I Arrived Early Just In Time To Hear My Husband Announce His Mistress’s Pregnancy – Three Weeks Later Unbelievable Happened
«Ava!» he yelled, pushing Madison aside and jumping up. «You… Japan… you shouldn’t be…»
Madison covered herself with a blanket, her eyes wide with panic. I stood in the doorway, observing both of them. I didn’t say anything. I just watched.
«Ava, please, let me explain,» Jax began, taking steps toward me. «This isn’t what it looks like. Madison was… she needed a place to stay.»
«I want a divorce,» I cut him off. My voice came out firmer and calmer than I expected.
He stopped, blinking several times. «What? Divorce?»
«You cheated on me, in our condo, with your ex-girlfriend. Of course, I want a divorce.»
I watched the panic in his eyes be replaced by something more calculated. He was thinking, processing, trying to find an angle.
«Ava, let’s talk calmly,» he began, switching his strategy to a softer voice. «You’re angry, I get it, but…»
«There is nothing to talk about. I want you both out of my condo. Now.»
Madison stood up, still clutching the blanket. «I’m so sorry, Ava.»
«Shut up,» I said without looking at her. «You owe me no apology, you owe me nothing. Just get out of my house.»
Jax took a step forward, and for the first time, I saw something dangerous in his eyes, an arrogance he had always hidden well.
«You won’t be able to prove infidelity,» he said in a low but firm voice. «And even if you do, you’ll have to pay me alimony and give me half your assets, including this condo. Good luck with the divorce, Ava.»
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. A small, genuine smile.
«We’ll see,» I simply replied.
And I left. I heard Jax calling after me in the hall, but I didn’t look back. I got into the elevator, the doors closed, and finally, I let the smile widen.
He really thought I had no proof, that I had stumbled upon it by chance just now, that I was stupid enough not to know that inheritance is separate property.
Back in the car, I grabbed my phone and dialed Aunt Carol’s number. She answered on the second ring, her voice cheerful.
«Ava dear, how was Japan?»
I let my voice tremble, as if I were crying. «Aunt Carol, I came back early, and I caught Jax with another woman.»
Silence on the other end. «What?» she finally said, and by the tone, I knew the surprise was genuine. «How? With another woman? Where?»
«In our condo,» I replied, putting all the pain I could muster into my voice. «She was there, they were together. And she’s pregnant! Aunt Carol! Oh my God!»
«She’s… pregnant?» she murmured. I heard her take a deep breath.
«I don’t know what to do,» I continued, letting my voice crack. «How could he do this to me?»
«Ava honey, where are you?» Aunt Carol asked. And there was something in her voice—concern or calculation?
«I’m in the car, in the building garage. I can’t go back into that condo. Not now.»
«Come here. Come home. We’ll talk. We’ll fix this.»
I didn’t answer immediately. «I have to call a lawyer. I’m filing for divorce.»
«Ava, you don’t have to be so drastic. Let’s talk maybe…»
«He cheated on me, Aunt Carol!» I cut her off, putting firmness in my voice. «In our condo. There is no conversation that fixes this.»
«You’re right,» she said after a moment. «You’re absolutely right. Leave it to me. I’m going to talk to him. That boy is going to hear it.»
I hung up and allowed myself to smile again. Now all that was left was to wait for the show to begin. It didn’t take a minute.
Through the camera app, I saw Jax’s phone ring. He looked at the screen, and his face became even paler.
«It’s my mom,» he told Madison, who was gathering her things scattered around the condo.
He answered and immediately pulled the phone away from his ear. Even through the camera, I could hear Aunt Carol screaming.
«Are you stupid or just acting like it? How could you let her catch you in the condo with Madison? Can’t you think with your upper head for five seconds?»
«Mom, calm down. Can I explain?» Jax tried to respond, but she wouldn’t let him.
«Explain what? Years, Jax! Years of planning, years taking care of that girl, earning her trust, building everything brick by brick, and you mess it all up because you can’t keep your pants on!»
I had never heard Aunt Carol scream like that. The mask of the polite, kind woman had completely dropped.
«I’ll fix it,» Jax tried to say, but his voice was weak.
«Fix it? How are you going to fix it? She’s filing for divorce! She already said she’s filing for divorce.»
«She has no proof. She can’t prove adultery.»
«She caught you in the condo with your pregnant mistress, you idiot. What clearer proof do you want?»
I heard Uncle Charles’s voice. Aunt Carol must have put him on speakerphone because his voice came through clearly.
«You are an idiot,» Uncle Charles said with a chilling calm that was worse than his wife’s screams. «A complete and utter fool. We trusted you. We gave you one single task: Marry her, earn her trust, make her sign the power of attorney. And you couldn’t even manage that.»
«I tried. She wouldn’t sign. But I’ll make her drop the divorce,» Jax insisted, desperation in his voice. «I’ll talk to her. I’ll apologize.»
«How?» Uncle Charles asked, still with that terrifying calm. «How are you going to make a woman who just caught you cheating drop the divorce? What arguments do you have?»
Silence.
