After four miscarriages and plenty of plain to overcome, Paige and her husband, Victor, finally welcomed a child in their life.
The two were a great couple who knew what worked for them and what didn’t. After every miscarriage, Victor assured Paige that everything would be all right eventually, and that if they couldn’t have a baby of their own, they could always consider other options. His words were always comforting.
When baby Mason was welcomed into the world, it felt like all those shattered dreams had finally pieced themselves together. He became the center of his parents’ lives and they put him above everything else, including their careers.
Being a chief executive with a clothing brand, Paige needed to travel a lot because she was involved in every step of the product designs.
This didn’t bother her much because she knew Victor was a wonderful father who took great care of their child whenever she was away from home.
When Mason turned four, Paige knew he was about to enter pre-school soon so she decided to limit her work trips in order to be able to spend more time with him.
One time, Paige was away from home for three days, and once her work was done, she was eager to get home to her family and give her son a hug. Little did she know that this time would be different.
As she entered, the house was strangely quiet, with faint shuffling noises coming from upstairs.
Victor’s voice was hushed but urgent — the same urgency that Mason associated with misbehavior and bedtime.
“Buddy, you’ve got to promise me one thing, okay?” Victor said.
“Okay,” Mason muttered innocently. “What is it?”
“You’ve got to promise me that you won’t tell Mom what you saw.”
“But I don’t like secrets,” Mason said. “Why can’t I tell Mommy?”
Victor let out a deep sigh — its echo seemed to ripple through the house, as if carried by the air.
“It’s not a secret, Mason,” he said. “But if we tell Mommy, it’s going to make her sad. Do you want Mommy to be sad, buddy?”
“No, I don’t,” Mason answered.
At that moment, pretending she didn’t hear a thing, Paige yelled, “Mason! Victor! Mom’s home!”
“What’s going on?” she asked, as Mason leaped into her arms.
“Nothing, honey,” Victor said, winking. “Just a boys’ chat. Welcome home.”
Since Victor was the perfect husband and father, Paige tried to convince herself that the conversation she overheard was truly nothing important. She thought to herself that Victor probably gave Mason too many sweets or let him eat junk food, and that’s what they tried to hide from her.
However, letting it go seemed harder that she thought.
The week that followed and the trip she had to take were both a blessing and a curse for Paige. As much as she loved her job, the thought of leaving Mason saddened her profoundly. She only found solace in the photos Victor sent her, and one of those photos brought more questions than answers.
In one of the photos showing Mason playing with his toys, Paige spotted blue shows she had never seen before. They weren’t hers, yet they were there in her living room.
Paige decided to scroll through each of the photos Victor has ever sent her, and she did find more evidence of someone being in their home while she was away. Was it a nanny he hired to take care of their son? If yes, she had a very expensive taste.
This time, Paige decided to return home without telling Victor. She wanted to surprise him.
Once home from her trip, she entered straight to Mason’s room who had just woken up and was rubbing his eyes.
“Dad’s not downstairs?” she asked, as she could hear noises coming from the bedroom. “Mommy, don’t go in there. You’ll be sad,” Mason warned her.
In the bedroom, Victor was in bed with another woman. “Paige!” he exclaimed, sitting up in bed. “It’s not what you think!”
“Do I look that stupid?”
The woman took her clothes and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
The ensuing confrontation was a whirlwind of tears, accusations, and heartbreak. Victor attempted to deny everything, relying on his charm. Paige knew that if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she might have fallen for his lies.
“I have nothing else to say to you,” Paige said.
“What did you expect, Paige?” Victor asked.
The woman fled the house and Paige was left to confront the man she no longer knew.
“You’re never here,” he lashed out. “You’re never around. And when you’re home, you spend all your time on Mason or working. What about me?”
He tried to portray himself as a victim. “I need human contact, too,” he said. “And I don’t know what you get up to when you’re flying all over the country. I bet you’ve got stories, too.”
“No, Victor,” she said. “I’m not you. My vows meant something to me.”
Eventually, Paige asked Victor to move out and filed for divorce. Reflecting on that conversation between him and Mason that she had overheard, Paige realized the signs were always there, but she tried to ignore them because she only saw the good in her soon to be ex-husband.
Prince William and Princess Catherine are marking 14 years of love while visiting Scotland’s Isle of Mull on their wedding anniversary.
The ferry sliced through the calm, grey-blue waters, leaving a frothy wake behind it. On the deck, the wind whipped at their hair, carrying the scent of salt and distant heather. Prince William stood with his arm around Princess Catherine, both gazing towards the approaching green and rugged shores of the Isle of Mull. Fourteen years. It felt like a lifetime and a blink of an eye all at once.
They had chosen Mull for a quiet escape, a place far from the usual pomp and circumstance, to mark their wedding anniversary. A place where the wild beauty of Scotland could offer a backdrop to their own enduring connection.
As they disembarked and drove along winding coastal roads, the landscape unfolded like a tapestry of emerald hills, dramatic cliffs, and hidden coves. Sheep dotted the hillsides like scattered pebbles, and the air was filled with the cries of gulls.
Their destination was a secluded cottage overlooking a loch, a place of simple comfort and breathtaking views. That evening, as the setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and purple, they walked hand-in-hand along the rocky shore.
“Remember that rain shower on our wedding day?” Catherine mused, a smile playing on her lips. “Everyone was so worried, but it felt… like a blessing.”
William squeezed her hand. “It did. And look at us now. Fourteen years, three wonderful children, countless adventures.”
They talked of their early days, the nervous excitement of their engagement, the joy of their wedding day, the overwhelming love they felt holding each of their babies for the first time. They spoke of challenges faced together, of moments of quiet strength found in each other, and of the shared purpose that guided their public lives.
Mull seemed to hold its breath around them, the silence broken only by the gentle lapping of the water and the distant call of a bird. It was a silence that allowed for reflection, for gratitude, for the quiet reaffirmation of a bond forged in public but deepened in private moments like these.
The next day, they hiked across windswept moors, the vastness of the landscape mirroring the depth of their journey together. They visited ancient standing stones, feeling the weight of history beneath their feet, and picnicked by a cascading waterfall, the sound a soothing symphony.
As their short escape drew to a close, they stood once more on the ferry deck, watching Mull recede into the distance. The island had offered them not just a beautiful setting, but a sanctuary, a space to simply be William and Catherine, a couple celebrating fourteen years of a love story that continued to unfold, strong and true, against the backdrop of their extraordinary lives. The journey ahead held its own unknowns, but looking at each other, they knew they would face it together, just as they always had.
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