Chapter 1

"Okay, so you love me. I concede that. What next? Do I forget your blatant cheating and go on as if nothing has happened? What do I do when I meet my boss everyday at the office? What do I do when I meet my brother at family reunions? What do I do when Mark turns up with others on the poker nights? Your indiscretions have been so many that it has left me a laughing stock at my office, among my friends and even to my family members." I asked my wife who was asking me for another chance. "I will have to leave my current job and god only knows if I will get another in near future. Since my Boss owns the company there is no chance of him being sacked and for me to continue. I will have to avoid all family gatherings where my brother Chet can turn up. Not just that I will have to open this secret in my friends too so that Mark can be kept out of the poker nights. Even at that, there may be a few friends who might choose Mark over me. What am I to do?"

She just held her head in her hands and kept on crying. I would never have even guessed that my wife Sandra was cheating on me. Unfortunately I overheard her talking to her friend Christie and found out. I was not thick, just trusting.

Not getting any answers, I got up and picked up the packed suitcase that was waiting in the living room. "I am leaving. I will consult a divorce attorney and have the papers filed. I hope we never have to meet again and for what it's worth I wish you all the best for the future. If you ever loved me, if you ever had the slightest respect for me and if you do not wish for me to drive off a cliff do not contact me — ever. I am too much pain and I am humiliated beyond words. The only way I can find some dignity is by kicking you to the curb. At least people will know I was just a unsuspecting cuckold, not a sissy."

Those were the last words spoken between us. Three days after resigning I got a job in a nice large firm on the other coast and moved. The divorce went off smoothly and for all purposes and intent I left my life behind. The three marriages that I attended in my family were eventless because Chet was not invited to it and I made his life little more miserable by visiting my parents every holiday virtually making it impossible for him to come home.

Mark, it turned out, was fucking another wife from my bridge club and got his keens smashed and his family jewels mutilated beyond recognition. The husband pleaded temporary insanity and all the bridge club members made it look like he was right. He did get sentenced to time in prison but very nominal in the light of his brutal assault.

It was seven years from my divorce when I was asked to go and head the new branch of XYZ Corporation in my hometown. It was a shot in the arm for me professionally and personally. A shot in the arm personally for me, because the new branch was setup by buying out an existing local company. Yes, the very company I worked for.

As I drove into the car-park I saw that my reserved parking space was the same place where Roger, my former boss, used to park. His car was parked right beside mine. So, he was still rich by the sale of his company and his car showed every bit of the richness. It was an Audi and the most expensive one at that. As I entered the office there was a steady stream of my former colleagues coming across to congratulate me. Thankfully, I have a wonderful memory and I was not just ask them about their wellbeing but also ask about their wives and children by name. It was odd because a few of them had been divorced and told me names of their current spouses and brought me up-to-date. One of my colleagues had lost his young child and my asking about his son opened old wounds for him but he gave me the news with pain in his eyes. I had to make it a point to visit his cubical and spend some time with him and tell him how sorry at the news.

Almost all of them knew about Roger rogering my wife. They all looked at me with baited breath when Roger came out of his office to greet me. I had special plans for Roger and I set them in motion at once. I asked the whole office to gather around and gave a speech. I told them I knew most of them and the ones I did not, I would soon. I spoke to them about how much I had valued their friendship and how much I admired their work ethics. Then I spoke about Roger and told them that I would be drawing on his endless knowledge in days to come. I praised him as a visionary and that he would be involved in running the operation with me as closely as possible.

Once the speech was out of the way I went to my office and asked my secretary to send Roger in the first thing after lunch. I did not bother to get up to greet him when he came into my office and when he sat down without my asking I took my first shot.

"Roger, you stand till such time as I ask you to sit. There is a very strict hierarchy and protocols have to be followed. You don't just walk into your Bosses' office and plop on the chair." I told him in cold calculated words and as soon as he got up I asked him to sit down.

"So, Roger, fucked any other poor chap's wife lately?" I asked and he spat back.

"You asshole, you think you can play with me? I will have you dismissed from your job. I still own a part of this business and you are just a fucking employee." Roger spoke in a voice an octave higher than civilized.

"You think so? What are you going to do? Get me divorced again? Because that is the only way you can make me leave the job. My father-in-law owns 75% shared of this company and he knows that I am here to make your life miserable. In fact, this is my marriage gift from him. A chance to fuck you up worse than you fucked my marriage up." I dashed all his hopes in one go and sat back. I could see his face change a million colors and then finally settle on white.