THESE ARE MY PARENTS WHISPERING ABOUT BREAKING ME UP WITH MY GIRLFRIEND — I DECIDED TO OUTPLAY THEM.
Since Marissa married Nick, she had found a home in his family — creating a special bond with Eric, her father-in-law. When Eric slips her a cryptic note pushed into a pack of gum, Marissa is left gasping. As she follows Eric’s instructions, she discovers all about her husband’s affair.
My father-in-law, Eric, is a man of few words and stern expressions in general. But he has always welcomed me into the family. Even when my husband, Nick, and I began dating fresh out of high school, I was always pleasantly surprised to get all the extra affection from Eric.
“You’re part of this family now, Marissa,” he would say whenever they invited me on family outings.
Once, at a picnic, Eric had gotten moody and refused to interact with anyone else. The family did test his patience with their constant whining — even Nick.
My husband was wonderful, but if something wasn’t up to his standards, he would loudly complain about it.
At that picnic, Nick and his cousin Nancy complained about the sun making their freckles stand out.
“What did they expect, Marissa?” Eric asked me as he shuffled a deck of cards for us to play with.
The rest of the afternoon went just like that — Nick and Nancy sitting on their phones, scrolling through social media and chasing away bees. Miranda, their mom, read the latest fashion magazine, and Eric and I entertained ourselves.
But that was our relationship, and I trusted him.
So, when he gave me the cryptic note wrapped into a pack of gum, I knew that he was being serious.
My father-in-law was a mechanic by trade, his hands constantly stained with grease and oils, but there was a gentleness to him that often went unnoticed.
That Sunday evening, just before the incident occurred, everything was fine. Nick and I had spent the day with his parents, and we ended it with a long, laughter-filled family dinner at their house, the kind that left you warm and content as you prepared to head home.
Since I had gotten married to Nick, I didn’t get to see my family as much because we lived a few hours away. So whenever I craved family time, Nick knew that we needed to be around his.
“Are you sure you’re okay with spending the day here?” Nick asked me as I took over his mother’s kitchen ready to bake our dessert — a pecan pie.
“Yes,” I replied. “It’s what I need today.”
My husband left me to my own devices, while his mother began to stuff a chicken across from me.
While I worked, I could hear Nick talk to my father-in-law about taking his car in for an oil check the next morning.
“Sure!” Eric boomed over the TV where live football commentary blasted through the speakers. “Drop off your car in the morning, and I’ll slot it into my day.”
As the day progressed and we ended up watching a movie together before dinner, I didn’t think anything of Nick’s request to his father. Eric was always checking out our cars, and he did our routine maintenance, too.
But what I didn’t know was the hidden drama that was going to be revealed the next day.
The following morning, I was up and making our breakfast while packing lunches. Nick was always in charge of our dinner at the end of the day, leaving the morning rush to me.

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