When Julianne answers her husband’s phone, the furious voice on the other end reveals a devastating secret: her husband has been living a double life. Now, she’ll have to act fast to protect herself and her son from the fallout of her husband’s deceit.
If you’d asked me that morning if I was happy, I would’ve said yes. Maybe not convincingly, but I would’ve said it. That was before the call.
A silhouette of a woman | Source: Midjourney
I spent my days juggling the roles of wife, mother, and school volunteer. My husband, Raymond, was the breadwinner, a mid-level manager who came home late too often these days, citing work stress.
My eight-year-old son, Ethan, was my anchor, and the reason I kept pushing through even when Raymond’s distant eyes gnawed at me.
But I didn’t have time to dwell. Life kept moving, and I was good at keeping up.
Close up of a woman’s face | Source: Midjourney
I’d already seen Ethan off to school on the bus and was leaning in to kiss Ray goodbye when he whirled away from me and grabbed his briefcase.
“I’ve got to rush. Today’s going to be crazy and Mr. Richards must be waiting for me already,” he muttered as he rushed out the door.
I didn’t even notice he’d left his phone on the kitchen table. When it started ringing a few minutes after he left, I answered automatically, thinking it was mine.
A cell phone | Source: Midjourney
“Raymond,” snapped a woman’s voice, sharp and angry. “I warned you! If you don’t get rid of her, I’ll tell everyone I’m pregnant with your child.”
My throat closed up. I knew that voice… it was Vera, my sister!
“I’m done waiting, Ray. This is your last warning. Tell her today, or else!”
Before I could scream or demand answers, the line went dead.
A woman holding a cell phone | Source: Midjourney
I stood there, frozen, the phone clutched so tightly in my hand that my knuckles turned white. Vera had always been the storm to my calm. Beautiful, reckless, and magnetic, she flitted through life, bringing chaos and charm in equal measure.
And now she was pregnant with my husband’s child. They’d been cheating on me… for how long?
A strange, detached instinct kicked in, like my body was operating on autopilot. My thumb hovered over the screen before I unlocked Raymond’s phone, the password I’d seen him type a thousand times burning in my mind.
A woman standing in a kitchen | Source: Midjourney
My fingers trembled as I scrolled through the messages. And there were dozens of texts, a thread of secrets I was never supposed to uncover.
Vera’s words were insistent, pleading: When are you going to tell her? I can’t keep doing this, Ray. She’s clueless.
Then Raymond’s careful, measured replies: I just need more time. I want to do this right. We can’t risk her finding out — it’ll ruin everything.
The bile rose in my throat as I pieced it together. They had a plan, and it was cold, and calculated.
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
They’d leave their marriages in such a way that nobody would suspect their affair. Vera was ready to leave Jack, and Raymond had been weighing how to drop me quietly and cleanly, ensuring his finances remained untouched.
She won’t get a penny, one of his messages read. I’ll make sure of it.
My knees buckled, and I slid to the kitchen floor.
A woman sitting on a floor | Source: Midjourney
The phone slipped from my grasp and clattered onto the tiles, but I didn’t care. I sat there, shaking, the weight of betrayal pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket.
Vera’s voice replayed in my head, layered over Raymond’s careful lies. The two people I trusted most in the world had conspired against me, trading whispers behind my back while I set the table for family dinners and kissed Raymond goodnight.
The betrayal didn’t just sting; it consumed me, a fiery, unrelenting ache that made my vision blur.
An emotional woman | Source: Midjourney
I pressed my hands to my face, trying to block it all out. But it was burned into my mind now. My husband and my sister were plotting my destruction.
For the first time in my life, I felt entirely untethered. But I wasn’t going to let them destroy my life. And I wouldn’t let Ethan suffer for their selfishness.
Anger fueled me, sharpening my focus as I grabbed my keys and headed straight for Vera’s husband’s office.
An office building | Source: Pexels
Jack was the kind of man who could turn chaos into order. He was everything Vera wasn’t: level-headed, meticulous, and about as far from impulsive as a person could get. If anyone could help me, it was Jack.
The office building was quiet. Jack’s secretary wasn’t even there yet; her desk sat empty as I marched past it, my sneakers squeaking against the polished floors.
My heart pounded in my chest as I reached his door and knocked harder than I intended.
A door | Source: Pexels
“Come in,” Jack called, his deep, calm voice carrying through the door.
I stepped inside, and he looked up from his desk, his brow knitting in confusion when he saw me.
