Part 1: The Forgotten Phone
“Alex, you’re forgetting something!” Amanda called to her husband as he headed to the front door.
“Oh, god. Thanks, babe. What would I do without you?” He kissed her cheek and took the wallet. “Sorry for the rushed morning, but I’ll try to finish early so we can spend quality time together later…”
After Amanda saw Alex off, she finished some chores and then slumped on the sofa for a break. She was watching TV when she heard Alex’s ringtone coming from somewhere close by. Amanda looked under the sofa cushion and found Alex’s phone.
The caller ID showed an unknown number. Amanda was about to answer when it went to voicemail. A little boy’s voice came through the device:
“Hi, Dad! I know you must be on your way already, but I wanted to say I’m waiting for you! Please come soon!”
“Dad?” A chill ran down Amanda’s spine as she repeated the word.
Amanda couldn’t call the unknown number back because she didn’t know the password to unlock Alex’s phone. Her heart sank as she began to suspect Alex had cheated on her. She called Alex’s assistant, Jerry, hoping to ease the worries in her heart and mind.
“Hello, Jerry,” she said. “This is Amanda. Has Mr. Gibbs arrived yet?”
“I think there’s some misunderstanding here, Mrs. Gibbs,” Jerry replied.
“Mr. Gibbs isn’t here today. I’m filling in for him at the meetings.”
Amanda’s heart dropped, but she maintained her composure. As the call ended, she buried her face in her palms. Amanda loved Alex. She wanted to trust him, but the boy who’d called and Alex’s absence from work both suggested he’d been lying to her.
Suddenly, Amanda heard car tires on the gravel outside the house. The front door clicked open, and Alex rushed in, asking if she’d seen his phone.
Part 2: Following the GPS
Amanda’s blood was boiling. She wanted to confront him right then and there, but she knew he’d come up with a quick lie and get alert if he was really cheating on her. Instead, she rose from the sofa and smiled at him while hiding his phone.
“I’ll check the bedroom!” Amanda said.
She quickly disappeared to their bedroom and returned seconds later, pretending she’d found the phone there. Alex thanked her and immediately rushed out again. Amanda walked him to his car and sneakily dropped her fitness band with activated GPS into the car door pocket.
Amanda waved goodbye, waited a few moments, then followed Alex.
At first, Alex followed his usual route to the office. Amanda felt awful for doubting him until he suddenly turned in the opposite direction. Twenty minutes later, Alex parked outside a modest house in a town fifteen miles from their home.
Amanda pulled over. She watched Alex retrieve a gift box from his trunk and enter the house. Her eyes bulged in horror when Alex returned with a little boy in his arms.
Alex marched to the neighboring house, unlocked the door, and entered with the boy. Amanda snuck closer and peeped through the living room windows. Her stomach knotted as she watched Alex scoop the boy in his arms and kiss him on the cheek.
Part 3: The Painful Confession
“What’s going on, Alex? Who is this child?” Amanda yelled as she barged inside to confront her husband.
“Daddy, who’s she?” The boy asked while Alex stared at her in shock.
Amanda glared at them.
“Why is this boy calling you Daddy, Alex? I saw everything, so you better not lie!”
Alex sent the boy, Caleb, into another room and turned to face Amanda.
“He’s my son, Amanda,” Alex admitted. “I should have told you before, but…I was scared. I have a second family. Caleb was with a neighbor while his mom was at work.”
“Wow…” she said after a brief pause, trying not to choke on her tears. “So this is the important meeting you were talking about? How long has it been going on for, Alex? The boy looked old so…”
“Four years,” he confessed. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I know what I’ve done is wrong…you can divorce me. I’ll give you half the property and everything. We can still be on good terms.”
“You’ve really thought this through, huh?” Amanda hissed. “We’ve been married for years! How could you do this to us? I love you!”
Alex hung his head. “No you don’t, Amanda. This…what our relationship has come to…is just dependency. I’d fix this if I could, but right now, all I can do is provide you with a way out of this mess. You can carry on with your life without me.”
“Oh god, Alex!” she scoffed in disgust. “I should divorce you so you can live happily ever after with your new family? No woman can accept her husband’s infidelity and move on calmly! You won’t get away with this!”
Part 4: The Twisted Revenge
Amanda drove home in tears and retired to her bedroom with a wine bottle. While thinking about how to get her husband back, Amanda’s teenage son, Dylan, sat beside her and asked her what was wrong.
“Your Dad cheated on me,” she said as she chugged the liquor.
“Sorry, Mom. I should have told you about it before,” Dylan confessed.
Amanda almost choked on the wine. “Told me before? What are you hiding from me, Dylan?”
“Dad…he told me about his other family,” he confessed.
“I couldn’t believe it. I asked him to tell you the truth, but we were worried you wouldn’t take it well.”
