Working from home means I miss out on the wild office Christmas parties where tipsy employees finally spill their secrets. But my husband, Travis, was off to one of those parties, so I decided to have a little fun by sending him off with a playful note on his chest.
Don’t judge me—Travis can’t handle his drinks!
After five years of marriage, I trust him completely, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun. While he was getting dressed, I grabbed a marker and wrote a cheeky message on his chest: “This is my husband—touch him, and you’ll pay—M.”
“Micaela,” he chuckled as he headed out the door, “I’m just going for a few drinks. I’ll be back early, I promise!”
While he was gone, I decorated the living room and put up the Christmas tree, making everything cozy and festive. But when Travis finally stumbled back home, clearly a bit tipsy, I helped him to bed and noticed he had written a reply to my note.
“Keep the change,” it said, scribbled in his messy handwriting.
I laughed at the message, brushing it off as just a joke. But as I settled in to watch Christmas movies that night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about his night out.
The next day, I casually asked Travis about the party. He told me they started at the office, moved to a bar for karaoke, and then ended up at a club. When I brought up the note, he looked puzzled.
“Probably one of the guys,” he said with a shrug. “There was a lot of drinking, and you know how guys get when they’re partying.”
Still feeling uneasy, I decided to talk to my mom about my feelings. She had an interesting suggestion—plant a GPS tracker in Travis’s car. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of snooping, but I needed to quiet my nagging doubts.
For the next week, I monitored his movements on my laptop. Everything seemed normal until one evening when he called to say he had to stay late at work. I believed him at first, but when I checked the tracker, I noticed his car was heading in the opposite direction of home.
My heart raced as I followed him, driving through the streets until I found his car parked in the driveway of a stunning house. I sat in my car, watching in disbelief as he got out and met a woman. They hugged, and then they kissed!
My world felt like it was crumbling. I quickly grabbed my phone and took pictures of them together. I was devastated, realizing my marriage might be falling apart. Gathering my courage, I approached the house, and Travis looked completely shocked when he saw me coming.
“So, you’re the woman who left a message on my husband?” I asked the woman, trying to keep my voice steady.
Instead of backing down, she looked right at me and said, “You deserve better. Husbands like this deserve to be treated like spare change.” She shot a glance at Travis.
He turned red with anger and shame. “How dare you?” he shouted at her, but she just turned and slammed the door.
Feeling my heart race, I walked back to my car, fighting back tears. I opened my phone and saw a text from my mom with the number of a divorce lawyer. That was my painful Christmas gift—something I never wanted but desperately needed.
Instead of enjoying the holiday season, I found myself facing a new year of rebuilding and searching for my own happiness. Life can be unpredictable, especially after five years of marriage, and I was learning that the hard way.
If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?
