Paige

loves her career, even if it means being away from home a lot. However, when she returns from a business trip, she overhears a cryptic conversation between her husband and her four-year-old son. Little does she know — the thread of her marriage is about to unravel.

When I think about the foundations of my life, there were three that always stood out: my husband, Victor, my son, Mason, and my career. Despite the storms that Victor and I weathered together, including four heart-wrenching miscarriages, we emerged stronger than before the storm.

Or so I believed.

Victor and I were a strong and supportive couple — we knew what worked for us and what didn’t. Especially when it came to healing from the miscarriages we had survived.

“It’s okay, Paige,” Victor constantly reminded me. “We’ll have our baby when the time is right. If not, there are other options.”

I would always smile at him, wondering when his words would come true.

But then, a pregnancy test came back positive. And three months later, our baby was still thriving in my womb.

So, when Mason came into our lives, it felt like our shattered dreams had finally pieced themselves back together. Mason became the one thing that we focused on unconditionally. Whenever our son needed us, we dropped everything.

“Mason is a lucky kid,” Victor said one day when Mason was running around our backyard. “He is incredibly loved.”

And he was. Victor and I prided ourselves on caring for our son above everything else.

With my demanding role as a chief executive with a clothing brand, traveling was a constant part of my life. I was involved in every step of our product designs — right until our clothing hit the stores.

Often, this resulted in me leaving Victor and Mason to fend for themselves. But it wasn’t something I worried about — Victor was a perfect father. He had even changed his work schedule, so that he worked from home more than from the office. This way, he was around for Mason.

“I don’t want a babysitter or a nanny taking care of our son,” Victor said one day when he was cooking us dinner.

“If you can handle the days, then the evening shifts are all mine,” I compromised.

I did feel bad that Victor had to hold down the fort during the day, but we didn’t have another choice.

Recently, because Mason is four and ever the curious little boy — I know that pre-school is on the horizon. So, in an attempt to be more present and spend more time with him as a toddler, I vowed to limit my work trips.

But little did I know, it was during my absence that the fabric of our family began to unravel.

I had been away for about three days, stuck in meetings and all I wanted to do was get home and hug Mason, smelling the baby fabric softener from his clothing.

The day that changed everything was like any other. I took a cab from the airport and eagerly awaited to see my husband and son.

When I walked in, the house was oddly quiet, with shuffling upstairs.

Victor’s voice was hushed but urgent — the same urgency that Mason associated with bad behavior and bedtime.

“Buddy, you’ve got to promise me one thing, okay?” Victor said.

“Okay,” Mason muttered innocently. “What is it?”

“You’ve got to promise me that you won’t tell Mom what you saw.”

“But I don’t like secrets,” Mason said. “Why can’t I tell Mommy?”

Victor sighed deeply — it ran through the house, as if carried by air.

“It’s not a secret, Mason,” he said. “But if we tell Mommy, it’s going to make her sad. Do you want Mommy to be sad, buddy?”

It was my son’s turn to sigh.

“No, I don’t,” he said.

I took a deep breath, sensing that the conversation was over. From my spot halfway up the stairs, I put my bags down and called out.

“Mason! Victor! Mom’s home!” I called loudly.

“We’re in here,” Victor shouted.

I walked into Mason’s room and found Victor sitting on his bed, while our son sat on the floor surrounded by his toys.

“What’s going on?” I asked, Mason leaping into my arms.

“Nothing, honey,” Victor said, winking. “Just a boys’ chat. Welcome home.”

Victor stood up and kissed my head on the way out.

“Got to get back to work,” he said.

I was disturbed for the rest of the evening. I wanted to believe Victor — that the conversation I had overheard was truly nothing important.

It’s probably Victor wanting to hide the fact that he gave Mason too much sugar or junk food in general, I thought to myself.

After all, Victor had never given me a reason to doubt him. Yet, that night, sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned, and when I couldn’t fall asleep, I scrolled through my phone wanting to see how our new clothing line was doing.

I tried to keep my mind as busy as possible. But Victor’s whispered words haunted me — would something as simple as eating the wrong food make me “sad”?

