"Mary, there is no easy way to say this but I have been thinking about having sex with another woman. We married when we were quite young and we have been together since eighth grade. I have never had sex with anyone apart from you. I know this is an unusual request but I hope you love me enough to give me this one thing that I so desire." Mark said as he sat down with Mary.

Mark and Mary are your regular suburban couple in their early thirties. He is a smart handsome man and she is a striking blond. They both work and have a nice income coming which gives them a better than average lifestyle.

Mary would have never thought that Mark would say anything like this to her, ever. It was a chilly few minutes after Mark said his piece as they both sat quietly coming to grip with what just happened. Finally Mary got her tongue back and spoke.

"Are you out of your mind? What made you think that I would agree to something like this? Marriage is made up of trust and you have just robbed this marriage of any trust that was present between us. I always thought that you were satisfied with our love making. We do almost everything apart from Anal Sex and I am ready to try that too if it is what you want. We have tried hard to build up a life for ourselves and you want to throw it away? Have you already selected a whore for your affair? Have you already slept with her? And will you be okay if I wanted to sleep with someone too? To say that I am hurt is an understatement of astronomical magnitude. Shit, you have just turned my life to hell just by suggesting this. I am appalled at your lack of respect for me. You have just made me feel like less of a woman just by requesting this. I feel like I am not woman enough to keep your dick satisfied. Thank god we do not any children. Can you give me one good reason for not going to a divorce attorney right now?" Mary was furious and was just seconds away from causing bodily harm to Mark.

"No, I am not out of my mind and I agree that a marriage is made on trust but by asking your permission have I not reaffirmed my trust in your love for me? You can trust me to talk to you before taking any decision that would change our marriage even the slightest. And as far as you not satisfying me in bed, it is not true and yet it is true. I am not satisfied when you are in my bed and yet absent in spirit from it. For the last three months we have fucked but not made love. Anal Sex? Yes, I want it but not as charity. I will never have sex with you without your consent and without you deriving pleasure from it. I do not have any particular woman in my mind and I have not slept with anyone but you since I was born. I am sure it will be alright if you sleep in future with anyone, whether you give me permission to sleep with another woman or not. You asked me what made me think that you would give me permission to sleep with another woman? I think the answer to this is easy. It was these set of images that gave me the hope that you were not too averse to a little extra-marital sex." Mike said as he brought out a manila envelope from the briefcase that was sitting beside him.

Mary picked up up the envelope and took the content out. 8X10 images of her in sexual congress with Mike's best friend Sol glared at her. The images had been taken in her bedroom while Mike was away on a business trip. It was tough to look at the images of her getting fucked in the ass by her lover.

"I ... I ... I am so sorry ... It never meant to go this far. We were just flirtin' and things got out of hand. I am so sorry." Mary pleaded as she realized that she was just given enough rope to hang herself.

"How Long? And don't try to lie because I already had a word with Sol before I came home. He is in the hospital because I had to pull two of his finger nails to get the truth out of him. He is not going to name me because I have promised that if he names me I will make sure that I kill him once I am released." Mike lied.

"For the last two years." Mary had no option but to tell the truth. "We never meant to hurt you. I love you and he loves you too. We were just two weak people who lost out to lust."

"When was it going to end?" Mike asked in a flat voice.

"Soon I guess. The end was not planned but we had been cooling off of late and I am sure the end was near." Mary was sobbing quietly.

"No need to end it now. As I said, it does not matter who you sleep with from this day on." Mark stated as he got up. "I am filing for a divorce and I will be moving out of the house this weekend. I have not had any talk with Sol and he does not know that I know. So, you can carry on as you did. You need not hire a lawyer as I am sure you will have no problem with a 50/50 split of our assets. Please feel free to take anything that you feel like from this house. I will be putting the house up for sale and I will give you half of whatever it sells for."

Mary looked up and started pleading, "Please do not divorce me. I promise that I will be the best wife anyone can ever think of. I have not known life apart from you. I do not think I can survive without you in my life. You have always guided me, please guide me from this mess that I have created. I am so sorry ... I am so sorry..."