“You should have told me, Dylan!” Amanda lashed out, unable to believe her son knew everything. “Instead, you kept me in the dark, and I feel so betrayed right now!”
“I was protecting you, Mom! I love you, and I’m going to support you. I’ll keep you happy, Mom. Trust me!” He placed his hand on hers, but Amanda shoved it away.
“What made you think that helping your dad cover an ugly truth would protect me, Dylan? My entire life is shattered now. You’re both traitors! I don’t want you here anymore. Get out!”
Dylan stormed out of the house, leaving Amanda alone. She didn’t go after him. Amanda only cared about making Alex crawl back to her. She soon had an idea.
Amanda drove to Alex’s office. She talked her way past his assistant and then began searching for a specific set of papers. Eventually, her attention was drawn to the safe beside the artificial Pico tree in the corner. She knelt before it, but it was password protected.
Amanda tried several different passwords without success. Then her gaze landed on the photo frame on Alex’s table. She tried Dylan’s birth date, and the safe opened! She took the documents proving Alex had evaded taxes and went home.
“I want to meet you, Alex,” she told him on the phone as she hid the documents. “I went through the safe in your office, so if you don’t agree, you’ll go to jail!”
Amanda was sure Alex would come running after what she had told him, and she was right. He was there within 30 minutes.
“What are you planning, Amanda?” he yelled as he stormed into the house.
She tossed a copy of the documents before him. “If you don’t leave your other family and return to me, I’m taking these to the cops!”
“Jesus!” he cried as he scanned the papers.
“I can’t believe this…If I hadn’t done this, we’d never have afforded Dylan’s surgery, Amanda. And now you are using that against me??”
“Those cops won’t care why you did it. Leave your second family or be ready to rot in prison!” she threatened him.
“I can’t believe you are doing this…” Alex sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
“AND I CAN’T BELIEVE IT EITHER, MOM!”
Dylan stood in the doorway. Amanda realized the horror of what she had done when she saw her son’s pale face, but he stepped away from her.
“Don’t come close to me, Mom. I can’t believe what you just said! Thanks to Dad, I got that surgery, and I’m alive today. I don’t want to know you anymore!” Dylan spun around and dashed out of the house.
“Are you happy now?” Alex scowled at her. “Do whatever the hell you want, Amanda. If I go to jail for such a ‘crime’ as saving my son’s life, so be it! But I’ll never come back to you!” Alex snapped as he left.
Amanda cried all night. Her son hated her now, and it was all Alex’s fault. He’d betrayed her and broken their family. He didn’t deserve to live his life peacefully. As time ticked by, Amanda formed a wicked plan.
The next day, Amanda visited the casino where she once worked as a croupier and asked to see her former boss, Mr. Rodriguez. She entered his office a few minutes later.
“Amanda, darling! Welcome! Welcome!” Mr. Rodriguez rose to kiss her hand. “I never expected to see you here again. Is everything okay? Have a seat. Have a seat.”
“I never thought I’d be returning here like this, either, but…I want you to contact some of your…’people’…for me,” she said, getting straight to the point. “I want to hire a hitman.”
Mr. Rodriguez grew serious. “But whom? You know the drill, darlin’. You give me the information, and I get my guys on it.”
Amanda placed Alex’s photo on the table.
“This is my husband, Alex. Make it look like an accident. Car crash, fire, suicide…up to you. Money won’t be a problem. Rest assured of that.”
Mr. Rodriguez looked at the photo, then at Amanda. “I know someone who’s perfectly skilled for our job, darling. My man will contact you.”
A few days later, the contract killer contacted Amanda and told her to meet him at the park. Amanda arrived on time and sat on the bench the killer had mentioned. Around 15 minutes later, a man clad in black sat beside her.
“Did you bring the money?” he asked.
“Of course. Here.” Amanda handed him a trash bag containing $20,000. “Make it look like an accident! I don’t care how brutally he dies, just ensure the cops don’t suspect me! Most importantly, he should not survive!”
The man rose and shook his head. “I pity you.”
His words confused Amanda until a second man appeared beside her. He flashed her his police badge and handcuffed her, shocking her to the core.
“YOU ARE UNDER ARREST for conspiring to commit the murder of your husband, Alex, Mrs. Gibbs.”
Amanda panicked and looked at the killer she’d hired, confused. But things became clear when she met Dylan and Alex near the police cruiser.
“Seriously, Amanda? You hired a hitman to get your stupid revenge? Just imagine what would have happened if the casino owner had not contacted the police!” Alex shook his head in disbelief. “Do you believe it now…that you don’t love me?”
Dylan had tears in his eyes when Amanda looked at him. She lowered her head and avoided his eyes while sitting inside the police cruiser and asked the officer beside her to close the car door.
