Betrayal: The Price of Treachery

— Tell me honestly—are you cheating on me?
Silence. Long. Torturous.
— Yes,
he says at last, and this single word kills me. Simply kills me.
I stand, and the whole world around me spins, slipping out from under my feet. Yes. He said “yes.” He didn’t deny it, didn’t justify himself, didn’t lie. Just “yes.”
— With Polina?
I whisper, even though I already know the answer.
— Yes.
— For long?
He hesitates. Then:
— Six months.
Six months. For half a year he lived a double life. He came home, kissed me, played with the children—and all this time he loved someone else. For six months I was an idiot who noticed nothing, knew nothing.
— Why?
I ask, and my voice trembles.
— Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you make me live with this lie?
He looks away.
— I didn’t want to hurt you.
Funny. He didn’t want to hurt me. And what about now? What is this if not a wound? Not torture?
— Do you love her?
I ask—a question I’m afraid to hear the answer to.
He is silent. But silence is also an answer.
— I… yes. I’ve stopped loving you, Alina. Forgive me.