BETHANY DISCOVERS LARRY’S SECRET AFFAIR WITH JADE — “I SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Bethany never imagined that the man she had fought so hard to keep in her life would become the reason for her deepest heartbreak. She stood in Larry’s living room, staring at the message on his phone, unable to believe what she had just discovered.
Larry had been seeing Jade behind her back.
For a moment, Bethany could barely breathe. Her hands trembled as she read the message again, hoping she had misunderstood something. But the words were clear, and the truth was impossible to ignore.
When Larry walked into the room, he immediately noticed the phone in her hand.
LARRY: Bethany, what are you doing with my phone?
Bethany slowly looked up at him, tears filling her eyes.
BETHANY: Who is Jade, Larry?
Larry froze.
LARRY: What are you talking about?
BETHANY: Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. I saw your messages. I know you’ve been seeing her.
Larry looked away, unable to meet her eyes.
BETHANY: Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me there’s some explanation for this.
LARRY: Bethany, please. Let me explain.
BETHANY: Explain what? That you’ve been lying to me? That while I’ve been trying to save our marriage, you’ve been building a relationship with another woman?
Larry rubbed his forehead, visibly uncomfortable.
LARRY: Things between us haven’t been good for a long time.
Bethany stared at him in disbelief.
BETHANY: So that’s your excuse? Our marriage has been difficult, so you decided to betray me?
LARRY: I didn’t plan for any of this to happen.
BETHANY: But it happened, Larry. You made that choice.
Larry stepped closer, but Bethany immediately moved away.
BETHANY: Don’t touch me.
Her words stopped him.
For months, Bethany had tried to understand why Larry had become so distant. She had asked him countless times what was wrong, begged him to communicate, and even suggested counseling when their marriage seemed to be falling apart.
Every time, Larry had told her that she was overreacting.
Now she understood why he had been so unwilling to talk.
BETHANY: Do you know how many nights I stayed awake wondering what I had done wrong?
Larry remained silent.
BETHANY: I thought maybe I wasn’t being a good wife. I thought maybe I wasn’t doing enough for you. I kept blaming myself because I couldn’t understand why you were treating me like I didn’t matter anymore.
LARRY: Bethany, I never wanted you to feel that way.
BETHANY: But you made me feel that way!
Her voice cracked, and she covered her mouth as tears began rolling down her cheeks.
BETHANY: I suffered because of you, Larry. I suffered so much trying to keep this marriage together while you were giving your attention to someone else.
Larry lowered his head.
LARRY: I know I hurt you.
BETHANY: No, you don’t. You have no idea what this has done to me.
She placed his phone on the table and stepped back.
BETHANY: I defended you when people questioned our marriage. I stood beside you when things were difficult. I kept telling myself that if I loved you enough, we would eventually find our way back to each other.
LARRY: I know you’ve done a lot for me.
BETHANY: Then why wasn’t I enough?
Larry opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Bethany looked at him, waiting for an answer that never arrived.
BETHANY: You know what hurts the most? It’s not even that you found someone else. It’s that you let me believe we were still trying to fix things.
LARRY: I never stopped caring about you.
BETHANY: Caring about me doesn’t mean anything if you keep hurting me.
Larry finally looked directly at her.
LARRY: I made a mistake.
BETHANY: A mistake? You don’t accidentally build a relationship with someone behind your wife’s back. You don’t accidentally lie every time she asks where you’ve been.
Larry sat down on the couch, his expression heavy with guilt.
LARRY: I didn’t know how to tell you what was happening.
BETHANY: You had plenty of opportunities to tell me the truth. Instead, you let me keep hoping.
Bethany turned away, wiping her tears.
BETHANY: I booked counseling because I thought we needed help. I wanted us to understand each other again. I wanted to know why you were pulling away.
LARRY: I remember.
BETHANY: And you told me counseling wouldn’t change anything.
Larry nodded slowly.
BETHANY: Now I understand. You had already decided to walk away from me, but you didn’t have the courage to say it.
LARRY: That’s not what I wanted.
BETHANY: Then what did you want, Larry? You wanted me to keep waiting while you figured out whether you wanted me or Jade?
Larry looked down at his hands.
LARRY: I don’t know.
That answer hurt Bethany more than anything else he had said.
She had spent so much time fighting for their marriage, believing that somewhere beneath Larry’s anger and distance was the man she had fallen in love with.
But now, standing in front of him, she realized she couldn’t keep fighting for someone who wasn’t willing to fight for her.
BETHANY: I can’t keep doing this.
Larry immediately stood up.
LARRY: Bethany, don’t say that.
BETHANY: I’m tired, Larry. I’m tired of crying. I’m tired of asking you to love me. I’m tired of feeling like I’m the only person who cares about this marriage.
LARRY: I don’t want you to leave.
BETHANY: Then why did you make me feel like I had already lost you?
Larry reached for her hand, but Bethany pulled away.
BETHANY: I need some time.
LARRY: How much time?
BETHANY: I don’t know. I just know I can’t stay here pretending everything is fine.
She walked toward the bedroom, leaving Larry standing alone in the living room.
A few minutes later, Larry heard the bedroom door open.
Bethany came out carrying a small bag.
He looked at her, shocked.
LARRY: Where are you going?
BETHANY: Somewhere I can think.
LARRY: Bethany, please. We can work through this.
She stopped near the front door and turned toward him.
BETHANY: You keep saying that, Larry. But every time I try to work through something with you, I end up suffering even more.
Larry’s eyes filled with tears.
LARRY: I never wanted to lose you.
Bethany shook her head.
BETHANY: Then you should have thought about that before you brought Jade into our marriage.
She opened the door.
Before she could step outside, Larry’s phone began ringing on the table.
Both of them looked toward it.
Jade’s name appeared on the screen.
Bethany stared at the phone, then slowly turned toward Larry.
BETHANY: Is that her?
Larry didn’t answer.
The phone continued ringing.
Bethany’s expression changed as she realized that even now, after everything she had discovered, Larry still hadn’t told her the whole truth.
She placed her bag on the floor.
BETHANY: Answer it, Larry.
LARRY: Bethany, please don’t do this.
BETHANY: Answer the phone.
Larry stood motionless.
The ringing stopped.
For a brief moment, the room fell silent.
Then a message appeared on the screen.
Larry glanced at it, and the color drained from his face.
Bethany noticed immediately.
BETHANY: What does it say?
Larry slowly picked up the phone.
Bethany stepped closer.
BETHANY: Larry, what is it?
He looked at her, his expression filled with fear.
LARRY: Jade says she needs to talk to both of us.
Bethany’s heart began pounding.
BETHANY: Why would she need to talk to me?
Larry swallowed hard.
LARRY: Because there’s something she wants you to know.
Bethany stared at him, waiting.
Larry looked down at the message again.
LARRY: And I don’t think you’re going to like it.
TO BE CONTINUED…