Celebration
She repressed her tears as she grabbed the picture once more and examined it carefully. As she realized the shocking truth, her heart started to race.
Susan thrust the image in front of her husband’s face and demanded an explanation with swollen eyes and a panicked voice. She was astonished by his response.
An Unlikely Match
Susan and John were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary. They had the kind of love that most people dream of.
To celebrate the milestone, Susan planned a family photoshoot to capture those she loved most. She had no idea that her fortune was going to run out.
Persistence
John and Suan had a beautiful home in a safe and secure neighborhood. They were both fortunate enough to have thriving careers and lovely children. John first laid eyes on Susan in high school, and the rest is history.
Susan was an introverted bookworm, while John was the outgoing bad boy. He was known to skip classes and create problems for the teachers. They were a strange match, but opposites do attract.
Challenges
John was in love with Susan and kept on asking her out on a date. Eventually, she gave in, and once she got to know him, she was smitten.
Soon after graduation, Susan learned that she was pregnant. It was initially a shocking discovery, but John and Susan both decided to become the best parents they could be. It was time for them to begin their lives together.
It Felt Like Yesterday
Her hands were clenched into fists as she stared at the picture. She attempted to contain the tears that were on the verge of falling. How could he treat her in this way?
Their relationship got off to a rocky start. Once Susan learned that she was pregnant, the teenagers were forced to grow up. They struggled financially, but after years of hardship, the pair achieved the comfortable life that they had now.
Protests
Time flew by, and Susan could barely keep up. It felt as if she fell in love with John a week ago, not years ago.
Their lovely son was the ring bearer at their wedding, and Susan anxiously awaited his arrival. She was pregnant with their second child, and it was as if the universe blessed their whole family. But shortly the reverse would take place.
Keeping Secrets
The only thing Susan wanted was a picture to serve as a reminder of what their life looked like after being married for 15 years. Why was her husband not interested in this? Now that she thought about it, she was unable to recall their most recent photo together.
Susan disregarded John’s protests and checked for local photographers. Why did he make such a fuss over one picture?
The Perfect Setting
Susan decided to ignore her husband’s strange response and organized a photographer for the coming weekend. When she informed John of the plans, he insisted that it was unnecessary to take any pictures and that they should rather have dinner together instead.
His reluctance to take a picture with her made her want a picture even more. She had no idea that the photo would reveal everything John had been trying to cover up.
He Didn’t Feel The Same
Susan gathered her family together so that they could go to the local park for the anniversary photoshoot. The beautiful autumn colors made the park look like it came straight from a fairytale.
The sun was high in the sky, glinting in and out of the passing white, fluffy clouds. The sky was a delicate, subdued blue that was colorfully hidden by the green, yellow, and red trees.
Acting Strange
The photographer was already waiting for them at the park. He already found the perfect place to take their anniversary pictures. Susan could barely contain her excitement.
Susan looked contentedly at her family. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have a family like hers. However, when she looked at her husband, her expression changed abruptly.
Odd Request
Instead of looking happy, he looked oddly nervous. He was fidgeting with his hands as he prepared to step into the photo.
When Susan asked him what was wrong, he shrugged her off and said everything was fine. But Susan could tell something was bothering him. That’s when he asked the photographer a curious question.
Getting Worried
John asked the photographer if he could send the photos to his work email. Susan said she could give him her email, but John insisted his email would be easier because of his printer at work.
It wasn’t like John to be very involved with these things. Suddenly, Susan began to worry and become suspicious.
Something Was Wrong
Susan tried to ignore his behavior and continued with the photo shoot. She followed the photographer’s instructions, all the while trying to remain calm about her marriage.
But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what was on his mind. When she’d eventually see the reason why in the photo, it would turn her whole world upside down.
The Photo
The next day, John received the photos from the photographer and sent them to Susan while he was at work. She opened the email excited to see how they turned out. She couldn’t wait to post about her husband and her family on Facebook.
But when she took a look at the photos, she realized something was very, very wrong.
Fighting Back Tears
Her daughter was holding her father’s hand which Susan remembered was fidgeting uncontrollably that day. She zoomed into the awkward interaction to get a better look at what was happening.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the ring she gave her husband on their wedding day, and the photo hit the floor.
Not Her Ring
Her mind raced as to why he would be wearing such a thing. She looked at the ring on her finger and observed every curve. There was no way she was mistaken about this.
Fighting back tears, she reached for the photo again and compared the two rings. Her heart pounded out of her chest as she came to the startling realization.
Nervous Wait
The ring her husband was wearing wasn’t hers. But if it wasn’t hers, then who did it belong to? She tried desperately to come up with a situation that would explain this, but she couldn’t think of one.
The image of her husband acting strange before the photoshoot suddenly made sense. What was he hiding from her? Why did he insist on printing these?
Moment Of Truth
Susan waited for her husband to come home from work in a mixture of anger, despair, and shock. Why wasn’t he wearing her ring anymore? Whose ring was on his hand? How did she not notice until now?
When he walked through the door, she finally got her answers.
Explanation
With puffy eyes and a distressed voice, Susan shoved the photo in front of John’s face and demanded he explain what was going on.
He shriveled under the conviction in her voice. The act was finally up. All these years of pretending nothing was wrong were spoiled by one single picture. A picture that led Susan to file for divorce. What did he have to say?
Distrust
With his eyes cast, he told Susan everything. It happened four years ago when he went to the gym. He took off his ring to have a shower, but when he got back to his locker, it was nowhere to be seen.
He didn’t know how to tell her so; instead, he bought another ring that looked similar. But why did he want to print the photos?
Making No Sense
John said he wanted to see the photos first to see if his ring was noticeable. When he saw that it was, he tried to photoshop another one in or blur his hand, but it was too obvious.
When he realized he couldn’t fix it, he sent it, hoping she wouldn’t realize what was wrong. If she did, he was willing to finally admit to his lies. But Susan wasn’t buying it.
Divorce
None of it made sense. If he really just lost it, why couldn’t he have just told her that? For Susan, his story wasn’t adding up. She continued to ask him where he got the ring.
But each time, his reply was the same. He bought it himself as a replacement. He insisted that he didn’t tell her out of fear of disappointing and upsetting her, not because he was hiding something – or someone.
Forgiveness
Suddenly, everything felt like a lie to Susan. Their wedding day and that ring meant so much to her. How could he just lose it and not say it to her? How could he have lied to her all this time?
She didn’t believe him when he said he was telling the truth and acted out rashly; The next day, she filed for divorce. Did she make the right decision?
After some time had passed, John was relentless in trying to persuade her that he was telling the truth. Eventually, she succumbed and believed that he was telling the truth.
But what do you think? If the same situation happened to you, would you believe him? Or do you think Susan was too forgiving of John’s odd behavior?