I found out by accident.
For thirty years, I thought I knew my husband. I thought our life was stable, full of trust, that we were like two pillars that held the family together. But everything I believed in was an illusion.
I found out by accident.
It was a regular day – shopping, dinner, quiet solitude at home, when Paweł had to & bdqu;go away on business&rdqu; again. But this time something was different. When I was looking through the papers in my desk, looking for bills, I came across something I should never have seen.
A child's birth certificate.
Not ours.
Date? Eight years ago. While Paul assured me that his trips were just for work.
My heart started pounding. It had to be a mistake, right? Maybe someone from the family? Maybe it accidentally ended up in his documents?
But the longer I looked at that piece of paper, the more I knew there was no mistake. It was his son.
I picked up the phone. I called him several times. He didn't answer.
I couldn't wait. I had to find out the truth.
I drove to the address that was on the document. In my head, I prayed that I was wrong. That this was some terrible coincidence.
I parked a few meters away from a small house. The door opened.
A woman came out. Younger than me.
And behind her… Paul.
He held the boy by the hand, smiling, relaxed. Like a father taking his son to school.
Then I understood. My husband had a second life. He had a second family.
I don't know how long I stood there. Time stopped mattering. My whole life, everything I believed in, was a lie.
Finally I moved on. I couldn't be that woman who believed in his fairy tales anymore.
I returned to an empty house. To memories that suddenly lost their value.
When he finally returned, I looked him in the eye.
„How long?– I asked.
He didn't deny it. There was no point in lying.
„Ten years– he said quietly.
Ten years of a double life. Ten years of him falling asleep next to me, looking into my eyes and telling me he loved me.
I don't know what hurt more – that he cheated on me or that he did it so perfectly that I didn't even know.
I didn't cry that night. I was too empty, too broken inside.
Today he's not in my life. But I still wake up at night with one question: Was any moment of our lives real?