“Eva, you won’t believe the news I have!” Sergey came home from work in such high spirits that his wife was genuinely surprised.
“What news?” she asked.
“They’re sending me on a business trip. Abroad!”
Eva flinched. Everything became painfully clear to her at once, but despite the ache in her chest, she felt a strange flicker of relief. Now she would have time to prepare properly for what had to be done.
Sergey and Eva had been married for seven years. They lived in an apartment Eva had inherited from her grandmother, and all their spare money went into their shared country house and the cars they had bought on credit. Their family life looked ordinary enough: work in the morning, taking their daughter to kindergarten, lunch with colleagues during the day, and family dinners in the evening. But lately, Eva had been increasingly withdrawn and thoughtful.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange,” Sergey asked one day, noticing the change in his wife.
“Nothing. I was just thinking… Maybe we should have another child? Valyusha is already five. She’s more independent now, and this might be the right time to try for a second baby.”
Eva had been preparing for that conversation for weeks, and now, at last, she had told her husband about her dream.
Sergey did not want to sound harsh, but he could not hold himself back.
“We’ve already talked about this!” he said, frowning. “One child is enough for us. We can’t handle two!”
“Why not? Financially, we’re doing fine. We both work, and we have savings.”
“That’s not the point. I simply don’t want a second child. Try to understand, I’m about to be promoted. That will mean more responsibility. I’ll be traveling for work, staying late at the office. I won’t be able to pick Valya up from kindergarten or drive you around to doctors with a baby.”
“We could find a way. Other people manage somehow,” Eva tried to argue, but he cut her off.
“I don’t care how other people live! I care about our family the way it is now!”
Eva was deeply hurt by Sergey’s firm refusal. In a way, he was taking away her dream of becoming a mother of more than one child. But this was a decision that had to be made by both of them, and if her husband did not agree, there was nothing she could do.
Six months later, Sergey really was promoted. He began staying late at work more often, going on business trips, and gradually drifting away from his wife. Eva did not like it. She tried to bring back the time when they had been a happy family. She suggested weekend walks, invited him to the cinema, and even thought about asking him to take tango or another partner dance class with her to revive the spark in their marriage. But Sergey rejected every idea, always claiming he was too tired.
“Seryozha, your anniversary is coming up. I want to invite the family and celebrate properly,” Eva suggested two weeks before his birthday.
“I don’t want to see anyone. Let’s just go to a café, the three of us, and that’s it. Please, Evochka, spare me from all those endless table gatherings and meaningless conversations. I just want peace and quiet. I get enough emotions at work,” he replied.
Eva listened to her husband. She did not invite any relatives, but she reserved a table at a cozy restaurant and bought him a gift.
That day, Eva planned everything down to the smallest detail. She left their daughter with her mother, went to a beauty salon, put on her best dress, and got behind the wheel. She was so nervous it felt almost like their very first date.
When she arrived at her husband’s office, she parked at the far end of the lot so Sergey would not see her right away. She wanted to surprise him: meet him after work and go straight to the restaurant.
For half an hour, Eva nervously checked the time, kept glancing in the mirror, and touched up her makeup. At last, the office door opened, and Sergey stepped outside. He looked the way he usually did: a little tired, but focused. Almost immediately, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
Eva held her breath. A moment later, her own phone rang. She smiled and answered.
“Hello! Hi!”
“Hi. Are you busy?” came her husband’s voice.
“No, I’m waiting for you. When will you be free?” Eva asked, still watching Sergey from inside the car.
“Listen… things are a mess at work,” he said with a tired sigh. “I’ll probably have to stay late. I know I promised to leave early on my birthday, but I just can’t. I need to deal with a couple of urgent issues. You and Valyusha have dinner without me, all right? We’ll celebrate my birthday on the weekend.”
Eva froze. She stared at her husband, who was standing just a few meters away with his briefcase in one hand and his jacket in the other, and she could not understand anything. Sergey did not look busy. He did not look like he was about to go back into the office at all.
She had already opened her mouth to ask how he could be busy if she could see him standing outside right now, but she never got the chance. Suddenly, a woman ran up to him: young, attractive, cheerful. She threw her arms around his neck, and Sergey did not pull away. On the contrary, he drew her closer.
At that moment, Eva could hardly breathe. If she had not been sitting in the car, her legs would probably have given way. A sharp pain spread through her chest, so strong that she could not move.
After the embrace, Sergey and the unknown woman walked toward his car. They walked with their arms around each other, exactly the way Eva and Sergey once had. Eva was still holding the phone to her ear, even though the conversation had long since ended. She did not even realize when her husband had hung up.
When the couple disappeared around the corner, Eva finally understood that this was not a dream. It was a cruel reality. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She dropped the phone onto the seat and collapsed against the steering wheel. What she had seen hurt so badly that it felt as though her heart might tear apart.
When Eva returned home, she mechanically cooked dinner, then called her mother and asked her to bring their daughter back. Valyusha had been at her grandmother’s since morning, and now that everything had fallen apart, Eva wanted to be close to her more than ever.
“What happened? You look awful! Did you two have a fight? Why didn’t you go to the restaurant?” her mother asked, worried.
“Everything is fine. Sergey is working, and I’m just tired. We’ll celebrate his birthday another time,” Eva answered, trying not to reveal her feelings.
She did not want to destroy her family. If she could have turned back time, Eva would gladly have done it. But now that moment was burned into her memory forever: the embrace, the lying voice on the phone. She could no longer simply forget it.
