My Homebody Wife Leaves Home for Another

I'm an avid outdoorsman, while my wife, Gabrielle Jensen, is a homebody through and through. Every time I invite her to outdoor activities like hiking, running, and swimming, she turns me down. "I hate exercising," she says. Later, someone starts an online trend of showing how lazy their girlfriend can be. I film Gabrielle being a couch potato and post it to join the trend. Everyone comments saying how she's a true lazy introvert. Then, one comment catches my eye and freezes me in place. "Isn't that the old pool queen Gabrielle Jensen? She and Caleb Fisher made quite the swimming duo back then. Their relay team brought home more than a few trophies for our school. "They were the golden couple on campus, too. It was a shame that they broke up right after graduation…" Only after reading the comment do I finally realize Gabrielle doesn't hate exercising. She simply refuses to get active again because of what happened in her past relationship. A week later, Gabrielle unexpectedly goes out shopping and even buys herself a new swimsuit. She says it's for a hot spring date with her friends. I look at her and ask, "And Caleb Fisher is going too, right?" Chapter 1 Gabrielle Jensen's face went white. Her grip tightened around the swimsuit in her hand. "What are you talking about, Liam? Did you follow me?" I looked at my wife, frankly feeling a little distant from her. "Did I have to? I cleared out the storage on your class group chat just yesterday. Caleb Fisher is back in the country, isn't he?" Her eyes darted away. She tossed the swimsuit onto the couch. "Yeah, he's back. He was at the class reunion, too. So what? Is there a problem? There's nothing going on between us." I picked up the swimsuit. There was barely any fabric to it. It was nothing like any of the swimsuits I had bought her before. "If there's nothing going on, why would you want to be dressed in this?" "Liam Moore!" Gabrielle screamed. "How could you even go there? We're just going to a hot spring to hang out. That's it. What gives you the right to go through my things and read my messages? Ever heard about privacy?" I tossed the phone over to her. The screen showed the comments section of that short video I posted. They were calling her the pool queen and a perfect match with Caleb. I found those words particularly glaring. "Privacy? Gabrielle, we've been married for three years, and I didn't even know you used to be a national-level athlete. I thought you were just a homebody, but guess what? You just never wanted to get active in front of me. "Every accomplishment you have is tied to that man. Now that he's back, you're rushing to see him." Gabrielle stared at the phone screen, her body trembling. It wasn't guilt, but sheer anger. "You ruined me! I retired years ago and didn't want anyone knowing about my past! But you just had to post that damn video! You just wanted to make a fool out of me!" I watched her expression change. "The caption of my video was 'my couch-potato wife.' I never thought there was anything funny about you being a homebody. I actually thought it was endearing. But now, I feel like I'm the joke." Gabrielle suddenly calmed down. She picked up the swimsuit from the couch and put it back in the shopping bag. "Think whatever you want. I'm going to the reunion. Caleb just got back, and everyone's getting together to welcome him home. It'd be rude if I didn't go." She grabbed her bag and walked to the door to change her shoes. "And don't be such a child, Liam. Caleb and I were classmates for years. It just isn't what you think." With that, she opened the door and shut it without looking back. I stood alone in the quiet living room. Chapter 2 The half-full glass of water Gabrielle had left on the table was still warm. Just then, my phone rang. My friend, Harry Westman, called. "Hey, Liam. Did your wife go to Cloudwater Leisure Club? I just saw her there with some guy. I think I've seen him somewhere before… "Wasn't he the swimmer called Caleb Fisher? Honestly, the way those two were together, they didn't look like ordinary friends to me." I hung up and drove to Cloudwater. I spotted Gabrielle's car outside the leisure club, but I didn't go in. I simply sat in my car, staring at the entrance. One hour passed, then two. At 10:00 pm, Gabrielle finally walked out, side by side with a man. