The Scumbag I Gave Away

On the first month of my marriage, a woman who claimed to have been deceived added me on SnapChat. She sent me screenshots of her conversations with my husband, along with explicit photos of the two of them. She urged me to leave that scumbag while I still could. Half a month later, I caught them together in my own marital home. The woman clung to his arm, looking as though she had just rid the world of evil. “I took this scumbag off your hands. Aren’t you going to thank me?” It was our first monthly anniversary. I carried a cake home, planning to surprise my husband. “Claire, Mom accidentally fell. I’m going home for a while.” I had just finished setting up a candlelit dinner when his message came through. I typed, “But do you know what today is?” Then, just before sending it, I deleted the message. The accusing tone I had originally intended became: “Is your mom seriously hurt? Should I come over and check on her?” “No need. Just keep an eye on the shop.” To play the part of a sweet, understanding wife, I ate the little cake alone and cleaned the entire house. Just as I was getting ready for bed, my phone screen suddenly lit up. An unfamiliar woman had sent me a friend request. Her profile picture showed a woman with her hair down, hugging a gray cat. She looked quiet and gentle. “Who are you?” I asked first. I wasn’t used to having strangers sitting in my contacts. “I’m Derek’s girlfriend. I need to talk to you.” Derek was already married. How could he have a girlfriend? Curious, I accepted her request. “I saw your contact information on Derek’s phone. I’m adding you because I think you should leave him as soon as possible. He’s been seeing both of us behind your back. I only found out recently. He deceived me too.” The woman got straight to the point. I forced myself to remain calm. “What’s your name?” “Madison. You probably haven’t heard of me, just like I had no idea he had someone else over there. I didn’t even know you two were married.” That instantly caught my interest. So she was Derek’s girlfriend from back home? Madison immediately sent me a long string of screenshots. She knew that after my husband quit his job, he had started his own escape-room business. She knew about his family and relatives. She even knew the passwords to his computer and phone. … Madison and I compared details back and forth. I discovered that my husband had been using the time difference to chat with her. They talked about almost everything. I was certain Derek was hiding something from me. And the woman on the other end clearly wasn’t ordinary, either. Derek had once told me that even after getting into a relationship or marriage, couples should give each other personal space. A marriage could only last when it was built on trust. So that was why he wanted privacy? Not to protect our marriage, but to make it easier to stay in touch with his mistress. He was a lot more calculating than I had realized. Before I had even managed to process everything, Madison sent me another photo. It was extremely explicit. She was nestled in Derek’s arms, looking just like the obedient little cat in her profile picture. The photo on my screen brightened, dimmed, brightened again. The glare stabbed at my eyes. My eye sockets burned, and tears dampened my cheeks. According to Madison, she and Derek had been together for years. Could I be the other woman?My husband came home the next afternoon. “You’re back early. Is your mom all right?” I asked casually, pretending nothing had happened. His eyes flicked to the right. Then he answered, sounding slightly guilty. “Yeah. It wasn’t serious, so I came back. The shop just started turning a profit. This is a critical stage.” “Do you know someone named Madison?” I put down the paintbrush in my hand and confronted him directly. Derek paused before smiling. “No. Why?” “Madison added me. She said she was your girlfriend.” “Oh, her?” He looked surprised. “If you hadn’t mentioned her, I might have forgotten. She was my ex-girlfriend, but we haven’t seen each other in a long time. Why would she suddenly add you?” I didn’t answer. Derek grew anxious and quickly added, “She’s a little unstable, and she lies all the time. I broke up with her ages ago, but she keeps clinging to me. Believe me, I have a wife now.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist. His breath brushed against the back of my ear, making me uncomfortable. “For now, I’ll believe you,” I said, turning around to stare into his eyes. “But if you mess around, I won’t go easy on you.” Maybe he really did have something to hide. The moment he promised me he would behave, he rushed into the kitchen and started unpacking the seafood he had brought from home. He said he wanted to make me some marinated shrimp. I couldn’t recklessly tell him everything Madison had said. I still couldn’t tell how much of her story was true or how many lies Derek was hiding. Chat logs could be fabricated. Photos could be edited. So I decided to keep watching. I wanted to find out exactly what Derek was hiding and what those two were really plotting. But over the next few days, my husband kept trying to please me. The more attentive he became, the more uneasy I felt. After Madison barged into my life, I often lay awake at night, replaying the past between Derek and me. He was five years older than me. After getting a programming job in Silicon Valley, he had never been content with an ordinary life. He wanted to open a business of his own. We had always talked about everything, so getting together had happened naturally. He used his savings to open the shop and borrowed some money from the bank. Eventually, he launched Bee & Bunny Escape Rooms. I had once considered going home and begging my parents for money to help him. But Derek said that as long as I helped him come up with ideas and handle the design, he was already satisfied.When I first applied to college, my parents secretly logged into my account and changed my major from design to business administration. They wanted me to be able to return home and manage the family hotel someday. Later, I double-majored in business and design. But I never took a cent from my family. Even our marriage certificate had been obtained in secret, after I went home and took the necessary documents. Those memories kept flashing through my mind. I became even less able to sleep. When I went into the living room for water, I noticed the tablet sitting on the table. I tried the password Madison had given me. It unlocked immediately. Derek hadn’t logged out. There was a pinned conversation at the top of the screen. The profile picture was Madison’s. Her nickname was “Maddie Bear,” but Derek had saved her as “Mochi’s Mom.” Derek and Madison didn’t chat constantly, but whenever something important happened, he told her about it. He was comforting his wife while carrying on a relationship with another woman. I never knew the man beside me was such a master of time management. After learning the truth, I clenched my fists. Should I confront him right away? Was I really going to let my sincere love go to waste on a piece of trash? No. I would uncover everything Derek had done and make both of them pay. “Have you confronted him yet? Did you get a clear answer?” Madison had appeared again. I deliberately pretended to be deeply attached to him. “Not yet. I love my husband too much. Even if he was seeing two women at once, I’m willing to forgive him. He promised he won’t do it again, so I believe him.” Madison was obviously worked up. She sent me a recent screenshot. “This is what he calls breaking things off with me? Don’t be so stupid. He’s only lonely over there. He’s been using you this entire time.” “It’s okay. My husband said he needs time to deal with things. Maybe he still hasn’t figured out what he wants.” I continued acting, deliberately calling Derek “my husband” in every message. “Stop pretending! Derek told me he only married you because of your talent—and because of your family’s connections and resources. You’re nothing but a stepping stone to him.” I stared at those lines on my phone, grinding my back teeth together. Madison continued. “He said that once he made enough money, he would bring me over. He also said you’re stubborn and care too much about your pride. Once you found out about me, you’d never be able to accept it and would definitely divorce him. “Instead of losing with nothing, you should divorce him now and give him back to me.” Madison had revealed everything after I provoked her. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After calming down, I replied, “The man you love sleeps beside me every night. Can you handle that? You want the dog I’m throwing away? Fine. Wait until I’m tired of playing with him.”