She couldn’t believe her eyes as she kept reading the letter her husband had left. Was that really the man she had given 15 years of her life to, the man she thought she would grow old with?
How could he do that to her? And what’s worse, with her own sister? She felt her world falling apart. However, she would soon get her revenge.
If anyone had asked her, Alicia would have admitted that their relationship had seen better moments. Her mental health had been suffering lately, and they had been fighting more often than they used to.
But she didn’t think it would get to that point. That was the last thing she would have ever imagined to happen. How could she be so blind about James’ true colors?
She was convinced that theirs was a true love story and that they would always overcome any difficulty. Time and time again, they had come out on top regardless of what life threw them.
Why couldn’t it be like that this time? How could he throw away everything they had gone through together for all those years?
Ever since they started dating back in high school, they had to face many obstacles: from James dropping out of college to work a part-time job as a bartender to Alicia’s difficulties finding a job after graduating from university.
And that wasn’t all; from the beginning, they had a lot of things working against their relationship. But they had managed to overcome everything, build a life together for years, and get married. What had happened?
They had even managed to overcome Alice’s parents’ opposition to their relationship; they always used to say that James was a no-good bum and that Alicia could do a lot better.
But Alicia just begged her parents to believe in him just as much as she did. They were in love, and they would conquer everything and be happy together. Or that’s what she thought.
Their relationship had survived every problem so far, from clashing families and values to poverty. Every time she became self-conscious about the raggedy apartment where they lived or upset about James’ measly contribution to the house income, she soothed herself with a thought.
It would get better. James would end up finding his calling in life and find a way to make a decent living doing something he loved. All he needed was a little support and love.
They had even made it through Alicia’s depression. Just a few weeks before she found the note, she had been going through one of her most challenging times ever, mental health-wise.
It was mostly due to their difficult financial situation. Alicia had to admit she hadn’t been the easiest person to deal with. Still, she was better now: she was getting treatment for her depression and happy in her new job. Why did he choose that moment to leave?
That same day, Alicia had some big news to break to James. She couldn’t wait to get home and let him know about what had happened. Their lives would never be the same after that.
But when she arrived at the flat where they lived, there was nobody there. She called her husband’s name, but no one answered. All she found was a note stuck on the fridge’s door.
The letter’s content shocked Alicia to her core. In the note, James went into detail about how he had been unhappy in their relationship for months now and how tired he was of being the only one putting any effort.
And when Alicia kept going through the explanations the letter offered, everything kept sounding more and more outlandish to her with every line she read.
In his letter, James complained about the strangest things. He said he felt unwanted and unloved because one day, while she was deeply depressed, Alice hadn’t noticed his new haircut.
He was also accusing her of cheating on him! And all he had to support his accusations were suspicions. But that wasn’t the worst part of it.
He was accusing Alicia of cheating on him in the same letter where he confessed to having an affair with her sister for half a year now! Everything was so absolutely off-the-wall that Alicia didn’t even know what to think.
But one thing was clear: James had shown his true colors. She had been deceived for years, thinking that he was a good human being deep down. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
James ended his letter by letting Alicia know that neither he nor Alicia’s sister wanted to be contacted by her; they had moved to North Caroline, where they intended to start a new life together.
At first, Alicia was devastated by this. But then, she remembered the news she wanted to break down to James when she first got home, and her expression slowly changed to a smile.
The big thing she had found out just that morning was that she had just won the lottery! She was about to receive the big prize of 10 million dollars.
When she first heard the news herself, she thought it seemed like a heaven-sent gift to help them with their difficult financial situation; she thought it would fix most of the anxieties and worries that both partners felt, which were starting to take a toll on the relationship. But now, she saw things more clearly.
She understood that James’ sudden change of heart and infidelity had been another heaven-sent event, together with her winning the lottery.
If he hadn’t left with Alicia’s sister, he would have stayed with her just because of the money; and he would have kept deceiving her. That would have been a much worse outcome than what ended up happening.
So in a way, Alicia had been doubly blessed. Not only were her financial worries gone forever; he had also gotten rid of a bad person who had deceived her for years. She stopped feeling sorry and started feeling a strong sense of relief instead.
So instead of calling James in tears, she called her parents and friends, joyfully told them the good news, and started planning her new life.
