Chapter 1: The Question That Changed Everything

My brother once asked me, "After you cheat, do you still have feelings for your wife?"

He caught me off guard with that one. The question hung in the air, heavy as a Midwest thunderstorm brewing in June. For a moment, I didn't have a slick answer—just the silence stretching between us, broken only by the muffled hum of the old fridge in the kitchen.

Funny, how a simple question can unravel years of pretending.

I gave it some serious thought.

How should I put it?

To say I feel nothing at all—that wouldn’t be true. We’ve been family for so long, after all. Our lives are woven together by years of Friday night takeout, lazy Sunday mornings, and the kind of in-jokes that only come from living side by side.

But to say I still love her deeply? That’s not quite right either. Not the breathless, can’t-sleep kind of love they write about in country songs or old movies. It’s different now—comfortable, like an old hoodie you can’t bear to throw away.

I thought I’d figured out what marriage really was. Thought I had it all figured out. Turns out, life likes to shake up your neat little theories.

Until one day, on the street—

I saw her smiling at another man.