When Sergey came home from “work,” his wife did not make a scene. In fact, she pretended nothing had happened at all. It disgusted her to look at him, but Eva did not want to argue in front of their daughter. Instead, she decided to do things differently: first prepare everything, and only then throw him out.
On the weekend, the couple still celebrated Sergey’s anniversary. He was unusually attentive to their daughter. Watching this picture of family harmony, Eva could not understand how Sergey managed to live a double life so easily. He looked so sincere that, for a second, she almost doubted herself. What if she had imagined it? But no. The image of that unknown woman and their embrace was still clearly before her eyes.
Then, on Monday, Sergey announced that he was leaving for a long business trip.
“Eva, you won’t believe the news! They’re sending me abroad! For two weeks.”
“Really? And who are you going with? People don’t usually go on trips like that alone, do they?” she asked calmly.
Sergey had not expected such a question, so he answered truthfully.
“I’m going with a colleague. Will you help me pack?” he added without blinking.
Eva nodded. Of course she would help.
Packing his suitcase turned out to be almost enjoyable. Eva opened drawers, took out his things, and felt nothing but a strange sense of relief. If Sergey needed a vacation with another woman, then let him go. Meanwhile, she would prepare for divorce.
Eva neatly packed Sergey’s dirty socks, worn-out underwear he had long meant to throw away but somehow never did, an old-fashioned and slightly shabby suit, and two T-shirts. One had a photo of their family with their daughter on it, and the other showed Eva hugging Sergey. She had made that sweet little gift for him on one of their anniversaries.
Into the suitcase also went a shirt with a noticeable stain on the chest. As for his swim trunks, Eva made a barely visible hole along the back seam. On top of everything, she placed a gift from their daughter: a cap and a mug with the words “beloved husband and dad.”
“Throw in my supplements too, please!” Sergey called out.
Lately, Sergey had been complaining of low energy. No wonder — where was he supposed to get energy from when he was living a double life? He had bought expensive pills to boost his strength. Eva quietly replaced them with a strong laxative.
“Is everything ready? Did you pack everything?” Sergey asked when his wife snapped the suitcase shut.
“Everything is in there, Seryozhenka. Don’t worry,” Eva replied, pleased with herself.
While her husband was diligently “working” in the south, Eva did not waste time. She gathered all his belongings, took the money from their shared cash box, found a lawyer, and began consulting him about the upcoming divorce.
Meanwhile, Sergey’s “business trip” did not go according to plan at all. On the first day, he went out to the sea with his “colleague” wearing the swim trunks, which immediately tore and exposed his backside to the world. He walked around the beach for quite some time, not understanding why everyone was staring and laughing, until his companion finally noticed the hole. It was deeply humiliating.
For dinner, he had to wear tight old jeans and a T-shirt with his daughter’s photo on it.
“What are you wearing? Why did you put on that ridiculous shirt? Were you trying to insult me?” his secret girlfriend asked in disbelief.
“I packed in a hurry… It just happened. Sorry. I’ll have to go to a store and buy something that fits,” Sergey laughed nervously.
By the second day, he was no longer laughing. He could barely leave the bathroom.
“Oh, that restaurant… I knew I shouldn’t have eaten those oysters,” he muttered.
He was convinced he had food poisoning, so he started drinking more water and continued taking the “vitamins,” which only made everything worse.
The vacation with his lover turned into a complete nightmare. Since he refused to wear the cap with the obvious inscription on it, he got badly sunburned on the very first day. Their romantic trip ended before it had even really begun. The intestinal problems caused by the laxative hit Sergey so hard that he decided to return home earlier than planned.
When he arrived, he could not open the door with his keys. He called his wife and asked what was going on.
“Are you home? Open the door, I’m back! The lock is stuck.”
“The lock isn’t stuck. It’s just a different one now. And there’s nothing left for you to do here. Not a single one of your things remains in the apartment. They’re all at the country house. You can stay there for now, but the court will divide our property soon, and then you’ll have to find somewhere else to live.”
At first, Sergey did not understand anything. Then Eva told him she knew everything and no longer wanted to see him. He immediately began denying everything.
“There was nothing between me and Svetlana. We’re just colleagues! And on the trip, we were only working!”
When Eva grew tired of his performance, she said through the slightly opened door:
“Then call your boss. Right now. Put him on speaker in front of me.”
“Why?” Sergey froze.
“Tell him about the business trip, the negotiations, or whatever it was you were supposedly doing there.”
The man fell silent, and that was answer enough.
The divorce went quickly. The apartment remained Eva’s, and so did the money from the shared cash box, since Sergey could not prove it had ever existed. The court divided the country house and the cars, and also ordered the father to pay child support.
Sergey stayed with Svetlana, but not for long. It turned out that what had attracted his colleague was the thrill of their secret affair: the risk of being caught and the constant need to hide. Real life with Sergey did not interest her at all. She could not imagine herself beside him in everyday life.
Eva, on the other hand, started over. It was not easy for her. She had loved Sergey, had hoped to grow old with him, and had even dreamed of having a second child with him. But now she was glad he had talked her out of it. Perhaps even then, on some subconscious level, he had been preparing for the breakup and simply had not wanted to take on extra responsibility.
Sometimes in the evenings, while putting her daughter to bed, Eva thought back to that day outside the office. What would have happened if she had not gone there and caught them together? Would she still have failed to notice the betrayal? Or would Sergey have confessed on his own, or left that woman after realizing how much he valued his family?
There were no answers to those questions, and in time Eva stopped asking them. She understood that everything had happened for the best. Now a new road lay ahead of her — one without betrayal and lies.