Katy stands frozen in her tracks on the phone to her sister. She wipes a tear from her eye as she confesses a secret that she had kept hidden for 10 years. A secret that she had tried her hardest to keep buried. Then, suddenly, she hears something from behind her that stops her cold. “I can still hear you.” Katy swiftly turned around and saw Ricky, her husband, was still on the zoom call.
His face on the computer was filled with confusion and sadness. What kind of mother would keep a secret like this? Katy had been well and truly caught out. There was no coming back from this.
Katy Smith had the life every woman could dream of. A handsome husband called Ricky, two gorgeous twin daughters called Molly and Megan, and a stunning house. Yes, this lucky lady thought nothing could go wrong in her perfect life.
But she had no idea her world about to be torn in two after a simple slip of the tongue.
When Katy first met Ricky 14 years ago, she fell in love instantly. He was everything she wanted in a guy: handsome, charming, and more importantly, kind. Straight away, she knew he was “the one.” And soon enough, the two lovebirds got engaged and then got married.
Katy thought her life was perfect. This was just what she wanted. But people can do silly things when they’re in “love,” right?
Soon after marriage, Katy and Ricky tried for a baby. And after a few months, Katy became pregnant!
But not with one baby, but two! As soon as she laid her eyes on her two twin daughters, she knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do for her kids. Even if that was something truly unimaginable.
As unromantic as it sounds, being a mother can be a very unglamorous job. Most of the time you feel far from sexy.
This due to the fact you will spend most of your time tired, dealing with a mess, and being there for your children at all times, no matter what. Having kids can put a strain on even the strongest relationship, but something lay just under the surface of Katy and Ricky's marriage that could blow them apart if anyone ever found out.
If anybody knew Katy, then they knew her as a devoted mom, dedicated to being the best mom possible. Juggling work and motherhood wasn't easy, but she managed. But little did everyone know, this doting mom was hiding something.
She'd been living a lie and had a secret she absolutely had to make sure would stay hidden. And it had... until now.
When the Covid-19 pandemic reached their town and everyone was forced into a hard lockdown, Katy was ordered to work from home. The twins' 10th birthday was just around the corner, so this working mom was stressed out.
She never in a million years would have thought her normal Monday morning would have ended in such devastation and tears.
In an even worse turn of luck, Katy's husband wasn't there to help her when she needed it most. Unfortunately, Ricky was quarantining in another house in the city. He'd been on a business trip recently and was self-isolating, just to be safe.
So Katy was left all alone with the twins.
It was another Monday morning, and another day of working from home for Katy. She woke her kids up, called her husband to say good morning, settled her kids with their online learning classes, then started her shift from her computer. Before she had her first meeting, she thought it was just going to be an ordinary day.
But she was so wrong.
It was soon lunchtime and Katy clocked off on her shift and took her lunch break. She gave the twins their lunch and then video called her husband Ricky via zoom. She missed her husband so much.
She touched his face on the screen, wishing he was right next to her. She never suspected that everything was about to change.
Suddenly Katy’s phone rang. It was her sister Laura. “I’ve got to go,” she told Ricky through the computer, “it’s my sister,” Ricky responded with a smile and blew a kiss into the camera.
Katy grabbed the air kiss and held it to her heart. She waved goodbye, picked up the phone call, and then logged off from zoom. Or so she thought.
Katy and her sister Laura were very close. With only two years' difference in age, the two women were inseparable in both childhood and adulthood. They shared everything with each other.
The sisters were best friends, and they knew all of each other's secrets. Laura even knew Katy’s secret -- the one that Laura swore would stay hidden.
The two sisters spoke on the phone, discussing last night's TV show that they were both hooked on.
Soon after, they discussed the twins' birthday, with Laura confirming that she’ll be attending their virtual party. But then, the casual conversation led to something a little more sinister.
“With the twins turning 10, you’ve got to come clean,” her sister said. “You have to tell him,” she told Katy. Katy could feel fear wash over her.
“It would devastate him though", she said. Then, a voice from behind said, “I can still hear you.”
Katy stands frozen in her tracks. Her sister was calling out for her on the phone, but Katy was silent.
She could feel her heartbeat in her throat as she realized that Ricky was still on the zoom call. And he had heard everything. Had she just exposed the very secret she swore would stay hidden?
Katy turned around and saw Ricky was indeed still on the zoom call. His face on the computer screen was filled with confusion and sadness.
Katy felt sick to her stomach. She had well and truly officially been caught out.
You see, 10 years ago Katy had an affair with an ex-boyfriend.
It was a mistake, and something Katy regretted still to this day. She never told Ricky, but a month after her indiscretion, she became pregnant.
Katy had a gut feeling that her ex was the father and not Ricky, but she couldn’t tell him. It would destroy him. Instead, she confided in her sister Laura and the two were sworn to secrecy.
When the twins were born, Katy did a DNA using the twins' and Rick's DNA. She did the test behind Ricky’s back, and the results turned her world upside down.
As expected Ricky wasn’t the father of the twins, which tore Katy’s world in two. She knew it was her own fault and she only had herself to blame, but she could never tell Ricky. She insisted that she and Laura were never to speak of it or mention it again.
She tried her hardest to bury the secret, but some secrets just won’t stay buried.
While on the phone with her sister Laura, Katy spoke the very words any man would never want to hear. “He’s not the father,” After Katy got caught out, Ricky hung up on her just as she was about to explain everything. She felt tears well up in her eyes. With Ricky quarantining in another house, and their two kids in the house, how would she explain herself? She rang and rang his cellphone but he didn’t pick up.
Maybe he just needed time to cool off? Katy thought. Surely things couldn’t get any worse? But she was so wrong.
The day after Katy had not heard a peep from Ricky. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
He didn’t even call to say goodnight to the twins before bed. Then, just as Katy was about to run the twins a bath she received a message on her cellphone. It was from Ricky, and what he said left her lost for words.
Of course, Ricky was devastated.
After the initial shock, he had thought very carefully about how to proceed now that he knew that his wife had been unfaithful. He couldn't believe that she had kept the truth from him for so long. In the end, he knew he just couldn't bear to be with her anymore.
“I want a divorce.” Ricky wrote. As soon as she read those words, Katy felt her heart shatter in two.
She sank to the floor, gripping her phone, knowing she only had herself to blame. And so, despite a worldwide pandemic, Ricky was quick with his actions, and the following week Katy received the divorce papers.
Katy had held onto the massive lie for ten years. In a way, she almost felt relieved that it was finally out in the open. She'd been living in fear throughout her children's formative years.
Naturally, she didn't get a cent in the divorce settlement. But Ricky loved his daughters and promised to continue to provide for them. He even set up a trust fund so that they could go to college when the time came.