the our wives Christmas party but are you coming to their company's old owners' farewell party?"

I told him, "I would like to come but I'm not invited."

Tom looked surprised expression when he told me, "Of course you are invited and all spouses are invited. Why shouldn't you be?"

"I'll ask Anne, you can be sure about that."

"See you there, old mate."

The reason for the big company party only two and half months after the Christmas party was that the old owners had sold their shares to a nationwide investment company and wanted to thank all their coworkers before the new owners took it over on the first of March.

Of course I remembered the Christmas party. It was Anne's first Christmas party at that new job and she had told me that she was sorry for me but I wasn't invited. She had bought a new sexy dress for the party, been a very gorgeous woman when she went there; and she had come back home at four o'clock in the morning in very tipsy and messy condition. After some arguing I had told her that I believed what she had told me about the party and the nightcap afterwards at one of her friends place. She cried and promised me that nothing at all had happened between her and any man. Of course, I had my serious doubts about her story, but what could I do without any evidence?

Back home from my shopping I immediately told Anne that, " I met my old friend Tom Holmér at the alcohol store and he told me that his wife works at the same company as you."

Anne looked concerned as she replied, "What's her name?"

"Cecilia Holmér, do you know her?"

"No, I don't. Did he say that she knows me?"

"No he didn't, but he told me that all spouses had been invited to your Christmas party. Who in the hell pretended to be your spouse at that damn party and where did you spend that night?"

She was pale when she replied, "I have told you several times that I thought that spouses were not invited. I was new there and didn't understand the invitation."

"So you are the only idiot at the company who can't understand a simple invitation, are you? I promise to trace that asshole who fucked you after the party and you can be sure that I'll make him regret his birth when I find him."

She began to cry and sobbed, "I've told you many times that we were at least twelve - fifteen people at somebody's house. Only a few drinks and little dancing, no reason for you to be mad and jealous."

There had been too many weak points in her story but I couldn't go any further without evidence, so I asked her, "Am I invited and booked to the next company party?"

Once again I noted a strange expression in her face because she had not mentioned anything about that party to me. But now she knew that I knew that all spouses were invited and she replied, "Of course I have booked both of us for the party but forgot to tell you about that."

I had serious doubts about Anne telling me the truth.

No need to say that our marriage was down to a very chilly level. All thoughts about sex with Anne could only be regarded as wasted time. Then the mess got worse again at the next Friday after lunch when I had taken a few hours off my job for doing some errands. Anne usually left her job at one o'clock on Fridays, so both of us were at home when the phone rang. I took the call and could hear that the caller was sitting in a car with dance music from the radio in the background but he or she hung up without saying anything. Anne asked me, "Who was it?"

I told her, "Your lover, but he hung up when he heard that I took the call."

My reply was intended as an innocent joke, but I could not avoid seeing how she froze for a second before she began shouting, "You are totally weird. What the hell are you thinking about me?"

"It was an innocent joke but now after your over reaction I don't know what to think. Was I right?"

She calmed down and replied with soft voice, "No. You are not right and it was rather one of your jealous humiliations than a stupid joke. But I'm sorry for loosing my temper; I had a terrible day at the job today. That's not any excuse but I hope it can explain my bad temper."

At the party evening Anne had chosen to wear a much less sexy dress than last time and was far from a jolly mood when we went there. The party was held at one of the best hotels in town where the dinner was served at several round tables instead of the usual long tables. We were five couples at our table and I got the impression that Anne knew all the other women. I couldn't help it but got a feeling that Anne regarded my presence as a pain in her ass that cancelled her plans for the expected good time for that very evening.

After the meal, when we had got coffee and a glass of Cognac, Anne's boss came to our table for a little small talk. When he saw me next to Anne he said, "You must be Anne's husband. We missed you at the Christmas party. Sorry you couldn't come."

I replied, "I wasn't invited to that party. At least that's what Anne told me."

He looked at Anne and asked, "All spouses were invited, how could you miss that?"

I told him, "She came home very late in a terrible mess so I'm sure she preferred some 'stand in' from the office instead of me."

Some of the other couples couldn't resist laughing and Anne was red as a tomato in her face. Her boss obviously found the situation slightly unpleasant and said, "I don't know anything about that."

Before he left our table I replied, "You ought to know, there are sluts in all offices."

Anne began to cry and I'm sure that the other couples found the situation painful because all of them excused and left for the restrooms. Even I went to the restroom where I talked a few minutes with one of the other spouses who had been sitting at the same table as Anne and me.

He told me that his wife and he had seated rather near to Anne at the Christmas party. She had spent the whole evening very close to one of her fellow workers. He remembered my wife because his wife had mentioned her noble and old fashion-sounding surname.

I had never expected any such thing would happen to me but I know that many naïve men before me got to know the painful truth about a cheating wife by some kind of accident. It hit me like a hard punch in my belly.

