Feel His Lies Deeply

"Has Chase finally shown his true colors?" My best friend, Hanna, remarked when she heard I wanted a divorce.

I hadn't even shown her the evidence yet. I thought she might try to persuade me otherwise since everyone, including my parents and friends, believed I was incredibly lucky to have found the perfect husband in Chase.

I remember Hanna once told me, "Don't trust Chase too much," and an idea went off in my head. "Did you already know about Chase's true nature?"

Hanna took a sip of her milk tea and waved her finger. "No! I just don't believe there are perfect men in this world. I firmly believe 'a man is only honest when he's on the wall as a picture.'"

I started to speak, but she made a stop gesture. "You're wondering why I didn't tell you?"

I nodded.

"With how infatuated you were with Chase, if I had told you, you would have cut ties with me. Besides, if Chase could deceive you for a lifetime, I thought that might not be such a bad thing." There was sincerity in Hanna's eyes.

Indeed, if she had told me earlier that Chase was a jerk, I would have thought she was crazy and distanced myself from her. During those dark times, Chase was my only light.

I showed Hanna the chat records between Chase and his mistress and asked, "If I use these chat records to file for divorce, what are the chances of success?"

After reading, Hanna couldn't help but curse, "Damn it! I could kill this scumbag!"

I grabbed her hand, "Calm down, Hanna. You're a lawyer. Don't act impulsively."

After digesting the information, she asked, "Do you have any other evidence?"

I showed her the mistress's Instagram posts. She sighed after browsing through them. "No, you can't prove that those chat records are between Chase and his mistress. No one besides him and the mistress knows about this account. The mistress's Instagram photos don't show her face clearly. Relying on the bite mark scar alone to identify Chase won't convince anyone but you and me. His good husband's image is too deeply ingrained. People would rather believe you cheated than believe Chase did, let alone believe he said such vile things about you to his mistress. Monica, you need to catch them red-handed for anyone to believe you."

This was the outcome I expected. After all, I had read a report about a woman who couldn't even get a divorce despite being severely abused and permanently disabled.

Hanna patted my head sympathetically, "Sweetie, you must be feeling terrible, right?"

Her words made my nose tingle and I couldn't hold back my tears. Hanna handed me a tissue and cautiously asked, "Monica, if … just if … Chase regrets his actions and promises to cut ties with the mistress and live well with you, would you forgive him?"

I loved Chase too much for her not to have this thought. I had considered this question many times and the answer was always, "No. Once a cheater, always a cheater."

Cheating isn't a one-time thing, it happens repeatedly. I didn't want to become someone who lived in constant fear of my husband's infidelity. That wasn't me. I loved myself more than I loved him.

Hanna sighed in relief. "That's good. I was really worried you might get soft-hearted. If I help you with the divorce and then Chase regrets it and you give him a second chance, I'd end up the bad guy."

She continued asking, "Monica, do you have any leads on the mistress?"