**Diary Entry**
The moment my husband betrayed me with my best friend was the lowest point of my life. Yet, three years later, when I stumbled upon them by chance, I couldnt help but smile.
After we separated, I found out hed left me for a girl wed known since secondary school. Three years passed before I saw them again at a petrol stationand the sight was better than any revenge I could have plotted.
When my husband first began pulling away, I turned to my closest friend, Charlotte, for comfort. She told me I was imagining thingsturns out she was lying. Fate has a funny way of revealing the truth in time.
I used to think betrayal only happened in books or whispered gossip at dinner partiesnever to me, never to us.
For five years, James and I built a life together. It wasnt extravagant, but it was ourslate-night films curled up on the sofa, Sunday morning coffee runs, inside jokes no one else understood.
And then there was Charlottemy best friend since year seven, like a sister. She was there for every milestone, even standing beside me as bridesmaid at my wedding, squeezing my hands as I cried happy tears.
When I found out I was pregnant, I thought it would be another beautiful chapter.
But then James changed.
At first, it was small thingslate nights at work, smiles that never reached his eyes. Then it got worse. He barely looked at me. Conversations shrank to one-word answers. Nights spent with his back turned, as if I werent even there.
I didnt understand. I was exhausted, heavily pregnant, desperately trying to fix what was crumbling between us. So I called Charlotte.
*I dont know whats happening,* I sobbed into the phone, curled into a ball in the dark while James slept soundly beside me. *Its like hes already left.*
*Youre overthinking it,* she said gently. *He loves you. Its just stress.*
I wanted to believe her.
But the silencethe sleepless nights, the loneliness despite being marriedwore me down.
Then, one morning, I woke in agony. By evening, I was in hospital, staring at the doctors lips but not hearing a word.
*No heartbeat. No baby.*
They say grief comes in waves. Mine was an avalanche.
I was broken, but James? He was already gone. He sat beside my hospital bed, cold and silent, never taking my hand, never offering comfort. Just waiting, as if for a bus, not grieving the child wed lost.
A month later, he finally said the words I think hed rehearsed for weeks.
*Im not happy anymore, Emily.*
And that was it. No explanations, no emotion. Just emptiness.
The day James left was without shouting, without tears. Just quiet finality.
*Im not happy anymore, Emily.*
I blinked at him across the kitchen table, his words like a weight on my chest.
*What?* I whispered.
He sighed, rubbing his temples as if *I* were the problem. *I just dont feel anything. Havent for a while.*
*Havent for a while.*
I swallowed hard. *Since we lost the baby?*
His jaw tightened. *Thats not the point.*
The lie was almost laughable.
I searched his face for regret, guiltany flicker of feeling. But he just sat there, refusing to meet my eyes.
*So thats it? Five years, and you just walk away?* My hands clenched under the table.
Another sigh, this time impatient. *I dont want to argue, Emily.*
I laughedthe kind of laugh that comes when youre past breaking. *Oh, you dont want to argue? Funny, because I never got a choice in any of this.*
He stood, grabbing his keys. *Ill stay with mates.*
*Coward.*
The door slammed.
Charlotte, my *best friend*, vanished soon after. No calls returned. Messages ignored. Thenblocked everywhere.
I didnt understand until Mum called one evening, voice strained.
*Emily, love look at this.*
She sent a link to Charlottes Instagram.
And there they were.
James and Charlotte. Arms around each other on Brighton beach, laughing like theyd been in love for years.
Photo after photo, week after week. Fancy restaurants, ski trips, romantic evenings by the fireall while I was still his *wife.*
The betrayal burned like acid. But if they thought theyd ruined me, they were wrong.
I took my pain and turned it into power. James had been careless, too wrapped up in his new fantasy to cover his tracks. When we divorced, his infidelity became my leverage. I kept the house, half his savings, and the satisfaction of watching him start from scratch.
He took my trust. I took what was mine.
Starting over wasnt easy. But life rewards those who endure.
A year later, I met Daniel.
He was everything James wasntkind, patient, never making me feel like too much. We built a real lifenot one for social media. Soon, our daughter arrivedmy mirror image with his smile.
Then fate delivered the perfect ending.
One evening, I stopped at a petrol station. And there they were.
James and Charlotte.
No designer clothes, no happy photos now. Their cara rusted wreck. A public argument, a crying child, a declined card.
*We cant even afford petrol?* Charlotte whined.
*You knew money was tight,* James snapped.
Charlotte scoffed. *Guess Emily won in the end.*
I started the engine and drove hometo my real happiness.
**Lesson learned:** Karmas a patient thing. Sometimes, the best revenge is simply living well.
