When my son innocently revealed to me that my husband secretly drove a shinier car with a woman I knew nothing about, I thought his secret would drive us apart. But then I did my research and discovered a truth I had never anticipated.
I admit it: our car was a disaster zone. When shared with my husband, Ben, who works in construction, it constantly smelled of sawdust and sweat.
The floor was a muddy graveyard of his boots, crumpled fast food wrappers, dusty tools and the occasional nail or screw. But when I tried to clean it, our son Liam told me something that changed our lives forever. While my husband made a mess of the front of our old car, the back seat was Liam’s domain. It was a mess of broken crayons, half-eaten sandwiches and sticky juice boxes.
Between taking our five-year-old to preschool, running errands and visiting my mother, who had health problems, keeping the car clean seemed impossible. It was a battle I was constantly losing, but giving up was not an option because I also used it. But this Saturday morning was different. Ben’s coworker Mike offered to pick him up for an early shift, which gave me some free time and access to the car. I took a look at the wreck that was our car and decided that the time had come to wage war on that disaster.
“Liam, would you like to help me clean the car?” I asked, half expecting him to say no.
His eyes lit up. “Can I use the sponge?”
“Of course you can.” Liam looked so handsome as he went outside, gripping the sponge like a sword. For the first 30 minutes, we were a good team. He scrubbed the tires with the concentration of a toy soldier, and I took care of the front seats, removing old receipts and sticky candy wrappers.
But it wasn’t long before my son flopped down on the kerb, cheeks puffed out.
“Mom, why don’t we use the secret car that Dad drives?”
I froze. My hands, which were holding a dust cloth and a sponge, remained motionless.
“Secret car?“ I repeated slowly, without raising my voice. We were only halfway through cleaning and I really didn’t need this distraction, but I had to know what Liam was talking about.
He nodded, casually picking up a dry leaf.
“Yes, the shiny black one. The lady always lets Dad drive it.”
My pulse quickened.
“What lady, darling?”
My son shrugged his shoulders, completely indifferent.
“The pretty one with the curly hair. They were laughing and then she gave the keys to Dad. I saw them when Jenna was babysitting me. They were at Grandma’s house.”
The sponge slipped out of my hand.
I forced a little laugh and pretended to brush it off, although a knot was forming in my stomach and my hands were shaking.
“How strange. I’ll ask Dad about it later.”
But my mind was racing. Ben had never mentioned anything about a luxury car or another woman. Why would Liam say that? And why had it happened when I wasn’t at home?
That same afternoon, when my son was having a nap, I sat in the kitchen after having a shower, staring at the worktop, but seeing nothing. The more I thought about it, the more the pieces fell into place. Ben had been distant lately, avoiding conversations and spending more time away from home. But a secret car? A woman?
I quickly decided not to ask my husband anything. I needed to find answers on my own. So I took out my phone and sent a message to my friend Sarah.
Me: “Hi, can I borrow your car tonight? It’s complicated. I’ll explain later.”
Her response was instantaneous.
Sarah: ”Hey, yeah. Let me know so I can pick you up.”
I sighed. I had no idea how to spend Saturday night.
That night, I put my plan into action by telling Ben that I was going to take the shopping to my mother’s house, but that Sarah would pick me up because we wanted to go for a drink afterwards. I told my husband not to wait up for me, but he barely looked up from the game he was watching.
“Drive carefully,” he muttered.
Jenna, our regular babysitter and Liam’s best friend, who looked after him and kept him busy in the afternoons while I cooked, was lying on the sofa, checking her phone. She looked up.
“Can I go or do you need me to stay late?”
“Maybe. Ask Ben,” I said, forcing a smile.
When I came out, Sarah’s car was parked in our driveway. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, drinking an iced coffee. “Okay, what’s going on?” she asked as I came in and closed the door.
“I think Ben is hiding something.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows.
“Like… what is he hiding? Illegal substances? Another woman?”
I winced.
“I don’t know. Liam saw him with a woman in a black car. He said she let Ben drive it.”
“Oh.” Sarah leaned back. ”Oh, that’s too bad… so, what’s the plan?”
“We’re going to follow him.”
Sarah gave me a long look before smiling.
“I’m in! Ben is going down!”
