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

Once, when I hugged him good night, I caught a faint whiff of floral perfume clinging to his shirt collar, and I was certain it wasn’t my mom’s. Hers always smells like warm vanilla, while this one was sharper and more expensive.

I felt my heart skip a beat.

Was he… was he having an affair?

I wanted to ask him about it right then, but the words stuck in my throat. What if he lied? What if he told me the truth?

I didn’t know which would hurt more.

After that day, I started watching him more carefully, looking for signs that I hoped I wouldn’t find. The way he smiled at his phone. The way he’d leave the room when a text came through.

The way Mom didn’t seem to notice any of it, or maybe she did and was just pretending everything was fine.

I couldn’t sleep most nights. I’d lie in bed staring at the ceiling, imagining conversations I didn’t want to have and futures I didn’t want to face. Was this how families fell apart?

Slowly, quietly, with cologne and perfume and secret phone calls?

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