Five years into splitting every expense fifty-fifty with my wife, I spotted something on her company's financial report that didn't add up: a box of condoms, categorized under business trip supplies, with no cost-sharing record.
The date was last December. She'd gone overseas to negotiate a deal, and the only person she'd brought along was her young assistant.
I took a photo of the line item and sent it to her.
Her response was pure irritation.
"You're nothing but a business manager. Who gave you permission to go through the company's financial reports?"
"I'm out here meeting clients. Stop stirring up trouble over nothing. Spend your time developing leads instead. And don't think being my husband means I won't fire you."
No explanation. Just a voice dripping with threats.
The line went dead. I turned and called my subordinate.
"Gather evidence of Eve Pruitt's affair. And draft a document stripping her of her position as president of the subsidiary."
……
Within minutes, a video arrived.
The footage showed Eve entering a hotel with her assistant, Gabriel Henson. Same hotel. Same room.
I ordered my subordinate to keep digging.
The moment I hung up, I noticed a new post on Gabriel's social media.
In the photo, my wife wore a revealing swimsuit. The two of them were pressed together, dancing close, with a cruise ship and a bright blue sky behind them. If you looked carefully, you could see Gabriel was visibly aroused. But my wife's face, soft with a tender smile, showed no sign she found anything wrong with it. If anything, there was a hint of playful reproach in her expression.
The caption read: "Grateful for every day my beautiful boss treats me like a little brother."
I screenshotted it, saved it, then went back through the financial report one more time.
Beyond the condoms, I found that Eve had also purchased several luxury items, all labeled as client gifts.
Before today, if I'd interrupted her while she was meeting clients and she'd snapped at me, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
But now I'd sent her a photo loaded with obvious implications, and she hadn't offered a single word of explanation.
And the real question was whether she was actually meeting clients or keeping her assistant company.
The answer was self-evident.
That was when Eve called back.
"Lowell Dickerson, I was in a meeting with a client just now. What was that screenshot you sent me supposed to mean?"
"You should know exactly what it means," I said evenly.
Anger crept into her voice on the other end.
"Lowell! You can't seriously think I'm cheating? People go on business trips every month. How can you be sure I'm the one who bought them?"
"Eve," I said calmly, "you seem to have forgotten. When you arranged my position here, you also gave me one specific task: compiling the monthly log of all employees on business travel."
"And last December, you were the only one who traveled. Oh, right. Your assistant too."
Silence on the other end.
Then her tone softened a few degrees.
"Is... is that so? Well, maybe I did buy them. Must've accidentally charged them to the company account."
"Since you've brought it to my attention, let's follow our fifty-fifty agreement. Go ahead and transfer me your half."
I let out a cold laugh.
Eve Pruitt was known as a powerhouse businesswoman. From the very start of our marriage, she'd insisted on a fifty-fifty agreement under the guise of "motivating me to be more ambitious." Everything was split down the middle, from major appliances to a single plastic bag.
And yet for something as sensitive as condoms, she hadn't asked me to split the cost.
That alone said everything.
On top of that, ever since Eve came back from that trip, we hadn't been intimate once.
She'd had her fun with someone else, and now she wanted me to foot half the bill.
The sheer audacity.
"Whoever you used them with," I said coolly, "take it up with him."
I didn't bother with another word and hung up.
But just before the call disconnected, I heard Gabriel's voice in the background.
"Come on, babe. What's his problem? He's only eating because of you. Without you, he's nothing."
