After a long and difficult day, Mel goes home to two hungry children, an untidy house and a lying spouse who doesn’t know that Mel knows what he’s been up to. Instead of helping her out, Owen continues to pile onto her day. Then, my daughter’s words caused the collapse of our family. You know when you get home from work the last thing you want to see is a dirty home? Except, that’s exactly what you get — a house in utter chaos. onto the counter. ”I was in the area,” I lied. “I went to get things for the girls to bake. ”Mel, I can explain,” he stammered. ”Who is she?” I asked. ”Mel,” he said. “Let’s not do this. I can explain. It’s not what you think.

”But I didn’t want to hear any of his excuses; from what I had seen, it was exactly as I thought. I didn’t want to entertain any of it. The image of his betrayal was so vivid. Eventually, Owen left the kitchen, dragging his feet as he went. After I packed the girls’ lunch for the next day, I got into bed. Owen was asleep, snoring loudly. I felt repulsed at the sight of him. I thought about how I would explain this to Lily and Emma. Emma, minus the tantrums, loved Owen. She loved that he got onto the floor and played with her. She loved that he would tickle her until tears streamed down her red face. Lily, on the other hand, would be devastated. She was a mama’s girl through and through, but she always looked to Owen to protect her. In some ways, he was her knight in shining armor. Was Now, everything was different. Owen had chosen another woman over our family. I tossed and turned the entire night, uncertain of what I was going to do next. I just knew that I didn’t want to be with Owen anymore. Seeing him with another woman had changed how I felt about him. The next morning, Owen had coffee and toast ready and waiting for me. ”Talk to me,” Owen said. “What do you want to do? ”I don’t know,” I said, truthfully. And I didn’t. There was no winning in this situation. If I stayed with Owen, I would be miserable. If I left, my children would face the consequences of that. All I knew was that Owen wasn’t the man I had married.