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and wore a simple T-shirt that showcased his toned arms—the unmistakable build of an athlete. That was Caleb. Gabrielle looked incredibly happy beside him, smiling in a way I hadn't seen in all three years of our marriage. She tilted her head up to look at him, her eyes bright. Caleb said something to her, then ruffled her hair. The gesture was effortless. Not only did she not pull away, but she even reached up and straightened his collar. At that moment, they looked like a real couple while I was the clown hiding in the shadows, stalking them. I had always believed we were everything to each other, but it turned out I was nothing more than a reserve. I started the car and drove away quietly. When I got home, I deleted the short video and my account. I sat in the dark and waited for Gabrielle to come home. At midnight, the door opened. She walked in, smelling of hot spring water and alcohol. She jumped when she saw me sitting on the couch. "Why didn't you turn on the lights?" she complained, switching on the living room lights. "You scared the hell out of me." "Did you have fun?" I asked. Her expression went unnatural. "It was… fine. It was just a class reunion. How fun can it be? We drank, talked, and sang karaoke." She kept avoiding my eyes as she spoke. I stood up and walked over to her. "Really? I thought you went to a hot spring." The smell of alcohol on Gabrielle was even stronger up close. "They wanted to go sing afterward, so we never got around to it," she said, still lying. "Gabrielle, Caleb touched your hair." She jerked her head up, her eyes widening. "You… You actually followed me! Liam, you're freaking me out!" "I didn't follow you." I took out my phone and tapped open one of my chat boxes. It was with Harry's wife, who was an account manager at Cloudwater. "Could you pull up the security footage from the entrance to the VIP area tonight?" I texted her. A few minutes later, she sent me a video. I held my phone up in front of Gabrielle. In the video, Caleb ran his fingers through her hair while she rose onto her toes to straighten his collar. The interaction was so intimate that they didn't even seem to care who might be watching. "My friend saw you two together. This is the footage." Gabrielle's face turned pale. She stared at the video, lips quivering, but nothing came out. "No hot spring? Just karaoke? Gabrielle, look me in the eye and tell me exactly what you two did today." She flipped out. "We didn't do anything! We'd both had too much to drink. He just helped me when I stumbled. What's wrong with that? Do you really have to look at us through that filthy mind of yours? "We're championship partners! You don't know what we had!" I laughed. "I don't? You're right. I don't. Let me ask you something I do know. Did you accept the bracelet he bought you?" Chapter 3 Gabrielle instinctively checked her wrist. It was bare. That gesture alone told me everything. "How did you know?" "Take a guess." I didn't tell her the answer, though. The truth was, I found an empty jewelry box in her car's storage. Before heading out to meet Caleb, she had deliberately hidden the bracelet away, for fear of letting me know. Gabrielle's face was washed white. "So what? It was just a bracelet, a present from an old friend. Do you have to get all dramatic?" "I don't know. Do I?" I slowly walked toward her. "Gabrielle, you wear the clothes I bought you and drove the car I paid for to meet up with your ex-boyfriend. He bought you a bracelet, and you happily accepted it. "What about me? Did you remember what happened on my birthday last month?" My eyes never left hers. Memories of that day resurfaced. I had excitedly booked a restaurant that evening, only to come home with the necklace she had eyed for the longest time and find her on the couch. I had called her earlier that day, and she told me she had been at home all day because she had been feeling under the weather. "I believed you then. I canceled all the bookings and came home to look after you," I said. "But when I came home, I found your delivery order in the trash—spicy buffalo wings, your favorite. "It came from the very restaurant you never let me try because, apparently, it was too unhealthy for me." I made my words count, though my voice was shaking. "You weren't feeling under the weather, Gabrielle. You were just too lazy to care, even if it was my birthday." My words prickled Gabrielle's heart like thorns. Her eyes reddened. "Liam, do you have to go so far and be so mean? All I did was forget—" I cut her off. "You did forget because you don't love me. You only married me because you needed a safe space to heal from your heartbreak with Caleb. You're not introverted or lazy. "You'd simply spent all your energy and passion for life on him in the past. Meanwhile, I'm nothing more than a landlord who happens to provide you three meals a day." I paused. "You