"I have no doubt that you are sorry. I have no doubt that you will try to be the best wife I can have but I will never be able to be the same husband to you. I will never be able to trust you the same way as I always have. I will hurt you badly if we stay together. I am a weak man and my only real strength in life was your love. Now that I do not have faith on your love I too have nothing. I am sure that you will agree that all my years of faithfulness deserve a better wife than you are. I don't deny that I still love you and I always will but I do not respect as a person anymore." There was a hint of sadness in Mike's voice.

"Except from the fact the he has been sleeping with my wife I can find no fault with Sol. I am sure the two of you will be very happy. Just make sure that you do not rub it in my face." A weak smile danced on his face but his eyes belied his effort has easing the tension. "People fall in and out of love all the time and it would have been no big deal if you would have walked up to me and said that you wanted out of this marriage, but what you did was not correct. I do not think I gave any reason to dump this heap of shit on me. I am thankful to god that we do not have children and it is only going to hurt the two of us. I am sure the hurt will pass though I doubt we will be sitting across a table and laughing about this ever."

"Can't you give me one more chance? I do not love Sol. I am not even sure why we started this affair in the first place. I cannot find words to tell you how sorry I am for this betrayal. Please give me another chance and I will do right by you." Mary still could not believe how her life had changed just in a matter of minutes.

"Mary, you threatened with a divorce just on a mention of sex outside marriage and you are asking me to let this slip? Beside, as I said, I do not respect you anymore. It will not be a marriage of equals anymore. I will always feel superior in this marriage and will try to all high and mighty all the time. I know I will and then you will come to resent me. If you could have an affair behind my back when I treated you like a queen what will do when I treat you like shit? I don't even want to know how you would hurt me if you had even the slightest animosity towards me." Mark concluded his conversation and moved toward the bedroom where he proceeded to take the extra pillow and linen before moving to the living room to take his place on the couch. When sleep overtook him Mary was still sitting in the kitchen sobbing softly.

He woke up next morning to find Mary curled up on the floor beside the couch. She was cold and almost blue. There were dried tears on her cheek. When he came down after getting ready for office he found her sitting at the window looking outside. There was a fresh pot of coffee for him and bacon and egg. He ate his breakfast and left for office without as much as a word with Mary.

When he came back rather late in the evening after having stopped at his favorite watering hole for a drink he found Mary still sitting at the window. She got up when she saw his enter the driveway. As he got into the house he smelled meatloafs. The table was set for one and while he ate Mary sat in the living room quietly. When he went to put his dishes after finishing his dinner he saw only that there was no sign of her having had any food. All the dishes he could see dirty were his morning cup of coffee and his breakfast plate. Did Mary not have anything to eat all through the day?

When he settled in front of the TV after dinner he could see from the corner of his eyes that Mary stood at the door for a very long time before moving to the kitchen from where he could hear the sound of the dishes being done. He never realized when sleep overtook him. He woke up in the middle of the night on the couch with a blanket over him and Mary again curled up on the floor with nothing to cover her. He covered her with the blanket and went to sleep in the bedroom. He got up pretty early in the morning and saw Mary was still sleeping on the floor in the living room.

Although it pained him to see her like this there was no way he could stay with her after what had transpired.

It was Friday and he took the day off and went out to look for a nice motel to shift into, one that was not too far from his office. He found that and booked the room on a weekly basis. The room was not much but what he needed right now was just a place to crash and no more. When he returned to the house he found Mary passed out in the living room. He called 911 and transferred her to the hospital. She was severely malnutrition. Apparently she went hungry right since the time the shit hit the fan. Mark was sorry to see Mary like this but he knew that this phase would pass. However, he was afraid to leave her all alone at the house and move out. She was likely to take some drastic step if left alone.

With a heavy heart he called up Sandra, Mary's mom and told her about the recent development. He asked Sandra to either come get Mary or to shift in with Mary once she was released from the hospital. To say that Sandra was shocked was an understatement. She could not believe that her prim and proper daughter could do such a thing. At first she tried to argue with Mark but once he told her that he had photographic proof she apologized and promised to take care of Mary after her release.

As promised Mark moved out of the house and files for divorce. He went to deliver the divorce papers personally. Not for gloating, but to talk with Mary and make her understand why it was necessary. When he reached Sandra's apartment he almost lost his courage because he knew that there would be an ugly scene and a lot of emotional drama. However, he still had feelings for Mary and thought it was best that he gave the papers as gently to her possible.