“Julianne?” He stood, concern flashing in his sharp, gray eyes. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
I didn’t bother with pleasantries. My hands trembled as I crossed the room and set Raymond’s phone on his desk.
A cell phone on a desk | Source: Pexels
“I have something important to tell you, Jack. It’s about Vera and…” I faltered, my voice catching. “You’ll need to see it for yourself.”
He gestured for me to sit, but I stayed standing. His gaze didn’t leave me as he picked up the phone and scrolled through the messages. With each swipe, his face darkened. His jaw tightened, and his grip on the phone grew rigid.
“Goddammit, Vera,” he muttered under his breath, his calm veneer cracking.
A stressed man | Source: Midjourney
He set the phone down with more force than necessary and pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. I thought he might explode, but instead, he grabbed a notepad from his desk and flipped it open. His movements were precise and deliberate.
“We need a plan,” he said, his tone clipped and businesslike.
I blinked at him, startled by his composure. “You’re not… shocked? Hurt?”
“No, I’m furious,” he said, meeting my eyes.
A furious man | Source: Midjourney
His voice was calm, but there was a dangerous edge beneath it. “Vera’s always been mercurial, but this time she’s gone too far.”
He tapped his pen against the notepad, his jaw set. “I’m filing for divorce. And I’m going to help you do the same. With evidence like this, they don’t stand a chance.”
I sank into the chair across from him, my earlier fury replaced by something steadier.
“Jack,” I said, my voice soft. “Thank you.”
A grateful woman | Source: Midjourney
His lips pressed into a thin line as he began scribbling notes. “Don’t thank me yet. This is going to be messy. But they’ve left us no choice. We’ll have to move fast, even if it means I have to pull some strings. This is what we’re going to do…”
Jack continued taking notes as he outlined his plan. My resolve solidified as I took it all in. I was a little awed by how quickly he calculated each step, but mostly, I was relieved.
I wasn’t alone in this fight. Jack and I would make sure Vera and Raymond paid for their betrayal, and that neither of us would be left picking up the pieces alone.
A lawyer in his office | Source: Midjourney
That evening, Vera and Jack joined Raymond and me for dinner. I’d texted Vera the invite the minute I got home. I’d then called Ray’s office to tell him he’d left his phone at home.
“Oh my God,” he muttered, a hint of panic in his voice. “Just… switch it off and put it in my nightstand drawer, okay?”
“Sure, honey,” I replied. “By the way, Jack and Vera will be joining us for dinner tonight. Could you pick up a bottle of wine on the way home?”
A woman speaking on her cell phone | Source: Midjourney
Next, I arranged for Ethan to sleep over at a friend’s house. By the time we sat down to dinner that evening, all the pieces of Jack’s plan were in place.
I poured a large glass of wine and set it down in front of Vera.
“Oh, no wine for me, Jules.” She pointedly stared at Raymond. “I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I replied. “The first trimester is rough and pregnant women aren’t supposed to drink, are they?”
Wine glasses on a table | Source: Pexels
Vera’s fork clattered against her plate, and Raymond’s hand tightened on the edge of the table.
“Oh, don’t act surprised,” I said. “I know about the affair, the baby, and your little plans to leave me with nothing.”
Jack, who had been waiting for his cue, produced two folders and rose from his seat.
“These are your divorce papers,” he said, slapping one folder down in front of Vera before placing the other in front of Ray. “And these are yours.”
Divorce papers | Source: Pexels
Raymond turned to me, panic flooding his eyes. “Julianne, please…”
“You don’t get to talk!” I snapped, my voice trembling with rage. “You’ve destroyed everything, and for what? Her?”
Raymond looked at Vera, who was openly crying now, then back at me. He didn’t answer. He just stared at the table, defeated.
An emotional man | Source: Midjourney
In the weeks that followed, Jack and I worked like a team. He was relentless in court, helping me secure a settlement that ensured Ethan and I would be fine.
Raymond lost his assets, his reputation, and whatever shred of decency he thought he had left. Jack filed for full custody of his children, and Vera was left scrambling.
The scandal tore through our small town. Everyone knew what had happened, and neither Raymond nor Vera could walk into the grocery store without whispers trailing them.
People in a grocery store | Source: Pexels
One evening, as I watched Ethan play in the yard, I felt a strange sense of peace. My life wasn’t what I thought it was. It was messy, complicated, and painful. But it was mine, and I was free to shape it into something new.
