The Confession of a Powerful Cheater Novel – Chapter 1 My buddy asked me if I still had feelings for my wife after I cheated on her. I actually thought about it for a second. How do I put this. It wasn’t that I felt nothing. We’d been family to each other for a long time. But did I love her the way I used to? No. Not really. I thought I’d figured out what marriage really was. Then one day, out on the street. I saw her smiling at another man. My BOSS. The heir to the Cavalieri family’s Don. – I was about to answer Vincent’s question. My phone buzzed. Eloise. “What’s up, Lo?” My voice went soft on its own. She was already laughing before she said a word. “Ha, Michael, when are you coming home? Mochi finally learned to do a backflip, you have to see it!” I laughed too. “Okay, I’ll be home soon.
You want popcorn? I’ll grab some on the way.” “Yes please!” “Dark roast kettle corn or sea salt hot cocoa flavor?” “Hot cocoa!” We hung up still laughing. I turned around and found Vincent watching me, head tilted, a strange look on his face. I tugged my mouth into something like a smile. I wasn’t surprised he was staring. He’d just gone through a divorce after his wife caught him keeping a mistress on the side. It had cost him everything he had, and the two of them had come out the other side as enemies for life. Meanwhile, me and Eloise? Happy. Sweet. In love. Four years married, and instead of getting sick of each other, we’d only grown closer. The truth was, I’d always treated her well. And after I cheated, I treated her even better. By any measure you wanted to use, she was the kind of happy woman other women envied. Vincent pursed his lips and pushed me. “You still haven’t answered my question, man.” I shook my head, helpless, tapped the ash off my cigarette, and asked him: “Let me put it this way.
Do you feel anything when you touch your own hand?” “What kind of feeling would that be?” I took a drag, squinted at the uneven skyline in the distance, and said slowly: “That’s exactly what it’s like with Eloise now.” “Touching her is like touching my own hand. But if her hand got hurt, I’d hurt too.” Vincent blinked. “Is that your excuse for being with Serena?” I turned, serious, and warned him. “Serena’s got a lot of pride. Don’t you dare say that in front of her.” I didn’t think I was some kind of monster. Even though I’d slept with Serena while married. Some things in this world are just messed up. That’s all there is to it.
A year ago, at my high school reunion, I’d run into Serena, my old teenage crush, out of nowhere. The moment I saw her, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Serena I remembered. Gorgeous, wealthy, top of the class. To guys like me back then, still fumbling through those insecure, gray years of adolescence. She’d been like something out of a dream. Untouchable even in my imagination. But that day, the woman standing in front of me had been completely reshaped by life. Worn out. Too thin.
Tired around the eyes. Her mouth and brow had gone hard and sharp, the kind of lines that only come from getting knocked down again and again. Something in my chest twisted. It was like spending your whole life looking up at a full moon you worshipped, only to watch it crash down into the dirt. No glow left. Just dust.