Of course, I had noted that the sparkles between me and my lovely wife Anne had been more rare recently. But such things as ups and downs happen in all marriages sooner or later so I had not worried much about that. I was sure that things would brighten up again soon.

I didn't see Anne and one of her co-workers told me that she had left the party. Anne didn't reply on her cell phone and when the baby sitter didn't reply on our home phone, I understood that Anne was at home and had paid the babysitter off.

I spent some time at the bar and to my great relief nobody mentioned Anne. Back home I found her sleeping in our bed.

The next day was the worst day during our 11 years as a married couple. Anne shouted and screamed but refused to tell me where and with who she had been at the Christmas party night.

At Monday morning Anne went to her job as usual and to her great relief nobody at her job cared to say anything about how I humiliated her during the dinner. Not even her boss, who obviously regarded it as her private problem. What the fellow workers said behind her back was a quite different matter.

The next surprise came at bedtime that Friday evening when Anne initiated some great sex beginning with her giving me the best sucking in many years, taking it much deeper than ever before. Then she turned out to be very lively in several positions, which gave both of us a great satisfaction. It was an enormous difference from her usual lying as a log. Of course I suspected her new interest in sex with me to have some kind of connection with my new rude behavior and comments about a lover.

Anne fell asleep immediately after our intensive sex but I had too many thoughts in my head for falling asleep. The main question was, Did Anne prefer me as a "cave man" rather than the "good guy" I was before?

Nothing special happened during the next eight days and I got a sense that our marriage was slowly turning back to a better level again. Then everything collapsed like a house of cards one morning when I could see that Anne had dressed slightly better than usual and had her hair fixed. During our breakfast she told me that she had forgotten to tell me yesterday that she probably had to work some overtime that day because her boss had mentioned something about that yesterday.

I didn't see any reason to keep quiet about what I thought, so I said, "Since when do you need to dress extra sexy for working overtime? Isn't it better to tell me the truth that you intend to go fucking your damn lover again?"

That took her by surprise which was clearly visible in her face before she began shouting, "Have you gone completely mad again? You ought to get help about that paranoid behavior."

"It is better we end this marriage so you can fuck your damn lover as much as you want without doing it behind my back. I'm probably mad but not so mad that I will remain married to a cheating slut. That's for sure."

Anne began to cry and even our children began crying loudly. I began thinking, 'what have I done to my family?' I had started the most serious quarrel in our marriage without having the slightest evidence about Anne's cheating. The only thing I had was the strange feeling I had felt during my sleepless night.

After crying for some time Anne sobbed to me, "Do you really want a divorce?"

"Yes, I can't see any other solution if you intend to make crap of this marriage. It will be best for both of us to split up as soon as possible so we can go on with our lives. I'm fed up with being treated like a pile of shit. Believe me, I've had enough."

Anne rushed back to our bedroom and I felt some remorse for accusing her of cheating though I didn't have the slightest piece of evidence about that. I understood that I had acted as a "cave man" and done everything totally wrong. Of course I ought to have done it the average way by collecting evidence and if I had been able to get that, then I could accuse her.

When Anne was back to kitchen a few minutes later, she was dressed as usual for an average day. She didn't say anything to me and I didn't know what to say to her. I began to understand that only a miracle could save our marriage. If Anne was innocent, she could hardly take all the humiliation I had caused her during the last time. If she were guilty of having an affair, our marriage would be history as soon I found out any evidence about that.

Back home at the evening she told me a story that she had told her boss that I had refused her to work overtime and he had accepted that because he knew me from the party. I ought to have called her boss but didn't do that.

To my great pleasure I got unexpected help from the new owners who had taken over the company where Anne worked. Their IT experts had made a secret investigation of the use of computers at the office and found out the average time used for all kinds of private matters was as high as 52 minutes per day for each employee at the office. The worst one had been online sixteen hours during the week that was investigated.

The next Monday morning the whole staff at her office had been called to a meeting where they had been told the new rules, which meant that all private use of the internet was forbidden and the saved time and a new organization even resulted in the four most recently hired people being let go. Anne kept her job but from now on she had to use the PC she and I shared at home for all her E-mail. The children had computers but not access to the net.

I've always been interested in computer programs and got a feeling that from now on "we would be playing at my backyard". I was ready for that and had prepared the computer with a "mirror program", which saved a copy of everything, she did. One other program would get back everything she deleted. Within a couple of days she had activated a new free e-mail account to our computer for "happy_lass" besides her old Hotmail address which she used for innocent chat with some of her old friends who had left town. The new account got only a few messages. A few real mails were from some "happy_lad" plus the usual junk mail. "

The only messages Anne sent the first week was completely innocent to "happy_lad" telling him about her new e-mail account and that she was available on line again. Even his first reply, which she had deleted, didn't say much, "Great to have my darling on line again."

