It is said that the secret can tear the marriage, but I never imagined how it would be true until I came across a hidden truth that shook the very foundation of my relationship.
It all started innocently – or at least I said. I noticed my husband, Will, when he returned home every night, but I never doubted him and attributed his absence from the usual stress of work.
One evening I found something that changed everything – the discovery so deep that I couldn’t ignore it anymore. It was a secret so well maintained that I didn’t even suspect it … until I saw it for myself.
The truth was right in front of me all the time and waited for our life to break together.
What I found out that that night let me catch in the air, but it also led me to realize that would forever change the way I saw my marriage – and the man I thought I knew.
It is said that the secret can destroy marriage, and when I found out that my husband had secretly bought a second home, I stiffened to the worst. But nothing could prepare me for what I found when I went there. He left me in tears, without ways to comfort me.
Will and I have always been partners, in every sense of the word.
Our problems started a few months after I found out I was pregnant. Will began to work late more often, often not to return homes to almost midnight. At first I was convinced that he was just worried that he was a child for us.
But in the end the tension began to show. One night, when we sat at the dining table, I confronted him directly, “Why are you working so late, will it be?
He was barely looked from his plate. “It’s just a busy period in the office, Lizzie. You know how it is.”
When he finally met my eyes, did I catch a fleeting look at something there – fear?
“You’re not alone, Lizzie,” he whispered, reached out to push my hand. “I promise you are not alone.”
“So why do you feel that you are caring?” I asked and the tears rose. “Every night I lie awake and wonder where you are, what you do …”
He quickly pulled his hand back as if he had tuck. “I do everything for us, lizzie. Please … just believe me.”
A few weeks later, as he slept beside me, his phone buzzed on the bedside table. Normally I wouldn’t think twice, but something made me look at the screen.
What I saw did not speak to me – a file about the other house. Second house!
“What’s the matter?” I whispered. “Lizzie?” He murmured sleepy. “Are you okay?”
I swallowed hard and tried to keep my voice stable. “Only the child was digging,” I lied, laying my hand over a swollen belly. Was everything I thought I knew about our future built on lies?
I couldn’t sleep. I grabbed the car keys, my heart raced when I whispered to our unborn child: “We’ll find out what my dad is hiding.”
An hour later I arrived at the house. It was a breathtaking-style with a fairy tale, with a wrapped veranda. It looked like something from a fairy tale. Before I could even process it, a little boy ran out of the house and grinned.
“Are you here to help us?” He asked eagerly.
“Help with it?” I stammered, I was completely out of sight.
“What are you doing here, Lizzie?” Will’s voice came from behind, his tone shaking.
“No,” I said, trembling my voice. “What are you doing here? Why do you have this house? And who is the boy?”
“Lizzie, please,” he asks, his face pale. “You shouldn’t have here.
“I don’t like it? When would it be the right time to discover my husband’s secret life, will it be?” I demanded. “Tell me what’s really going on?”
“Lizzie, that’s not what you think,” he said quickly. “Please come in and explain everything.”
“Explain what?” I gave up, tears in my eyes. “Why did you lie to me? Was he sneaking behind his back?”
“Just believe me,” he begged. “Please Lizzie.”
He reached for me, but I retreated back. “Don’t touch me! No until you tell me the truth – everything. Right now.”
“Lizzie, you’re shaking. Please come in. Think of the baby.”
“Child?” I laughed bitterly.
Despite everything I watched him in.
Will took my hands gently looking for my face. “Lizzie, I bought this house for us. For you, me and a child. I wanted to surprise you.”
“Surprise?” I was repeated in disbelief. “It will be a secret! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Before he could react, my mom appeared and held a brush. “Because I promised him,” she said quietly.
“Mom?” I whispered.
“We fought, Lizzie,” she admitted, her voice trembling. “Your dad and I lost a job a few months ago. He helped us. He hired us to fix this house. The message you saw? I thanked him.”
I turned back to Will, my emotion storm of confusion and anger. “So all the time you’ve been building our home?”
“And help parents,” he said quietly. “I wanted to do it right, Lizzie.
“You should have told me,” I said, and my voice broke. “You made me hell. I thought you cheated on me. I thought you had a secret family!”
“I know,” he said, and the tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing and trying to protect you from stress.”
I stared at him and slowly melted into love. “No more secrets,” I whispered, pulling it into a hug. “Promise me, will. No more secrets.”
“Never again,” he said, holding me tightly. “From now on we are building our dreams together.”
I smiled through my tears. “You’re an idiot. But you’re my idiot!”
He laughed and pulled me closer. “I’ll take it.”
“You know,” I said quietly and rested against him, “I can see us here, watching our little one take their first steps.”
He kissed my forehead and his voice was fat emotions. “I promise you, Lizzie. This house, this family, this love – all I ever wanted. And I will never let go.”
Conclusion
At that moment, when we were stood together in the house that he built for us, I realized that love was not just about big gestures or the absence of mistakes – the point is how we grow together together. Will’s secrets hurt me, but his intentions, though defective, were filled with love and the desire to create a better future for our family.
When we hugged, the weight of everything that happened began to rise and the feeling of peace settled. We were no longer covered by us, but faced our challenges side by side and built a new beginning. Our journey was far from perfect, but it was ours. And that was enough. From that day no more secrets, just the truth and the power to face anything that appeared to us –