«That’s what I thought,» Uncle Charles continued. «You have nothing. We’ve lost everything because of you.»
«We haven’t lost it yet,» Jax argued, but without conviction. «She’ll still have to give me half the assets in the divorce. Even with adultery, it’s divided.»
Aunt Carol let out a bitter laugh. «You really are dumb. Those properties are her inheritance; they don’t enter into the split. She’s divorcing you. You’ll be left with nothing, and a pregnant mistress to support on top of it. Congratulations, Jax, you managed to ruin everything.»
I saw Jax slump heavily onto the sofa, phone still to his ear, his face in his hands.
«Can you come here?» he asked in a weak voice. «We need to do something, we need a plan.»
«No,» Aunt Carol said flatly. «You got yourself into this mess alone, now get yourself out of it alone. I’m fed up, Jax. Fed up with you, fed up with this whole situation.»
And she hung up. Jax sat there staring at the phone for almost five minutes. Madison tried to approach, but he pushed her away.
«You need to leave,» he told her coldly.
«Madison, now. And don’t come back.»
«But Jax, I have nowhere to go.»
«That is not my problem now!» he shouted, standing up. «Go to your parents, go wherever you want, but get out of here.»
I watched Madison start crying, hurriedly gathering her things, almost running out of the condo. Jax was left alone in the living room, pacing back and forth, picking up his phone, typing something, deleting it, typing again. He was sending me messages.
I saw the notifications pop up on my phone: Ava please let me explain, It was a mistake, A moment of weakness, I felt lonely, You’ve been gone a lot, I love you, I’ve always loved you, Can we fix this please?
I deleted all the messages without responding. I turned off the cameras and leaned back in the car seat. Phase 1, complete. Now, all that was left was to wait for tomorrow.
The next morning, I woke up early. I had already asked Mr. Harrison to prepare everything for delivery that day. Promptly at 8 AM, two court officers split up.
One went to the brownstone where Uncle Charles and Aunt Carol lived; the other went to my condo where Jax was. I was in Mr. Harrison’s office when my phone rang. It was Aunt Carol.
I answered.
«AVA!» she screamed. There was panic in her voice now, none of the contained rage from yesterday, pure panic. «What is this? An eviction notice? You’re kicking us out?»
«Yes,» I replied simply.
«But why? What have we done? Try to talk this out, Ava, please. You can’t do this. We have nowhere to go, we’re old, we don’t have money for…»
«That is not my problem,» I cut her off, using the exact words Jax had used with Madison the day before.
«But this is because of what Jax did. We have nothing to do with that.» She almost laughed. «Nothing to do with it? Seriously? Of course not. We are just as surprised as you are. That idiotic boy…»
«Aunt Carol.» I interrupted her, my voice turning cold. «I know everything. The trips that weren’t to Maui. The diverted rents. The plan you had since my parents’ death. I know everything.»
Absolute silence on the other end.
«So, yes,» I continued. «You have 30 days to get out of my house, and I suggest you use that time to find a good lawyer because you’re going to need one.»
I hung up before she could respond. Two minutes later, my phone rang again. Jax. I answered.
«Ava. Is this serious?» he asked. And there was something different in his voice. Fear.
«Divorce, misappropriation, theft. You’re suing me?»
«Yes.»
«But why those accusations? You don’t have proof of all that, do you?»
«Yes, I do.»
«What proof? How?»
«Security cameras throughout the condo, Jax. With audio. Installed days ago. I have the recording of you with Madison. I have the recording of the meeting in the kitchen, where you all confessed the entire plan. I have documents proving the diversion of money, the fake trips, everything.»
Silence.
«You recorded us,» he finally managed to say. «I recorded you, and I’ve handed it all over to law enforcement.»
«But that’s illegal. You can’t record people without their consent.»
«Yes, I can, in my own condo, with my own security cameras. It’s perfectly legal.»
I heard him breathe heavily on the other end.
«How much do you want?» he finally asked. «How much do you want to forget everything? To drop the lawsuits? Ten thousand dollars? Twenty thousand? How much?»
This time, I genuinely laughed. «Jax, do you really think I want money? I have money. What I want is justice, and my assets back.»
«Your assets were never not yours.»
«No? And the 280 thousand dollars you diverted from the rents over five years? And my jewelry you stole and gave to your mistress? And the years of lies?»
«I’ll give it all back to you, with interest. Just drop the lawsuits.»
«No. You have nowhere to sleep. How do you think you’re going to give it back to me with interest?»
«Ava, please, this will destroy me. It will destroy my parents, all of us. You should have thought about that before.»
«Are you doing this for revenge? Because I cheated on you? I already apologized!»
«No, Jax. I’m doing this because you spent over a decade planning a scam against me, because you exploited my parents’ death, you exploited my vulnerability, my trust. Because you are exactly the kind of person who deserves to pay for their crimes.»
«Crimes? I just made bad decisions with our money. It’s the risk of the business.»
«You diverted money, you falsified contracts, you stole jewelry, you committed fraud. Those are felonies, Jax, and you will answer for them.»
