Mark Came Home After Midnight

Rachel was sitting at the kitchen island.

His pillow and a blanket were already on the couch.

Mark saw them.

“Seriously?”

Rachel turned her phone around.

Lauren’s messages were open.

Mark read them.

Then closed his eyes.

“She shouldn’t have texted you.”

Rachel laughed once.

“That’s your problem with this?”

Mark sat down.

For the first time that evening, he apologized.

“I screwed up.”

Rachel nodded.

“Yes.”

“But there was nothing romantic happening.”

“I believe you.”

That surprised him.

Rachel continued:

“And I still don’t know if I can trust you.”

Mark Thought Those Were Two Different Things

He kept emphasizing that he had never cheated.

Rachel kept telling him that wasn’t the only kind of betrayal in a marriage.

He said:

“She needed help.”

Rachel replied:

“Then you could have said, ‘My ex is about to lose her apartment. Can we help her?’”

Mark said:

“You would’ve said no.”

Rachel looked at him.

“Maybe.”

Then:

“And that matters.”

Because the money wasn’t Mark’s alone to override her with.

They had both skipped vacations.

Rachel had delayed replacing her ten-year-old car.

She had taken extra shifts.

All because they supposedly shared the same goal.

Meanwhile, nearly ten thousand dollars had been redirected without her consent.