I Illustrated My Husband’s Affair For His Mistress

To help my husband raise money for his mother's medical expenses, I started doing freelance illustration work online, using my hand-drawing skills. One day, I received a message from a new client.

“Hi there, I’d like to commission a drawing of a couple.”

The message included a photo of my husband, Elijah, with a young woman.

Seeing the photo made my head spin. I wondered if the exhaustion from working non-stop all week had blurred my vision, making me mistake someone who resembled him. I zoomed in and out of the photo until I was absolutely certain. The man in the photo was unmistakably Elijah.

Holding down the chaos inside me, I messaged the girl to dig a little deeper.

“No problem.”

“There’s a special offer right now, and I can add text as a border for free. Would you like that?”

She replied quickly.

“That sounds wonderful.”

“Please write ‘Happy One-Year Anniversary’.”

So, less than two years into our marriage, Elijah was already seeing someone else. I shut down my computer and gazed vacantly at the clouds outside the window. Even faced with the truth, I couldn't recall any obvious signs in Elijah’s behavior.

The sound of the front door opening snapped me back to reality, and I realized it had gotten dark outside without me noticing.

“Raelyn?” Elijah called from the hallway, his voice as gentle as ever.

I remained silent as he looked for me in each room. When he opened the door to my studio, he was visibly surprised to find me there. To spare me the harsh glare of the overhead lights, he carefully moved toward me, using the hallway light for guidance.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?” His voice was filled with genuine concern, without a hint of insincerity.

Without waiting for a reply, Elijah took my hand gently, giving it a reassuring pat.

“I’m sorry that you’ve been under so much pressure lately.”

“Don’t worry, once Mom’s health gets better, I promise we’ll take a nice vacation together.”

“I even made sure to get your favorite pulled pork and spiced honey cake. Let’s eat and then relax, alright?”

Trying to appease my growling stomach, I followed Elijah into the living room. Watching him unpack the restaurant food and carefully set the table, something suddenly clicked. I grabbed my phone and checked the girl’s social media updates.

An hour ago, she had posted a picture of an extravagant dinner at the same restaurant where Elijah had picked up the food he brought home. The coincidence was impossible to ignore. Thinking back over the past three months, he’d frequently brought home takeout, saying it was to add variety so we wouldn’t get tired of eating from the same places. But really, he was probably having dinner with her first.

His so-called “consideration” was just an afterthought. And here I was, clueless, working late into the night to make extra cash for his mother’s treatment. I felt like a fool.

I couldn’t help but start laughing.

Elijah was startled by my sudden laughter. He looked up, asking cautiously, “Honey, what’s so funny?”

I looked at him with a calm demeanor.

“No need, your ‘consideration’ is too much for me to handle.”

His hands froze in place, and his face grew visibly tense.