One thing was sure for me now, Anne was involved in something and I had good hopes of being able to collect useful information about what. Of course, They could use cell phones for their main connection, especially now when she was limited to only use the computer we had at home and she knew that I was rather keen with computers but I was sure that she would prefer E-mail for all longer messages.

I decided that Anne would never get any 50% of our assets if she caused our divorce as a result of her cheating. I had worked hard to gain a fair standard for my family and no lover boy would ever get anything of that. Therefore, I began slowly working on the plan I had decided to use for saving my money.

As the sole owner of our house I could take a big loan "for investments" without any need for Anne to sign the papers. To my great surprise the bank agreed to give me all I wanted.

The next day I told Anne that I had to go to Italy for some final negotiations about purchasing a new machine for my job. She had no objections or questions because I had done such trips before.

The next day I went to a local travel agency and bought a cheap airline ticket to Malaga in Spain and even had them to book a hotel room at the small British territory Gibraltar, a rock that controls the traffic between Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Gibraltar is the most famous 'money laundry' in Europe. I even had the travel agency book tickets from Gibraltar to London and from London back home. As expected, Anne didn't contact my job to find out that I had taken three days off.

I left for the trip, took a local bus from Malaga to the Spanish border town La Linea and then to Gibraltar. But I didn't wash any money. The only thing I did there was a sightseeing trip on and in the famous rock. The next morning I took the first flight to London and then back home. During the trip I paid as much as possible with my private Master Card, which would make it easy to see my traces if somebody wanted to do that in the future.

The only thing I could do for the time being was to check what she did on our computer. Not much of use. So far only one message from "happy-lad" who told her that he was sitting alone at a hotel room and wished that she had been there to comfort him. She didn't reply him via E-mail, so I checked her cell phone when she took a shower but all messages were deleted as usual.

Then at last I got my Bingo. His next E-mail gave useful information. It read:

"Hi Love, Sorry I was busy meeting important customers here in the north, a long way from you during those days your wimp was in Italy. I missed your hot lips and sweet pussy terribly every evening when I knew you were waiting for me. But I have good news for us. Wednesday next week I'll have the whole day off in town and the only thing booked so far is the dentist between 9.30 and about 10.30. The rest of the day is ours, just you and me for the whole day. Dear Anne please take that day off, at least from 11.00 and be with me? Fredrik."

Now I knew his name and profession, which gave me a slight hope that she would use the E-mail for her reply. She did and wrote, "Dear Fredrik, Of course I'll take the day off after 11.00. May I suggest a romantic lunch at your place so people don't have to see us together in town when I'm off from my job. I'm sure that Larry still suspects something so our 'time-out' has been the right thing for us to do if we want to keep our love as a secret. However I can really agree that this one time breaking of our 'time-out " will be good. I can promise you that I've been thinking very often about you and I am looking forward to our great day. Love Anne."

To my great pleasure I managed to find an apartment to rent and paid one year in advance just in case I would get into some kind of problems with the authorities during my divorce.

A salesman "Fredrik something" living in our town wasn't a clue enough to find him. It was a too common name and profession though I suspected he worked for the same company as Anne. However I knew the date and time and if I didn't get any further clues, I had a slight chance to tail her to his place.

Nowadays many people prefer to use cell phones for an increasing part of their communication with others. Obviously even Anne and her lover boy Fredrik did so because I wasn't able to find out any further information on our computer.

The day before Anne's expected great fucking day I had everything ready for my actions. My own and our shared bank accounts were emptied and the money had disappeared on secret ways from the open market. A van with dark tinted glass was hired.

To my surprise Anne acted just as usual in the morning on her "Great Wednesday". No sexy dressing and nothing special with her hair. No visible signs at all about her expecting to have a great day with the lover boy. I began to hope that she had cancelled the whole thing,

However, I couldn't hide my stress and Anne had a worried look on her face when she asked me, "Are you alright? You don't look so well."

What could I say? I replied, "I'm fine, just been thinking about some slight problems I have to fix today but everything is under control."

"I was worried. You look so pale."

"No need for that, I'm fine. By the way, it would great to have lunch together today so we can talk about some important matters."

Once again she looked uncomfortable as she replied, "I would like it very much but I'm sorry I can't do that because I am already booked for an important lunch meeting at the job today. Tomorrow will be fine. "

I looked her straight in her eyes and said, "I understand that you must attend to the important matters first."

Now even Anne lost the color in her face. Hopefully she gave a second thought to what nasty thing she planned to do during the day.

Of course I wasn't fine, far from that. The future of our family depended on what she intended to do during the next few hours. I feared that it was our last family breakfast together and our lunch would be cancelled forever.

Anne left for her job and took Elliot with her to his pre-school. Angelica left for her school and I stayed at home for a while. Once again I had taken a day off from my job.

At ten thirty I had the van strategically parked Outside Anne's job so I could see both her parked car and the personnel entrance. Thanks to the tinted dark glass nobody could see me sitting in a seat behind the driver seat.