Here’s another story: Mia’s thrilled when her unruly son, Jack, returns from a weekend at Grandma’s house as a model of discipline, but his strange transformation leaves her uneasy. Determined to uncover what happened, Mia’s questions lead her to a dangerous revelation.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Howie Mandel reveals he’s ‘incredibly medicated,’ admits mental health struggles are ‘absolute hell’
renowned for saying “don’t touch me” a lot.When Howie Mandel gave Reba McEntire a firm hug on The Voice stage in September 2023, it stunned everyone.
The comedian caved in to his excitement and was unable to resist the country music star’s allure because he suffers from a crippling phobia of germs.
Mandel appears upbeat and joyful when he is in the spotlight, but when he is not, he discloses that he is a “scared” guy who would rather live “in the fetal position.”
Furthermore, he just made a startling admission that disclosed how he controls the OCD that drives him to “absolute hell.”To find out more, continue reading!
Many people’s inner germaphobe was let loose by the horror of the global epidemic, making them more aware of the risks of contamination.
While many people’s fear of germs passed after a few years, for others it remains crippling and never goes away.
“It is impossible for me to live a day in my life without thinking that we might not survive,” says Howie Mandel, a man who has experienced extreme anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) since he was a little child. The 68-year-old TV personality says the pandemic was particularly upsetting in an interview with People, saying, “But the comfort I would get would be the fact that everybody around me was okay.” It’s a good idea to hold on. However, everything in the world was not well throughout the pandemic. And it was just the worst.
OCD is defined as a “pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears known as obsessions” by the Mayo Clinic. These obsessions cause you to engage in compulsive activities, or repeating actions. These compulsions and obsessions are very distressing and interfere with day-to-day tasks.
“I’m in a bad dream,” declares the comedian who was born in Canada. “I attempt to ground myself. Mandel remarks, “I have a great family, including my wife Terry and their three children, Riley, Jackie, and Alex, who were married in 1980. “I adore what I do,” However, I can sometimes have periods of deep depression from which I cannot recover.
The best medicine is laughter.
Mandel, who got his big break on the medical drama St. Elsewhere in 1982, says that although every day is difficult, comedy gets him through it.
“I use humor as a coping mechanism. I’m crying if I’m not laughing. I haven’t been transparent enough about how dark and terrible things truly get.
Mandel continues, “I’m most at ease onstage,” adding that he uses humor to fend off the allure of OCD. And it’s not nice when I withdraw inside myself when I have nothing to do.
Mandel consistently finds time for projects, contributing his unmatched sense of humor to all of them. He hosts multiple shows in addition to acting as a judge on the America’s Got Talent (AGT) franchise.
“Very heavily medicated”
He opened up to Kelly Clarkson about his mental health concerns during a conversation they had on her talk show in 2022.
“I have OCD and am neurotic.people believe that because I’m out and about, I’m having fun and enjoying myself.I’m terrified. He said to the host, “I like to go home and just live in the fetal position.”
Clarkson retorted, “It’s so funny to me, because every time I’m around you, even seeing you out of work…you’re so the opposite of what I would think,” looking surprised by Mandel’s shadow persona.
Mandel chuckled, “I know, I’m such a joy, I’m a light, I’m an energy, and I’m stunning.” “..To be really honest, I take a lot of medication.
embracing Reba
He may have been excited to see Reba McEntire on The Voice because of that medicine.
Mandel, a panelist on the show, leaped from the audience and called her name. He then hurried up to the country music expert and said, “We’re right next door shooting the AGT finale.” Could you please sign my shirt?
After McEntire signed his “I [heart] Reba” shirt, Mandel gave an unexpected, tight hug to the audience.
Carson Daly, the show’s host, remarked of the man who usually avoids physical contact, “You don’t see that every day.”
Mandel acknowledges his perplexing actions, saying, “People notice discrepancies, particularly in the media.” “He shook someone’s hand,” or “Oh, he hugged someone.” I’m able to give you a handshake. Then I would believe that I hadn’t cleaned it thoroughly. And I would spend hours washing my hands by going back and forth in a circle.
He goes on, “I understand the funny in that,” determined to continue the discourse about mental health. But that doesn’t lessen how excruciatingly awful it is. I also don’t want to justify my emotional well-being. All I want is to keep it going.
Since Mandel was “boosted” and “vaccinated,” his Covid-19 was mild in 2022, serving as a reminder that being afraid of illness is insufficient to keep you safe.
How do you feel about Howie Mandel’s candor regarding his mental health? Kindly share this story with us and let us know what you think so we can start a discourse!
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