New Year's Surprise: My Wife Has Another Family

On New Year's Eve, I hurry home from abroad to surprise my wife, Moira Wesley, from whom I've kept my return a secret. But when I push open the front door of our home, I'm greeted by the sound of laughter and friendly chatter. Overcome with emotions, I enter the house to see Moira with a baby in her arms as she announces sweetly, "Today, we celebrate New Year's Eve and Beatrice's one-month birthday! Happy New Year, everyone!" Upon hearing my entrance, Moira glances over her shoulder, then turns and walks toward me. She grabs the mug of hot tea on the table and splashes it at me. "Who are you? How dare you trespass into a private residence on New Year's Eve?" I try to ignore the burning pain on the left side of my face as I grab Moira's arm, hoping she'll explain herself. However, she shrugs off my grip and gives me another hard slap. "Noah, call the police! Tell them a suspicious person broke into our home and is attempting to rob us!" After that, Moira winks at me, then turns with the baby in her arms and joins an older couple. "Francine, Eric, don't worry about that. It was someone irrelevant." I stand in place, watching as the large family has fun in the house that now seems so unfamiliar, and feel a sudden wave of emptiness wash over me. Chapter 1 I'd just stepped out the door when the security guards stationed downstairs marched up to me. Noah Wesley, the man Moira had called out to earlier, must have summoned the security guards from property management instead when he realized calling the police was a futile exercise. I explained the full story to the security guards and even showed them the marriage certificate I carried on my person at all times. As they were leaving, one of the security guards gave me a sympathetic clap on the shoulder. "Hey, buddy, your lady's already cheating on you under your roof. Do you need us to go in there and have a few words with them?" I flashed them a bitter smile and shook my head, thanking them softly. I didn't need to resort to that. What use was there for such confrontation, anyway? After all, Moira had implicitly allowed all this to happen. After the security guards had gone, I glanced over my shoulder at the front door, then turned to leave. But I'd barely taken a few steps when Moira suddenly walked out the door and caught up to me. Gripping my hand, she demanded with some impatience, "You said you weren't coming home for New Year's! What are you doing back here? Why do you always do stuff without asking me first? "Did you even consider my plans when you decided to drop in? It's been years, and you're still behaving the same way!" I stared at the face I'd spent days and nights missing. It was now full of fury as she assessed me, and only complaints and accusations poured from her mouth. I couldn't understand what was so wrong about my wanting to surprise Moira. An exasperated sigh escaped Moira when I stayed silent throughout her tirade, and she softened. "Oh, alright, I know you came home to spend New Year's with me, but I really can't do that this year. "I've got stuff going on, but I'll explain everything to you once the festivities are over, okay? Hit up a friend and crash at their place for now. I'll go over and see you after I've sorted out things on my end." She was about to say something more when the front door behind her swung open. The woman whom Moira had referred to as "Francine" emerged. Upon seeing Moira and me standing together, Francine gasped. She snapped out of her daze and exclaimed with a face full of fear, "Moira, come here now! Don't let him hurt you!" Moira looked at me with some hesitation when she heard her mother's warning. She whispered, "Play along." Before her words sank in for me, she raised her hand and slapped me twice. After that, she whirled and bolted toward the door. "The police are on their way! You'll be arrested, just you wait!" As she yelled her warning, she winked at me hard, signaling me to leave. The corner of my lips twitched as I beheld the anxious woman before me, then I spun on my heels and left. I'd only wanted to surprise Moira, but all I got from her in the span of half an hour were three slaps across the face. She'd told me to crash at a friend's place, but she seemed to have forgotten that I had no friends in this city. I had no idea where to go when I left the neighborhood, so I found a bench by the road and plopped down with careless grace. At some point, it started snowing. I watched the snow flurry through the air, my first meeting with Moira playing through my mind. Moira and I met while we were traveling. I'd broken away from my traveling buddies, and my car had run out of gas, leaving me stranded on the road on a snowy night. The world around me was blanketed in white, and the breeze carried with it a bone-deep chill. For a moment, devastation seized me, and living felt pointless after the death of the person who'd loved me most—my grandmother. Chapter 2 With that thought in mind, I'd gotten out of the car and lay down in the snow, letting the flurry of white flakes bury me. Just as I was slipping into a deep slumber, a car suddenly pulled up on the snow-blanketed ground and stopped before me. A young lady hurried out of her car and approached me, dragging me out of the snow with some effort. When I opened my eyes and met Moira's gaze, I felt as if I'd seen the light. Moira had rescued me. She'd probably guessed at my intention to seek a cold, lonesome death, for she held on to me and talked to me through the night. She told me, "It's wonderful to be alive. You've already arrived on this plane of existence called 'life', so you may as well learn to love, experience, feel, and admire everything joyous around you." She also told me, "Everyone has that one tumultuous year in their lives that will turn their course toward something beautiful and liberating." I stared at the young lady with the bright eyes and suddenly heard a voice in my head, telling me: "Keep living. Do it in Grandma's memory." While chatting with Moira, I was surprised to learn that she was my senior in university. From then on, we got to know each other better and became close. I slowly made room for her in my heart. On the night she graduated, I watched her dazzle at the graduation dance. For the first time in my life, I rallied the courage to confess my feelings for her in front of everyone. When Moira nodded in agreement and beamed at me, I was so overwhelmed that I stepped forward to scoop her into my arms. I felt like the luckiest, happiest man in the world. Moira took over her family's company not long after graduation. The year I graduated, I made a compromise with Moira after seeing her leave for work early in the morning and return home late at night, the shadows under her eyes growing prominent with her routine. I gave up my best career choice and arrived