Something was amiss, I knew it.

The week-long business trip that followed was torture. I loved my job, and I loved working on the new campaign we were running out. But I hated being away from Mason for so long. Victor’s daily photos of Mason were my only solace until one of the photos brought about more questions than answers.

Victor had sent a series of photos to me — in each of them, my son was playing with a new toy. But in one of the photos, there was a pair of blue shoes in the background. They were not mine. And yet, there they were, in my living room.

They taunted me.

My heart raced as I scrolled through previous photos, trying to source more signs of betrayal that I had missed in the joy of seeing my son.

The flight back home was a blur. I sat in my seat and scrolled through the incriminating photos — together, there were about six with evidence that another woman was constantly in our home. I drank champagne to keep my nerves calm.

I knew that the moment I entered my home, everything was going to change. Either, my husband would confess that there was someone else in his life — or that there was a nanny looking after our son.

A nanny with expensive shoes, I thought.

I walked into the house, leaving my luggage in the living room. The house was quiet again — but it made sense. It was Mason’s nap time.

I walked into my son’s room first. He was just waking up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Hi, baby,” I said, kissing his head.

Before he could answer, there were muffled sounds coming from inside my bedroom.

“Dad’s not downstairs?” I asked, getting up.

Mason looked at me for a moment too long.

“Mommy, don’t go in there. You’ll be sad,” he warned, his words echoing the secret pact I had overheard.

Fueled by a mix of dread and anger, I approached my bedroom. The muffled sounds from inside were enough confirmation. I braced myself and opened the door.

Victor swore.

The woman untangled herself from my husband and my bedding.

“Paige!” he exclaimed, sitting up in bed. “It’s not what you think!”

I laughed.

“Do I look that stupid?” I asked him, before I felt the tears well in my eyes.

The woman picked up her clothes and locked herself in our bathroom.

The confrontation that followed was a blur of tears, accusations, and heartbreak. Victor tried to deny everything — he was a charming man. And I knew that if I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I probably would have believed his lies.

“I have nothing else to say to you,” I said.

“What did you expect, Paige?” Victor asked later.

The woman had fled, and I was left to face the man I no longer knew.

“You’re never here,” he lashed out. “You’re never around. And when you’re home, you spend all your time on Mason or working. What about me?”

I listened to Victor go on about how he was the victim in the story.

“I need human contact, too,” he said. “And I don’t know what you get up to when you’re flying all over the country. I bet you’ve got stories, too.”

Mason had been put to bed again, and his bedroom door was shut — anything to try and keep my son from losing any more of his innocence.

“No, Victor,” I said. “I’m not you. My vows meant something to me.”

After that, I took a walk around the block. I felt guilty for leaving Mason with Victor once again. But I just needed a moment. I felt betrayed — yes, I was working all the time. I couldn’t deny that. But my job also sustained our home — it wasn’t just up to Victor to provide for us.

And then, what about Mason? How long had my son been exposed to this?

When had Mason been forced to keep the secret of his father’s infidelity.

I felt sick to my stomach.

How many women had there been?

How much had Mason seen?

I knew that Victor was a good father — but how good could he have been if this was the life he led in front of his son?

I went back home and made dinner. Victor was stuck in the study, sitting behind his computer. He was fuming. I could feel it. But I knew that it was because he had gotten caught.

In the aftermath, as I recounted the ordeal to my family, their embrace was a sliver of comfort. My parents encouraged me to get Victor to move out.

“Let him leave,” my father said. “You and Mason need to stay comfortable.”

In the end, Victor moved his things out. But he still denied the affair — apparently I didn’t know what I had seen.

At least he didn’t contest the divorce.

“He’s trying to save whatever dignity he has left,” my mother said on the phone.

Reflecting on the secret conversation that had set everything in motion, I realized that the signs were always there. I had chosen to see only the best in Victor — constantly ignoring the whispers of doubt.

Now, armed with the bitter truth, I was determined to rebuild, not just for my sake, but for Mason’s.

I have to be stronger and smarter now.