Why I Cheered When My Husband Cheated

Chapter 8

I picked up the file folder without thinking and drove straight home.

As I turned the corner near the local bar, my headlights caught sight of Hank stumbling out the front door, an overly made-up woman clinging to his arm. He didn't see me, but I saw him, hooking a finger under her chin and kissing her like he hadn't a care in the world.

I didn't stop. Didn't honk. Just kept driving.

When I got home, I went straight to my room, locked the door, and sat down on the edge of the bed. I placed the folder in my lap, hesitating for a moment before opening it.

I had no idea what was inside, but I knew one thing for sure, I couldn't let my father see it. Not yet.

Because deep down, I still believed I played a part in how things had fallen apart between Hank and me.

But my father didn't see it that way. He was furious, and unforgiving when it came to Hank.

Inside the folder were stacks of photos. Thick, incriminating, chaotic. They documented Hank's wild college years, bars, parties, girls in his arms. Each picture painted a version of him I barely recognized. The smile on his face? Carefree, reckless… nothing like the man I once thought I loved.

It confused me. Why hadn't my father found these before our wedding? He had the resources. He had people. And yet, it was Selena, someone without money, without power, who managed to dig this all up.

I flipped through a few more photos, growing increasingly numb. These were old. His past. They didn't help my divorce case. They didn't change anything.

They just reminded me of who he really was.

But what was the point of knowing now? We were already past the point of no return.

I let out a bitter laugh and started shoving the photos back into the folder, until something at the bottom caught my eye.

A wax paper envelope. Tucked beneath the stack, hidden like a secret within a secret.

I pulled it out and opened it carefully. Inside were about a dozen more photos. These weren't candid snapshots, they were selfies.

The first few showed Hank with a girl who looked eerily like me. Same eyes. Same smile. He had his arm around her, smiling like the boy next door.

But the next ones made my blood run cold.

The girl was pregnant. Clearly. Even her baggy clothes couldn't hide the size of her belly. And in the photos that followed… she was holding a newborn. Smiling. Beaming with love so raw it almost hurt to look at.

I flipped through them slowly. The baby grew older in each one, and by the last few…

I froze.

The resemblance was undeniable.

That child, he looked just like Hank.

My breath caught in my throat.

So this… this was what Selena really wanted me to see.