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My Husband Used My Color Blindness to Cheat
Novelix
Completed
I am red-green colorblind, and my husband knows it better than anyone. He once promised to be my eyes forever. Then I hang up the wrong pair of boxer briefs and watch his secret lover walk into our home like she belongs there. That is when I learn the truth: red means stay away, green means come upstairs. My weakness has been their signal all along. But I am not the helpless wife Ethan thinks I am. I already have the records, the footage, and the lawyer. Now I am done covering for him.
Chapters (2)
第1章
I catch my husband cheating because I hang up the wrong pair of boxer briefs.
To be exact, I just grab the wrong color.
Because I'm red-green colorblind.
That afternoon, Ethan leaves in a rush. From the front hall, he calls back, "Babe, the boxer briefs by the laundry sink, can you hang them on the outside rail? They need air."
I forget for about fifteen minutes.
When I finally go to the laundry room, there are two pairs by the sink. Same brand. Same style. Different colors I can't tell apart.
I pick up the one closest to me and hang it on the balcony.
After that, I light a cigarette and step outside.
That is when I make eye contact with a woman sitting in a black car downstairs.
I think she is a neighbor, so I nod.
At eleven that night, the smart lock beeps.
The woman from the black car walks in like she lives here.
She changes shoes, drops her keys on the entry table, and does not even see me sitting on the couch.
With her back to me, she starts unbuttoning her coat and laughs toward the bedroom.
"Baby, I saw the green pair. Your wife isn't home."
The bedroom door opens.
Ethan steps out in pajama pants.
When his eyes meet mine, every bit of color drains from his face.
I look toward the balcony.
So that is what it means.
Red means the wife is home.
Green means the wife is gone.
And that day, I hang the wrong one.
For once, I finally get something right.
Paige Wells freezes by the entryway, one hand still on her coat button.
She clearly does not expect to walk into her lover's apartment and find me, the actual wife, sitting there.
Ethan reacts first.
He does not yell. He does not explain.
He walks straight to me, takes the cigarette from my fingers, and crushes it in the ashtray.
"Nora, your stomach's bad. Don't punish yourself like this."
His voice is steady, like I have caught him leaving dishes in the sink, not cheating on me in our home.
Paige stands by the door, pale and stiff.
"Ethan, I, "
Ethan looks back at her.
"Go."
Paige does not move. Her eyes flick to me, like she expects me to jump up and slap her.
I look down at the gray slippers on her feet.
Three months ago, I bought two pairs. One gray, one navy.
Ethan laughed at me then.
"Why would you buy two colors that close? You can't even tell them apart."
Later, the gray pair went missing.
I thought he threw them out.
Now I know he saved them for someone else.
I ask him, "How many times has she been here?"
Ethan's expression shifts.
"Do we have to do this right now?"
He takes my hand. His palm is still warm.
"Nora, tonight is my fault. I admit that."
"You can be mad. You can scream at me. I'll take it."
"But my dad checks into the hospital at seven tomorrow. His surgery is the day after. Let's not drag this in front of him."
My parents died when I was young.
In the seven years I have been married to Ethan, his father, George, has been genuinely good to me.
Every birthday, he bakes for me himself.
When he learns I can't tell red from green, he changes every color-coded label in the house.
Back then, Ethan wraps his arms around my neck and says, "You don't have to tell colors apart. Just trust me. I'll do it for you forever."
Now he uses the colors I can't see to open the door for another woman.
I pull my hand out of his.
"Got it."
Ethan pauses. Then he looks relieved.
He turns to Paige. "Leave. Don't contact me again tonight."
Paige bites her lip. When she passes me, she lowers her voice.
"Mrs. Whitmore, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were home."
I look up at her.
"So if you knew I wasn't home, it was fine to come in?"
Her face goes white.
Ethan steps between us at once, his voice dropping.
"Nora. Enough."
The door closes.
Ethan crouches in front of me and touches my knee.
"Don't look at me like that. You're scaring me."
His eyes turn red fast.
"I'm not saying I don't love you. I've just been a mess lately."
"You know what's been going on. My dad's surgery. Work. Everything at home."
"Paige just… she was there at the wrong time."
I let out a soft laugh.
"She was there all the way into our bed?"
His face tightens.
"Nora, don't make it ugly."
"Is the ugly part what I said, or what you did?"
Tears sit in his eyes, but they do not fall.
He waits for a long time. Then he stands.
"I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. You should cool off. Tomorrow, Dad's still going to need you."
At the door, he turns back.
"Nora, I know you won't abandon him."
