The quiet house amplified my unease. The silence inside was unsettling, and due to my line of work, doubts raced through my mind. A particularly unwelcome yet persistent thought emerged: \u201cCould Natalie be cheating on me?\u201d Fortunately, hours later, Natalie returned, looking exhausted. I couldn\u2019t contain my words. \u201cWhere have you been? You\u2019ve been late a lot. Is there something you\u2019re not telling me?\u201d And finally, I asked if she was being unfaithful.<\/p>\n
Her reaction was one of shock. \u201cHank, I love you. I could never cheat on you. I\u2019ve just been busy grading tests at school,\u201d she assured me, sighing. That made sense. Natalie was a dedicated teacher, so I nodded and tried to let it go. But while sharing dinner and stories of our day, a message on Natalie\u2019s phone shattered any semblance of peace. \u201cHoney, will you be there tomorrow?\u201d I glanced at it and was surprised by the intimacy. She quickly deleted the message and tried to keep talking about her day.<\/p>\n
I interrupted her without a second thought. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d I asked, my voice heavy with suspicion. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d she looked puzzled or was faking her expression. \u201cThe message. I saw what it said,\u201d I pressed, frowning. Natalie sighed, rubbing her forehead. \u201cHank, it\u2019s not what you think,\u201d she tried to reassure me and showed me her phone to prove it was a wrong number. But skepticism clouded my judgment, and my appetite vanished.<\/p>\n
Later, in bed, the message replayed in my mind, not allowing me to sleep. Natalie lay beside me, seemingly peaceful, as she gently snored. My doubts grew, and I knew what I had to do. It was wrong, but I needed to know the truth. Carefully, I used her finger to unlock her phone and found a contact named \u201cRabbit,\u201d including conversations with an unknown number about getting together on days Natalie had come home late.<\/p>\n
I also decided to check her bank statements. That was always a major clue in my cases. My heart sank as I pieced together the evidence of her secret life, including payments for children\u2019s toys and hospital bills. Did she have a child I didn\u2019t know about? Did she call the kid \u2018Rabbit\u2019? More importantly, who was the father? Natalie woke briefly, so I scrambled to put her phone discreetly away and pretended I was falling asleep. But inside, I was distraught. The idea of her leading a double life was overwhelming.<\/p>\n
The next morning, I woke determined to follow Natalie to her work. I reached the school and parked discreetly, watching the entrance until Natalie suddenly appeared and drove off. I followed, my heart pounding with each turn, until she stopped at a run-down house in a modest neighborhood. I waited a few minutes before exiting my car and peering through a window. I saw Natalie with a man, and the atmosphere between them was cozy. They were familiar with each other in an intimate way. I was sure of it, but my jaw dropped as I watched her lean forward and kiss the man on the cheek.<\/p>\n
I wanted to investigate more and decided to hide in some bushes near the fence. That was when I saw Natalie emerging from the house, rolling a little girl in a wheelchair. They both smiled at each other, and I stared, mouth agape at them. I was so mesmerized that I didn\u2019t see a dog coming near me until its bark made me jump. It alerted Natalie, who looked around the yard, her eyes panicked. I tried to calm the dog. Then, I heard her. \u201cWho\u2019s there? I\u2019m calling the police!\u201d Natalie yelled out, not recognizing me in the chaos. I ran off with the dog biting at my ankles and scrambled over the fence, ripping my pants in the process. I could only hope my wife didn\u2019t recognize me.<\/p>\n
Back in my car, the image of Natalie with the little girl in the wheelchair haunted me. I drove home, my mind swirling with fear, doubt, and dread about confronting my wife. Once home, I changed my torn clothes and waited on the bed. Finally, hearing her car, I steeled myself and went to the living room. Natalie entered the house, apologizing for being late due to work. I watched her, noticing her disheveled appearance, and cut to the chase, \u201cNatalie, stop. I know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frowning, she asked, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d \u201cI know you\u2019re cheating on me,\u201d I accused bluntly. She was taken aback, denying it and attributing her late nights to work. I pressed about the suspicious messages. \u201cHank. You went into my phone?\u201d she asked, appalled. \u201cYes! Yes! I went into your phone. I\u2019m the bad guy, right? It\u2019s me spending money on another family,\u201d I retorted, my words dripping with sarcasm and hurt.<\/p>\n