in the city where Moira was. I managed the company alongside her, and just like that, I worked as her secretary year after year. During my tenure, we secretly got our marriage certificate. We never told anyone about it. Moira claimed that her parents wouldn't let her marry a man with a mole under his eye, for some reason or other, and that she'd need some time to change their minds. She also said that if word of our relationship got out, it might jeopardize the company during its growth phase. All I'd cared about was Moira at that point, so I believed every word she said. In retrospect, if she'd truly loved me, she wouldn't have had such material and shallow concerns. If anything, she would have cleared every obstacle in our path. In the third year of our marriage, Moira told me the company planned to expand its business operations abroad. After some thought, she decided I was the only one capable of executing that mission. A simple instruction from her was all it took for me to pack up and go abroad all by myself to expand business operations there. The snowfall grew heavier, and I instinctively lifted my gaze to the light pouring from the windows of the house in the distance. Bitterness crept up on me like vines. I shook my head, clearing the thoughts clamoring in my mind. I got up to leave, but no sooner had I risen on my feet than I spotted Moira holding hands with a man as they came toward me. Behind them strolled the older man whom Moira had called "Eric". Moira froze in surprise when she saw me, too. She probably thought I'd left by now. I couldn't hear what she turned to say to Eric, but he left with a smile. Now that it was just the three of us, Moira approached me with the man in tow. She eyed me impatiently. "Didn't I tell you to leave? What are you still doing here? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Liam? You just want to get on my nerves!" I fixed my gaze on their interlocked hands and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you going to explain yourself?" Panic flickered in her eyes when she heard my question. She winced as she countered stiffly, "Explain myself? What for? Noah and I are just friends. What you saw at the house earlier was just an act to convince Noah's parents of his happy marriage! "You saw it yourself—his parents are old, and we're only doing this to give them peace of mind. Why do you always have to be so unreasonable and paranoid?" "And what about the baby? What's the story there?" I asked flatly as I assessed the obstinate woman before me. Upon hearing this, Moira went still. When she snapped out of her daze, she stammered, "T-That baby was just a young actor we found. We figured we may as well go all out, seeing as we're acting and all…" Chapter 3 Moira's voice grew softer as she spoke, and she sounded a lot more guilty, too. The man who'd been quiet at her side suddenly intervened, as if to remind us of his presence. He wrapped an arm around Moira as he said gently, "Sorry about all this, Liam. I only asked that Moira help me with this favor, but nothing's going on between us. "Please don't get the wrong idea. Once my parents go home, we'll show up at your place to thank you properly for helping us out." Noah's explanation was seamless, as if he truly had asked Moira for an innocent favor. But it wasn't hard for me to hear the smug undertone of his words. An awkward look flickered past his features when he registered my silence and grim expression. When the tension got too much for Moira, she made to speak, only for Noah to raise a hand and stop her. "It's only normal for you to be upset, Liam. After all, I didn't ask you for permission before I pulled Moira into this. "I don't want to come between you and Moira, either. So, how about I offer you my sincerest apologies?" With that, he made a point to bow his head at me in deep apology and said sorry to me over and over. He looked distressed when I didn't respond. A moment later, he seemed to have made up his mind. He said emphatically, "You must forgive me, Liam, or I'll never live this down. I'll… I'll get on my knees and ask for your forgiveness!" Looking resolute, he began to lower himself on his knees as he spoke. Beside him, Moira grew antsy and quickly reached out to pull up Noah, sympathy flooding her gaze. She turned to level a disapproving look at me. "Are you done here, Liam? Noah's already gone to lengths to apologize to you. Aren't you going to say something? "Are you always this heartless? It's no wonder you grew up unloved, and your parents left you in your grandmother's care! "I'm so disappointed in you, Liam. A heartless, apathetic man like you doesn't deserve to be loved!" When she finished speaking, she grabbed Noah by the arm and turned to leave. She took a few steps, then, seemingly remembering something, suddenly stopped in her tracks. Shooting me a glance over her shoulder, she heaved a sigh of grim resignation. "Then again, with your naturally poor social skills, I doubt you have friends in this city. I'll wire you some cash later so you can put yourself up in a motel somewhere. "For the next couple of days, don't call me unless I call you first. I told you I'm busy." Moira spun on her heels after that and left without turning back, pulling Noah alongside her. I stood in place and watched as her figure grew smaller in the distance. My heart twisted with a sudden, seizing pain, and I felt as if all the strength had been drained from me. I couldn't hold it together anymore. Clutching my chest, I doubled over with agony shining in my eyes. When I told Moira the things I'd gone through growing up, she'd looked sympathetic and reassured me that none of those were my fault, promising me that she'd love me fully. I never thought she would one day turn my confessions into a knife and stab me with it. It hurt me more than I could ever imagine. I didn't have naturally poor social skills, nor was I without friends. After we started dating, Moira had told me that my female friends made her insecure, so I deleted their numbers in front of her. After that, she asked that I spend all my free time with her and told me she didn't like it when I hung out with my buddies. So, I gradually cut them off. I spent these years pouring my heart into my job, heeding Moira's every word about everything. But I never thought she would put me down like that in the end. My phone suddenly chimed with notifications. "Hey, Liam. It's Noah. Moira's picking out presents for the baby's one-month birthday. She told me to send you some cash for your motel stay." I quirked my mouth to the side and clicked on the message from PayPal. Liam had sent me 50 dollars. It wasn't long before Liam sent me another voice note: "Moira said 50 dollars should be enough for you to get a motel room somewhere. She said you'd be fine… After all, you've slept in worse places, like next to a dumpster…"