— What’s this? — Ira was sorting through some documents; she needed her husband’s passport, which she was searching for in his bag. But the passport «caught» something else as well.
— I thought you wouldn’t find this… — muttered Andrey, blushing.
That morning, Irina woke up alone. Andrey had left early — the usual story. Ira reached for her phone: the screen flashed a notification, meaning a new message had arrived.
“I’m good. How are you? Love you.”
Receiving such a message from her husband surprised Ira. Unexpectedly so. He usually didn’t text her in the mornings — his mornings were always «all about work.»
She was about to reply but stopped. Something about the message seemed strange. Probably because it looked like an answer to a question she hadn’t asked.
Ira put the phone back.
In the evening, while having dinner together, she casually asked:
— Did you text anyone this morning?
— No one.
— Strange, I got this message…
He smirked and hugged her:
— Ah… I just wanted to say everything’s fine. You rarely text me.
She looked at her husband and smiled. Everything seemed quite normal. Yet the strange feeling that had surfaced didn’t go away.
The next day, Irina was gathering laundry. She always washed her husband’s shirts separately. At one point, while putting a shirt into the washing machine, she caught a scent. A foreign one. Something cloyingly sweet, floral.
She brought the shirt closer to her face. The same scent. Not conditioner, not detergent. Definitely not her perfume, nor his deodorant.
— Strange smell, isn’t it? — she asked Andrey. He sniffed and shrugged.
— Don’t know, — he muttered, looking away. A couple of days later, he brought her a gift.
— Perfume? — Ira was surprised. She usually chose fragrances herself.
— Wanted to make you happy. But you guessed early. That smell… from the shirt — it’s perfume from the store. You know how salespeople sometimes spray not on the tester, but somewhere else? So I ended up smelling like that.
She took the bottle.
— What’s the occasion?
— Just because. You’re beautiful to me. And beautiful women should have expensive scents.
— Thank you, — Ira thought he sounded sincere, smiling. She thanked her husband. And although the scent was unfamiliar, when she sprayed it on her wrist in the bathroom, it seemed somehow familiar.
Ira arrived early to meet her friend and was finishing her coffee when Evelina entered the room. Tall, striking. Many thought they were sisters — they looked alike but were very different.
— How are you, dear? You look tired.
— A bit, — Ira nodded. — Andrey went to some meeting early today. Said he’d be late tonight.
— Work again? — Evelina laughed. — Why can’t they just be near us instead of always “on a project”?
Ira smirked.
— He tries. Almost always comes home on time. Last week he even brought my favorite cake, just like that. And yesterday morning he sent a text: “Love you.” And gave me perfume. What do you think? — Ira showed the bottle.
Evelina twitched slightly but immediately covered the movement with a sip of coffee.
— Romantic! — she forced a smile. — I know that perfume. My ex gave me the same before we broke up.
— Really? Now it’s clear to me. — Ira looked away.
— What’s clear?!
— How I know that scent. It’s yours. Not mine.
Evelina almost choked on her coffee.
— Well… I hardly ever use that scent.
— I didn’t like it. It suits you better. If you want, I can give it to you.
— No. No need. Thanks. I still have that full bottle, — her friend adjusted her hair and changed the subject, but Ira still voiced her doubts.
— You know, I wasn’t jealous before, but that SMS… it just threw me off. We haven’t been in a honeymoon phase for a long time. And Andrey’s not sentimental. Maybe he wasn’t texting me but sent it to my number by mistake?
Evelina giggled.
— Ira… don’t you think you’re just overworked? Seriously. Constant suspicion wears you down. Sometimes we invent reasons ourselves. Then… we find things that aren’t there. Go to a spa, relax. I saw an ad for a nice place recently… foam massage, hammam… The salon is called “Fairy Orchid.” Write it down. I think I’ll go too.
Ira nodded. She wanted to trust her husband. But inside, something felt unpleasant, like something important was just starting to surface but it wasn’t clear what yet.
And it “surfaced” a week later.
— What’s this? — Ira frowned.
She was looking for Andrey’s passport — she needed to urgently send a copy for insurance. Andrey was talking on the phone at the time. Ira rummaged through his bag and unzipped a compartment. The passport lay in a side pocket but was caught on the corner of something — dense, glossy.
It was an envelope. White, with the logo of a spa center.
Ira pulled out the find and twirled it in her hands. Thick, expensive paper. On the back — a flower drawing.
— What is this? — she repeated louder.
Andrey was already standing in the kitchen doorway. His gaze fell on the envelope, and for a moment, he seemed speechless.
— I thought… you wouldn’t find this, — he muttered.
— What exactly was I not supposed to find? — her voice trembled.
— It’s… well, I wanted to surprise you, — he stepped closer, — a spa package for two. Massage, thermal zone… Wanted to give it on Friday. But you found my gift too early again.
— Really? — she looked at him closely. — Then why is only your name on the envelope? Not a word about me.
He hesitated. For a second, looked away.
— I just didn’t bother. But if you want, I’ll write your name myself.
She silently nodded and put the envelope on the table. Maybe she was overthinking it.
They went to the spa. Everything was romantic, like at the very beginning of their relationship. It seemed — everything was fine. Ira even relaxed. She felt better. Her husband was with her. What more could she want? He came on time, phone was “clean,” gave gifts, arranged surprises.
Maybe the propaganda of unhealthy relationships just affects women’s minds too much? Cheating everywhere — in movies, books, insurance ads, love songs, gossip among friends…
When Ira suddenly realized all this was nonsense and just her imagination, she bought her husband a return gift and decided to arrange a candlelit evening at home — like before.