When the guest room door closes, I take out my phone.
Tonight's recording, the balcony photos, the smart lock entry log, I upload everything to my cloud drive.
Four months ago, I noticed Paige's car parked downstairs.
Ethan told me she was a new neighbor.
I believed him once.
The second time, I checked the building security footage.
The third time, I hired a lawyer.
Tonight only gives me the final piece.
I open my messages and text Ms. Carter.
We can file.
She replies fast.
Are you sure?
I look at the empty spot in the shoe rack, where the gray slippers should have been.
I type back.
I'm sure.
第2章
At six-thirty the next morning, Ethan knocks on the home office door.
He carries a mug of warm tea.
He sets it beside my hand. His voice is softer than last night.
"Dad asked what time you're coming to the hospital. I didn't tell him we fought. I didn't want him to worry."
I do not touch the tea.
Ethan stands by the desk and looks at the dark circles under my eyes.
"I know you didn't sleep. Nora, if you're still furious, after Dad's surgery, I'll get on my knees and let you curse me out. Okay?"
As he speaks, he reaches for my coat.
Before we go out, he has always checked my things for me.
When he takes care of me, he is careful.
When he cuts me, he knows exactly where to put the knife.
At the hospital, George smiles the second he sees me.
"Nora's here. See? I told you she's more reliable than Ethan."
He grabs my hand and frowns.
"Why are you so cold? Did you not sleep again?"
Ethan stands beside me and smoothly links his arm through mine.
"He was nervous about your surgery," he says with a smile. "She read the pre-op instructions three times last night. I told her not to overdo it, and she got mad at me."
George pats the back of my hand.
"You worry too much, kid. When I'm better, I'll make you my stew."
I lower my head and organize the medical forms.
I do not expose him.
Pre-op consent, payment, test lines, I handle all of it.
Ethan stays for less than half an hour before his phone rings.
He glances at the screen. His face changes for one second, then goes normal again.
"Nora, I need to take a work call. Stay with Dad for a minute."
He walks to the end of the hallway.
Through the glass door, I see him look down and type. His mouth is pressed tight, like he is trying to calm someone down.
George follows my eyes and sighs.
"I spoiled him too much. He has you in his heart. He's just stubborn, and he doesn't always know how to handle things."
I slide the test orders into the folder.
"Yeah."
That afternoon, a nurse puts a hospital bracelet on George's wrist and asks a family member to confirm the color.
"Red is high priority. Green is standard care. Can you check for me?"
I am about to open the color scanner on my phone when Ethan speaks out of habit.
"She can't tell, "
He stops halfway.
The air goes quiet.
The nurse has no idea what happened. She just hands him the bracelet.
Ethan holds it between his fingers. His grip tightens little by little.
Maybe he finally remembers.
Last night, he also used colors I could not tell apart to tell another woman I was not home.
George does not notice anything wrong. He even laughs.
"Ethan used to be so thoughtful. He labeled everything in the house for Nora."
Ethan lowers his eyes and gives the bracelet back to the nurse.
His voice is rough.
"Yeah. I used to help her with colors."
I open the app and scan the bracelet.
A flat mechanical voice says, "Red."
Ethan's face goes pale for a second.
He tries to smile, but it does not happen.
"You use an app now?"
I look at him.
"People can't rely on someone else forever."
He says nothing.
That night, Ethan takes me to dinner and says it is an apology.
He orders grilled fish, soup, and tea. He even remembers to ask for no cilantro.
After the server leaves, he closes the menu and leans toward me.
"Nora, when I saw you using your phone to check colors today, it hurt."
I look at him.
His eyes are red again.
"I told you I'd help you with colors for the rest of my life. What happened last night was awful. I shouldn't have used that as a signal."
At last, he says the thing that hurts the most.
Then, the next second, he takes my hand again and lowers his voice.
"But you know me. You know I'm the only one who really understands how hard these years have been for you."
"You can't erase everything good I've done just because I made one mistake."
I watch him quietly.
He sounds like he loves me.
He also sounds like he is reminding me I cannot live without him.
I pull my hand back.
"Let's eat."
Ethan looks at his empty palm. For the first time, his expression almost cracks.
After dinner, we return to the hospital.
He says something urgent came up at work and he needs to go home for a video meeting.
I do not stop him.
At half past midnight, Ms. Carter sends me a message.
I've finished sorting the large charges from the joint account. The down payment on Paige Wells's car came from Ethan's secondary card.
I look at George, asleep in the hospital bed.
A long moment later, I reply.
Add it to the filing.
