I Thought My Dad Was Cheating on My Mom After My Graduation – but What He Was Really Hiding Left Me Speechless

I believed him when he said I smelled bad.

That’s the part that still makes my chest tighten when I think about it.

It started small—offhand comments, little wrinkles of his nose, a casual, “Did you shower today?” said with a laugh that never quite reached his eyes. At first, I brushed it off. Everyone gets insecure sometimes. Couples tease each other. I told myself I was being sensitive.

But then it kept happening.

I started showering twice a day. Sometimes three if I’d been out. I kept deodorant in my purse, my car, my desk drawer. I brushed my teeth five times a day until my gums ached. I changed soaps, laundry detergent, fabric softener, toothpaste. I Googled symptoms at night, convinced something was wrong with my body that doctors had somehow missed.

No matter what I did, the look on his face never changed.

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