We parked far from the house, but close enough to see if there was any movement in the front yard. Not ten minutes later, just as I had predicted, my husband came out of the house, carrying a small box under his arm. It looked like a jewelry box, the kind used to store something expensive. My heart sank as I wondered if it was a gift for her.
“What’s in the box?” Sarah whispered for some reason.
“I don’t know. But I have to find out.”
An elegant black car appeared. A woman with dark, curly hair got out, smiling as she handed the keys to Ben. Then she sat in the passenger seat while my husband got behind the wheel. Ben didn’t leave with Jenna, so I assumed she was staying to look after Liam while he was away.
“That’s her,” I said, my voice low. ”Follow them. But stay back.”
Sarah nodded, her expression serious for once.
We followed them through the winding streets, keeping two cars behind them. They drove through the city center before entering the parking lot of an elegant, modern office building.
Ben and the woman came out. She adjusted her jacket and my husband carefully cradled the box.
“I’m going in,” I said, unbuttoning my belt.
Sarah grabbed my arm. ”Wait, wait. Are you crazy?”
“Probably. But I have to see what happens. I have to know.”
Sarah nodded and said, “I’ll be here waiting no matter what. If you need me, call me, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Sarah,” I said, squeezing her hand affectionately before getting out of her car.
Inside, I followed them in silence, my heart pounding in my chest. They disappeared behind a door marked Private Meeting Room. Peering through the narrow glass panel, I saw the woman open a laptop.
Ben carefully lifted the lid of the box, revealing a delicate necklace with intricate gold filigree and a small ruby at its center. It looked antique. Expensive.
He looked grim as he handed her the box. He looked at the necklace, nodded and started typing furiously. I backed away, my mind reeling. Was he giving her jewelry? Was he cheating on her?
Confused and agitated by what I was seeing, I moved away from the door. I needed answers and I couldn’t wait any longer. But Ben suddenly opened the door and I stood in front of him.
“Can you explain what’s going on?“ I asked in a trembling voice.
He stood still. His eyes widened.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in amazement.
“I could ask you the same thing. Who is she? Why does she have that necklace?”
He looked nervously over his shoulder.
“Let’s talk outside.”
Back in Sarah’s car, Ben let out a long, tired sigh, rubbing his temples. We had asked my friend for privacy and she went into the building, saying, “I’m going to have a little snoop around and keep an eye on that other woman.”
“It’s not what you think,” she began.
“It never is. Please explain.”
“That necklace belonged to my mother. One of the last things I have from her.”
“Then why are you giving it to her?”
“I’m not. I was going to sell it.”
I blinked. ”Sell it? Why?”
My husband’s shoulders slumped.
“It’s for your mother. When her medical bills started to pile up a few years ago, I took out a personal loan to help her. I didn’t want you to get stressed, so I kept it a secret. I thought I could afford it, but with the interest, it got out of hand. The woman you saw, Marissa, is a financial advisor. She’s helping me figure out how to pay it off.”
My anger dissolved instantly, replaced by guilt, as I finally understood why he looked so serious. The way he was typing on his laptop finally made sense too.
“Ben… why didn’t you tell me?”
She stared at the flyer.
“Because my job is to protect this family. You’ve been under a lot of stress with Liam and your mom. I thought I could handle it.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Ben, we’re a team. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Her voice broke. ”I thought selling the necklace was the only way.”
I shook my head. “No. We’ll figure it out together.”
Over the next few weeks, we worked together to find a viable solution and made changes. I insisted on taking on extra shifts at my part-time job. We cut back on unnecessary expenses.
And to my surprise, Marissa was kind and understanding, and helped us restructure the loan so we could make realistic payments.
Oh, and the driving thing, Marissa explained that too. She often used the time spent traveling to review documents or prepare notes for their meetings.
Letting Ben drive allowed her to focus on her work without interruptions, maximizing her time and ensuring they were prepared for discussions.
And Ben kept the necklace. I told him to keep it for Liam: a piece of our family history that he could pass on as a reminder of the love and sacrifices that shaped our family.
Looking back, it’s funny how a child’s innocent question about a “secret car” could have torn us apart. But instead, it brought us closer together. Our life isn’t perfect, but we have each other. And that is more than enough.
Unfortunately, Ben’s wife is not the only one who thought her husband was cheating on her. After meeting his son’s fiancée, Lily’s husband secretly met with the young woman. Livid, she confronted them, but the truth was far from what she had imagined.