While Sutton is on a business trip, the last thing she expects to discover is that her husband is having an affair, resulting in a pregnancy. But after Jacob moves out, and the months go by, Sutton plans her revenge.
It was a year ago when life as I knew it changed dramatically. I was on a business trip, trying to secure a deal that would help us get through our son’s medical bills.
My three-year-old, Danny, had been ill at the time, going in and out of the hospital, and every moment away from him felt like torture. I mean, when your child needed you, he needed you.
But I never anticipated that the real torture was happening at home.
Jacob, my husband of eight years, had cheated on me with his colleague, Jessie. At first, neither of them said anything, especially when Jessie used to come over and work with Jacob at the dining table until the early hours.
“I can’t help it, Sutton,” Jacob said. “Work is work.”
But then I found out in the worst possible way. I saw Jessie at a supermarket. She called out to me, flaunting her pregnancy.
“Congratulations, Jess!” I said, pointing to her belly.
“Thanks! Jacob got me pregnant,” she announced with an unsettling calmness.
My heart broke into a million pieces, just like the bottle of gherkins that slipped through my hands.
Jacob didn’t even try to deny it. He packed his things immediately.
“I don’t regret anything,” he said. “I am fed up, both with you and this little burden of a child. He is always sick!”
And then he walked out of our lives. The last glimpse I had of him was him slamming the door.
“Good riddance,” I said to myself, but I was unable to keep my tears in.
I had never felt so blindsided in my entire life.
For months, I was lost in a haze of grief and anger. I couldn’t understand any of this. I couldn’t understand what I had done so wrong for Jacob to find solace in another woman.
How could he do this to Danny and me?
But then, I found something that Jacob had left behind. It was a keychain from his grandfather that was usually attached to him. It wasn’t valuable or anything, but I knew that it meant the world to him.
That was when I began to devise my plan.
I waited patiently for months.
“Oh, Jacob,” I said to myself as I sat on my bed. “You have no idea what’s coming your way.”
I wanted to strike when he least expected it, to make sure that the wound would be as deep as possible. I needed him to feel some sort of pain, and even if it was just a fraction of what I felt, it would be something.
When the time came, I called Jacob and told him he could come to collect his precious keychain.
“Jacob, I found something of yours,” I said, my voice steady.
“What is it?” he asked, sounding wary.
“Your grandad’s keychain,” I said. “Don’t you just love that old thing?”
“Sutton, I thought I lost it!” he exclaimed.
“Nope, it’s here,” I said. “Come get it on Saturday. At 10 AM. Or I’m going to throw it away.”
Jacob tried to get out of it, and I knew what the reason was. My calculations were correct.
“Jessie’s due date is on Saturday,” he said. “I need to be with her. I need to see my son the moment he comes out.”
But I was unfazed.
“Saturday, or it’s going in the bin,” I repeated.
“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll be there.”
On Saturday morning, I wondered if I had done the wrong thing. But Jacob deserved it. He was ready to throw Danny and me away for his new family.
A new son.
“What do you want for breakfast, honey?” I asked Danny as he made his way into the kitchen.
“Pancakes,” he said, sitting at the counter across from me.
How could Jacob have given up on this little boy?
When he arrived, I invited him in for a talk. He seemed almost relieved, as if hoping we could resolve things amicably. As if.
“I just wanted to swing by here before going back to the hospital,” he said. “Jessie went into labor last night, and I took her in. It’s literally just a matter of time.”
“Okay,” I said. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”
Jacob nodded and smiled, following me into the kitchen.
“While you’re here, let’s discuss how to split our parental rights over Danny,” I suggested. “He needs stability in some form, irrespective of where we are with our marriage.”
Jacob, being the smug fool, thought that this was his ticket out of paying alimony.
“I’m sorry for everything, really,” he said, reaching out to hug me as the kettle went off.
I let him, knowing that this would seal his fate.
We ended up speaking for about an hour, with Jacob picking at the leftover pancakes from breakfast. He seemed at ease and not in a rush at all. Any woman would lose her mind, knowing that her partner was comfortably with someone else while she was in labor.
What Jacob didn’t know, was that the nanny camera was on a shelf in the kitchen, recording everything with a timestamp. Another thing that Jacob didn’t pay attention to was the familiarity between us. The entire time we sat together talking, he kept reaching for my arm or running his hand down my back.
Sure, it meant nothing to me. And probably nothing to him, too. But I knew it would mean something to Jessie.
“Here you go,” I said when we reached the door, handing his keychain to him.
Jacob’s eyes softened.
“Thank you,” he said. “You know how much this means to me.”
I nodded.
From the angle we were standing, if Jacob merely moved an inch, the recording could easily be mistaken for a kiss.
As he drove off, I picked up my laptop and got the footage from the nanny camera. It was time to finally get my revenge.
I hope he showers and changes his clothes between being with me and holding his newborn. Congratulations on being stuck with this cheater for the rest of your life!
I attached the video and pressed send.
The fallout was glorious and immediate. It turns out that Jessie revoked Jacob’s access to her ward, telling security that she didn’t want him near her.
When he arrived, the matron wouldn’t tell him why he couldn’t see his newborn or Jessie. Security had to escort him out as he yelled and pleaded, making a scene.
Finally, something must have clicked because Jacob called me.
“What have you done?” he demanded.
“I just made sure that you take responsibility for your actions,” I replied coolly. “Your second son doesn’t need a dad like you. Neither does Danny. Today was the last time you’d ever set foot in this house again.”
For days after, Jacob harassed me with calls and texts, begging for an explanation, for forgiveness, for anything really.
“I’m living with my cousin because Jessie cut off all contact with me. My mother doesn’t even want to talk to me, Sutton. She said that I ruined the lives of two innocent children and she’ll never forgive me. She’s embarrassed by me.”
“But that’s exactly what you did, Jacob,” I said. “You did ruin two boys and their mothers, too.”
But do you know what was even better? As the months rolled by, I watched with satisfaction and a sense of melancholy as Jacob’s life fell apart.
His job suffered because he just wasn’t settled at all. His social circle seemed to dwindle, and he seemed to be a shadow of his former self.
I was doing well. But then an interaction with Danny made me question if I was too harsh.
“Mom, why doesn’t Dad come home anymore?” Danny asked one night as I tucked him into bed.
I knew this moment would come, and now that it was here, I didn’t know what to say.
I sighed, stroking his hair gently.
“Dad had to go away for a while, sweetheart. But I’m here.”
He looked up at me with those big, innocent eyes.
“Do you still love him?” he asked.
How do you explain the truth to a child, that the person they look up to has broken your family?
“I love you, Danny,” I said, evading the question. “And that’s all that matters.”
But now, I feel horrible. Was my revenge too much?
What would you have done?