Ellen POV:
Adrian returned from his "business trip" three days later. He brought a small, cheap toy car for Cameron. "Found it at the airport," he said, handing it to our son. He gave me a box of drugstore chocolates. "For you, Ellen. Sorry I was gone so long."
I smiled politely. I knew better. On his burner phone, I had seen a message from Jasmine: "Adrian, Angel loves the new action figure! Thank you, my love!" And another, to a florist, for a lavish bouquet delivered to Jasmine. The toy car and chocolates were an afterthought, a meager attempt to maintain his facade with me. He always bought two sets of gifts, one cheap for us, one expensive for them.
Cameron, still young enough to be excited by any gift from his father, played with the car quietly. Adrian immediately retreated to his phone, scrolling through news feeds.
"Was your trip exhausting?" I asked, watching him. My voice was calm and even.
"Terrible flights, long meetings," he mumbled, not looking at me. "Barely slept."
"Oh," I said. "I thought you said you were staying at the Grand Hyatt this time. Usually, you sleep well there."
He paused, a flicker of something, perhaps alarm, in his eyes. He cleared his throat. "Oh, no, they moved me. Some smaller business hotel downtown. Not as good." He quickly changed the subject.
I knew he was lying. His locator history showed him at Jasmine's house the entire time. He wasn't even staying in a hotel. I did not challenge him. I simply nodded. I was gathering information.
In the kitchen, as I prepared dinner, my mind raced. Adrian's official salary as a project manager was $50,000. Even with bonuses, it rarely exceeded $70,000. His expenses for Jasmine's lavish life were well over $200,000 a year, just for the mortgage and car. How was he funding this? His company wasn't that big. He clearly had undeclared income, side projects, or illicit dealings.
Jasmine Simon was a stay-at-home mother. Her family, from what I could gather from her social media, didn't seem wealthy enough to support such a lifestyle. The money had to be coming from Adrian. I needed to access his bank accounts. But he had always kept his personal accounts fiercely private, only ever giving me access to our joint account for household expenses. That account, I knew, contained very little.
His parents. Godfrey and Fidelia Benjamin. Adrian's father, Godfrey, was a retired civil engineer. His mother, Fidelia, a former school principal. They were respected figures in their small town. They were also very fond of Adrian. I had to assume they knew about Jasmine. It was the only logical explanation for Adrian's financial freedom. They must be complicit.
The next weekend, I packed a bag for Cameron and me. "I thought we'd visit my parents," I told Adrian. "It's been a while, and Cameron misses them."
Adrian nodded absently, too engrossed in his phone to object. His parents lived a two-hour drive away, in a quiet, rural town. It was the perfect opportunity.
My in-laws greeted us with their usual polite, almost detached, warmth. Fidelia fussed over Cameron, asking about school. Godfrey offered me a cup of tea, his face unreadable.
At dinner, I casually asked, "Adrian mentioned his work is keeping him very busy. Is his company doing well, do you know?"
Fidelia and Godfrey exchanged a quick, almost imperceptible glance. Godfrey cleared his throat. "Oh, you know, Ellen. Business is business. Ups and downs." He deflected.
My instincts screamed. They knew. They were protecting him. I smiled, letting the subject drop. "Of course. Just curious."
Later, I pretended to take Cameron for a walk to the ice cream shop. Instead, I left my phone on record, hidden under a cushion in the living room, and angled towards their usual conversing spot. I walked out the front door with Cameron, waving goodbye. I waited a few minutes, then crept back to the house, listening from outside the living room window.
I heard Fidelia's hushed voice first. "...Did you talk to Adrian about what's going on with Jasmine? She's worried about Angel missing him."
Godfrey's gruff reply. "He says he's handling it. Just needs more time with Ellen to... finalize things."
Fidelia sighed. "It's been eight years, Godfrey. I feel bad for Jasmine, being strung along like this. And Angel, he's such a sweet boy. He deserves a proper family."
My breath hitched. They knew everything. Not only did they know, they were actively discussing Adrian's deception, and their concern was for Jasmine and Angel. Not me. Not Cameron. They felt "bad for Jasmine."
I listened, frozen in place. They continued, discussing Adrian's financial contributions to Jasmine, how they sometimes "helped out" with a deposit for Angel's extracurriculars, or a small gift for Jasmine's birthday. They talked about the "commitment ceremony" Adrian and Jasmine had held, which they had attended. A "commitment ceremony." A fake wedding. And my in-laws were there.
My parents-in-law, the "respectable" pillars of their community, were complicit in Adrian's monstrous lie. They had smiled at me, pretended concern, all while knowing their son was living a double life, stealing from me, and grooming another family.
I walked away from the window, my legs unsteady. I bought Cameron an ice cream, my mind numb.
That night, I didn't sleep. My in-laws had been a part of this for eight years. They had seen me, Adrian's legal wife, struggle with our finances, with Adrian's emotional distance, with Cameron's longing for his father. They had watched me make sacrifices, believing Adrian's lies, while they celebrated his other family.
Fidelia, who always gave me worn-out hand-me-down clothes for Cameron, calling them "perfectly good," was sending money for Angel's expensive hobbies. Fidelia, who constantly questioned Cameron's grades, asking if he was "falling behind the other children," was most likely comparing him to Angel.
A slow, chilling realization dawned. In their eyes, I was merely background noise, a placeholder, a convenient façade. Jasmine was the real daughter-in-law. Angel was the preferred grandchild. My decade of quiet devotion, my unwavering belief in Adrian's "frugality," was met with deceit and contempt from his entire family.
In the darkness of that guest room, a cold, hard smile stretched across my face. They thought they had won. They thought I was a fool. They were all wrong. I would make them regret every single lie.