know what? No—at least a landlord gets paid. What have I gotten in return? A wife who can't remember my birthday, or a wife who still can't get over her ex?" The living room became eerily silent. Tears rolled down Gabrielle's face. "No, Liam… It's not like that at all…" She tried to take my hand, but I dodged her. "Don't touch me. It feels dirty." She froze. This was the first time I had spoken so harshly to her. Her tears spilled even faster. "I swear there's nothing between Caleb and me. It's all in the past—" I scoffed. "Is it, though? As soon as he came back, you changed. The past? Stop lying to yourself, Gabrielle." Just then, Gabrielle's phone rang. She scrambled to take out her phone from her bag. The screen flashed with Caleb's name. She froze. The ringtone echoed through the quiet living room like a blaring alarm. Conflicted, she could neither answer nor decline the call. I looked at her. "Go on. Answer it. Don't keep your concerned old friend waiting." By then, Gabrielle had bitten her lip so hard that it had turned pale. In the end, she still answered the call and put him on speaker. Caleb chuckled on the other line. "Hey, Gabs. Have you arrived home? Your husband isn't ruffled or anything, is he? If he's giving you a hard time, tell me. I'm not one to sit around and let you take it, you know?" His tone was full of provocation, as if he were the one who wore the pants in this relationship. Chapter 4 Gabrielle frantically tried to turn off speaker mode, but I stopped her. "Let him talk." Caleb, on the other end of the line, continued, "Why aren't you saying anything, Gabs? Is Liam with you? Perfect. Make sure he hears this. He'll never deserve you, Gabs. You're my woman—always have been, and always will be. "We were born to be championship partners. Who the hell does he think he is? Some dumbass who only knows how to hike and run? What does he even know about you? "Does he know how bad the fluid buildup in your knees got when you were training for the competitions? Does he know your skin breaks out in painful patches because you're allergic to chlorine? "He doesn't! All he knows how to do is post videos of you online and make you look like some lazy bum for everyone to laugh at! "Leave him, Gabs. Come back to me. I came back this time to take you away. I opened a swimming club. I need a champion coach like you. Let's bring back the glory we had back then." Every word Caleb said felt like a hammer pounding against my chest. I looked at Gabrielle. There wasn't a hint of shame on her face at being exposed. Instead, she looked hesitant, yearning for the future he sold. So, they had planned all of this long ago. Whatever class reunion or welcome-back party was just an excuse. They wanted to rekindle what they had, and he had even arranged a job for her. I was the last idiot to find out, an obstacle they needed to kick out of the way. I let go of Gabrielle's hand. "Did you hear that?" Caleb asked over the phone. "Liam, if you're a man, let her go. Stop getting in the way of her future." I picked up Gabrielle's phone and spoke into the receiver, making my words count. "Caleb, right? You want her? Fine. But you don't get to just take what's mine. Gabrielle is my wife. Even if we get divorced, I get to decide how that happens." With that, I hung up. Gabrielle stared at me, her expression complicated. "Liam, you—" "What are you going to say?" I asked, looking at her. "That he was drunk and didn't mean what he said? Or that the swimming club had nothing to do with you? That you never thought about leaving me?" She fell silent. That lack of response was the very answer. I nodded. "Okay. Since you two are so determined to bring back your glory days, I'll help you make it happen." I pulled a document out of the drawer and slammed it onto the table. "This is the house we bought before we got married. The deed is in my name. This is the car I bought for you. It's in my name, too. "And this card—all the household expenses come out of this account." I tossed the bank card onto the table. "Gabrielle, if you want to go off with your perfect match, go ahead. But you'll leave with nothing." Gabrielle's face was pale. She clearly hadn't expected me to be so decisive. "Liam, you can't do this to me!" she shrieked. "We're married! All of this is marital assets! If you try to pull something like this, I'll take you to court!" "Take me to court?" I laughed, the sound cold. "Go ahead. Maybe I'll finally get to show the judge how you cheated on me. By then, everyone can find out how the pool queen betrayed her own husband. "Who do you think will have their reputation destroyed? Me, or you?"