Shattered Masks

I had just returned from a business trip. The moment I stepped through the door, I scooped my wife into my arms and rushed her straight to the bathroom for a steamy shower together.

We were kissing passionately when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something: the toilet seat was flipped up.

I froze.

Seven years ago, my wife had read a post online claiming that when men pee standing up, bacteria splash onto the seat. She begged me to sit down to pee for the sake of her health.

I have kept that promise. For seven years of marriage, that seat has never been up.

A knot formed in my stomach, but the bathroom was spotless, so clean it looked staged, not a single stray hair anywhere.

Then I noticed the shower temperature. It was set five degrees lower than her usual 43°C.

Men like cooler showers. Women like them hotter…

At that moment, I knew, Ruby Lynch had cheated on me.

"Someone's been here, hasn't they?"

I broke from her kiss and turned my head to stare at the showerhead, my voice steady.

Ruby Lynch's eyes darted to where I was looking, and she turned pale.

"It's... Janice. She's staying with me for a few days. You know, with you gone, I get scared in this big house all alone."

My heart sank.

Janice was Ruby's bestie and the secretary to the president at the company I work with.

I had just seen her yesterday in the city.

Ruby was lying to me.

"Go ahead and shower. I'll start on dinner," I said, nudging her away, keeping my tone even.

She nibbled her lip, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Honey... have you stopped loving me?"

I held back a scoff.

'Ruby, who's stopped loving who?' I wondered.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're tired. I'll shower now."

She quickly hid her hurt, gave me a hard kiss on the cheek.

However, as she looked down, I caught sight of the telltale red marks under her collar.

She was scared, alright.

I turned away and scrubbed at the lipstick stain she had left.

Seven years of marriage, and people said Ruby was lucky to land me, like she had saved the galaxy in a past life.

They did not know that I, the big-shot CEO, had passed up three promotions to stay close to her, because she was afraid of being too far apart, of losing her sense of security.

I had offered to bring her along, but she always said her career was just taking off, not wanting to be a kept woman.

At this point, it was clear she just could not leave her lover.

The shower started, and right on cue, her startled yelp echoed through the house.

"Hey! You're back and showered, but you left me to fend for myself with the water temperature!" she called out.

"I haven't showered yet," I said, my voice cool and detached. Her outline was a blur against the glass door, frozen for a split second.

"Oh, never mind, it's probably just the water heater acting up."

Just then, her phone outside the bathroom blared with a shrill ringtone. The screen flashed [Big Shot].

I reached for the phone, about to answer.

However, she burst through the door, snatched the phone with frantic hands, and cut the call.

Wrapped in a towel, she looked almost comical to me.

She glanced at me, her voice laced with feigned innocence, "Honey, there's some stuff at work, waiting on a call, got a little jumpy...

"Shoot, just a telemarketer... All that worry for nothing. I'll get back to my shower. Can't wait to dig into the dinner you've whipped up!"

She rattled off and spun around, locking herself in the bathroom.

I took my time, pulling out her tablet and unlocking it with the fingerprint I had saved. The next moment, her sordid texts with [Big Shot] filled the screen.

[Stop it. I told you–my husband's home.]

[What's the big deal? You said it was a rush doing it on your bed, right?]

[Ugh... You're such a pest, you've got me all flustered…]

Blood boiled in my veins, my finger pressing the record button until it blanched.

However, I just watched as the messages kept coming...

'Not yet, this isn't enough to bring them down.' I thought.

Their talk got dirtier by the message.

I quietly recorded it all on my phone.

Then I checked the guy's social media.

Well, well, someone I know.

If my memory served me right, the guy's name was Seth Carter.

He was Ruby's supervisor, the one who handled all the dealings with our company.

I was scrolling through their old messages when I stumbled upon the day everything between them went south.

That was three months ago.

The sound of the bathroom door snapped me back to the present.

I quickly shut off the tablet and put it back where it belonged.

Ruby emerged, her cheeks rosy and her eyes darting nervously, like she was on the verge of saying something but could not quite get it out.

"Go get changed. I'll whip up something warm for you to eat," I told her.

She nodded and hurried off to the bedroom, while I made my way to the kitchen.

In that brief moment we crossed paths, I could not help but smile.

'Enjoy your last supper, Ruby,' I mused silently.