Natalie was visibly shaken. \u201cWhat are you talking about? What other family?\u201d \u201cI saw everything, Natalie. I saw it with my own eyes. You don\u2019t work late at school, but go to some man and girl,\u201d I continued. \u201cYou followed me?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d I confessed, unashamed. \u201cI can\u2019t believe this,\u201d Natalie threw her arms in the air and stomped to our bedroom. I waited a few seconds and followed, only to see her packing. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know. A hotel or something,\u201d she said, stuffing her bag roughly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine,\u201d I snapped and turned to leave, but I saw her phone lying on the bed and grabbed it. Back in the living room, I installed a tracking app, just in case. Then, I went back to the bedroom, returning the phone to where she left it. But I saw her face and the pain I had inflicted. I didn\u2019t want to be angry anymore and started pleading with her to stay. \u201cLet\u2019s talk,\u201d I said. \u201cWe can fix this. You don\u2019t have to leave.\u201d \u201cYes, I do,\u201d Natalie snapped, zipping her bag. \u201cAnd for your information, the man and child you saw are my brother and niece.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my eyebrows go up. \u201cWhy have I never met them before?!\u201d I demanded. But she didn\u2019t answer and went around me, ignoring me as I followed. She slammed the front door, and I stayed back, reeling. In a fit of rage, I swept off the items on our mantel and screamed my frustrations out. Breathing heavily, I realized I needed to know more, so I searched our bedroom. Shockingly, I discovered a hidden compartment in her wardrobe containing a gun, several fake passports, a bag of money, and a newspaper clipping about a bank robbery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I breathed out. \u201cWho did I marry?\u201d I was in a daze. Wrapping the items in a bag, I placed them in my car\u2019s trunk and drove to the hotel nearby, where Natalie must have been staying. Fortunately, I was right and discreetly bribed the receptionist to get Natalie\u2019s room number. I knocked outside her door, disguising my voice as room service. She opened the door and crossed her arms. \u201cWhat else do you want to talk about, Hank? I already said I am not cheating on you,\u201d she sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you didn\u2019t cheat on me,\u201d I interrupted. I then presented the bag, asking her to explain the gun, fake documents, and money. Natalie sighed, inviting me inside and admitting her involvement with bad people and a bank robbery to pay for her niece\u2019s urgent surgery. I listened in shock, rubbing my chin as I processed. \u201cYou robbed a bank?\u201d I whispered. \u201cYes,\u201d she admitted quietly. \u201cThere was no other way. My \u2018Rabbit\u2019\u2026I mean, my niece, Katie, was dying. My brother, Tom, didn\u2019t have the money. I had to do something. This was before you and I even met.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to tell the police, Nat. But my friend, Luke, is the best criminal defense attorney in the state,\u201d I began, my lawyer mind planning. \u201cYou can\u2019t live this double life, waiting for the sword to drop. Come home with me, and we\u2019ll think of a solution.\u201d Natalie stared into my eyes, and I saw all the fear she must have felt for years since her bank robbery. But I held her hand. I\u2019d be there for her through it all. Finally, she nodded, and we drove home.<\/p>\n
At home, Natalie made tea, and we sat at the kitchen table to drink it. I talked about contacting Luke, who could help her get a good deal, but my eyes got droopy all of a sudden. I remembered Natalie guiding me to my bed but nothing else. I woke up disoriented the next morning. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head. A strange redness in the sheets caught my attention, and when my vision focused, I saw a knife covered in blood on the other side of the bed.<\/p>\n
I remembered the tea, and it all clicked. Did she want to frame me? To knock me out and kill me? Suddenly, the police burst in, hands on their guns, and my mind raced to the worst possibilities. \u201cHands up!\u201d I was quickly handcuffed. My heart pounded furiously as I realized that my wife might have wanted me out of the picture. She led a double life all this time.<\/p>\n