And suddenly, on the eve of that evening, she got a call:
— Good afternoon. We’re from the “Fairy Orchid” spa center. You left a bracelet here. We found your number in the guest form.
— I didn’t leave anything, — Ira shuddered. The salon’s name hurt her ears. Someone had mentioned it, but she hadn’t even looked at the salon’s sign. Some flower logo… Orchid, then…
— Are you sure? It was you and your husband here.
— Fine, I’ll come by, — Ira agreed for some reason. She decided to check her suspicion and find out everything. That evening she went to the salon she had visited with Andrey.
The receptionist looked at her and suddenly faltered.
— You were here… recently, right? With…
— With my husband.
Silence hung.
— Sorry. It’s just… he was here yesterday too. At lunch.
— Alone?! Are you sure?
— I thought it was with you, the bracelet was left… The girl who was with him looks a lot like you. But behaved nothing like polite and well-mannered you. She demanded champagne, rose petals… We and my colleagues thought you changed so much in a week, maybe you have split personalities or PMS… Oh, sorry, I don’t know why I’m saying this, — the girl got nervous and blushed.
— Where’s the bracelet? — Ira asked coldly.
— Here… — the administrator pulled out a bracelet from a drawer. Costume jewelry, familiar to Ira. She had recently given this trinket to Evelina, brought from vacation. A beautiful little thing, unusual, memorable.
— Oh, then I won’t give it to you… It’s not yours! — the girl suddenly realized.
— Not mine? — Ira repeated. — The husband is mine… But the bracelet belongs to my friend.
— Hmm… this is awkward. Sorry.
— Give it to me. Trust me, I will return the find. Personally to the hand of that… not very smart woman. And I will talk to my husband about why he’s taking my friends to the spa…
Ira managed to negotiate with the salon administrator.
She didn’t plan to throw a tantrum or start a scandal now. All night Ira thought about how to get revenge on her husband. She simply decided not to talk to Evelina anymore.
She spent the whole next week on herself, on her beauty. Ira no longer wanted to look like her friend. She dyed her hair, changed her haircut, started dressing differently, emptying Andrey’s card.
But her revenge wasn’t just that. She prepared a special “dish” for her husband. For dessert.
— Where were you? — Andrey asked after a couple of days.
— Meeting for work. I should have focused on my career a long time ago.
— But we planned to have kids…
— No, I decided I’m not ready yet.
He looked at her suspiciously.
Evelina wrote several times that week. Once even called.
— Ira, let’s meet. I need to tell you something…
— I’m busy, sorry. — Ira declined the call. She guessed exactly what Evelina wanted to say. And she sent a screenshot of social media chats in reply.
“Yes, your husband and I… are close. Sorry,” — she added to the photos.
Ira realized now it was definitely over. She saw her husband getting nervous. However, Andrey didn’t recognize his wife either.
— What’s wrong with you? — he asked when she was getting ready for another evening meeting. In a cocktail dress, with hair done.
— Tired of sitting at home. Friends are fickle ladies, you can’t count on them…
— So maybe we should go somewhere together?
— I’m busy today.
— Hey! Do you have someone else?! — Andrey pressed his lips like a hurt teenager but then tried to hug her. She pushed him away and didn’t answer. That evening she came home very late.
Two weeks passed.
Andrey couldn’t settle, he thought about his wife constantly. He was jealous.
His anxiety affected work. Soon there was a big project and a business dinner planned. He was not quite ready because Ira didn’t come home the night before and he was trying to call her. Early morning she finally got in touch: she said she “was at her mother’s.”
He didn’t believe it. But there was no time for a scene; he had to prepare for the meeting.
Andrey barely arrived on time. But a surprise awaited him in the hall. At a table, he saw Ira. She sat opposite his boss. Explaining something. Calmly, confidently. The boss nodded at Andrey:
— Oh, hello. Sit down. Your wife — well, almost ex-wife now — is a very capable candidate for the deputy position. Too bad you never said she knew so much about sales strategy. She and I decided you needed a break. You’ll handle the routine that’s piled up, and she’ll take the new project.
Andrey sat down. But he no longer heard what they were saying. He looked at his wife’s hand, where the wedding ring was missing.
She didn’t go home. Didn’t talk to her husband. Just informed him she filed for divorce.
A week later, Andrey was demoted, and Ira started her new job.
As it turned out later, Ira met Andrey’s boss “by chance” at the restaurant during lunch. They exchanged a few words; she charmed him with her knowledge, décolleté, and feminine charisma, and he, no less of a womanizer than Andrey, offered her a job. And something else, no strings attached.
Ira hinted she was not against it but kept her chastity, which fueled the interest of a not-so-principled man. A couple of weeks later, he no longer thought she was the wife of his subordinate. He wanted to conquer her and was ready for staff changes.
— Did you cheat on me? With my boss?! — Andrey asked, catching Ira in the office lobby. He was crushed, confused, and didn’t understand what was going on.
— No, — she answered with a predatory smile. — Not yet. But once we divorce, I will definitely make up for lost time. Or is only you allowed to fool around?
— What are you talking about?!
— Stop pretending. I know everything, — Ira quickly left, leaving her husband alone watching her go.
It was over between them. Ira got what she wanted, let her husband go to another woman, and took full revenge. Because all cheating men need to be taught a lesson. Right? Or maybe it was worth talking? Listening to his side…
