00:00My name is Erica. I am almost 50 years old. I am married. My husband's name is James. He is 53 years old.
00:11We have been married for 25 years. We have two children, one son and one daughter. They are adults now. They live their own lives.
00:23My husband is lazy. Very lazy. He spends all his free time on the couch. He watches TV, drinks alcohol, and sleeps. That is his life.
00:37I sometimes call him a couch pumpkin. He never helps in the house. He never wants to go for a walk.
00:45He says, I am tired. I need to rest. Leave me alone. And I do everything. I cook dinner. I clean the house. I wash dishes. I shop. I take care of the children.
01:02We used to love each other, but that was a long time ago. Now there is no love, no passion. We live together because of habit.
01:15I thought we would live like this forever. I thought, okay, we will grow old, have grandchildren, sit together in the kitchen, drink tea, and watch TV.
01:29But I was wrong. One Saturday morning, I wanted to go shopping. I opened the door. Then I remembered my card was in another jacket.
01:42I closed the door. Then I heard his voice from the living room. He said, yes, honey. I am listening to you. I froze. My heart beat very fast. My hands began to shake. I whispered to myself, honey. He never calls me honey. Never.
02:08I hate these names. I hate these names. Honey, bunny, kitty, baby, and so on. He never used them with me.
02:17I pressed my back to the wall and listened. My husband smiled and said, yes, darling. Tomorrow evening, I miss you too.
02:27I could not breathe. I almost dropped my jacket. My stomach hurt. I thought, he has a woman. He has a mistress.
02:36But how? He is too lazy to go out.
02:40When he finished the call, I walked into the living room. He was still holding the phone. He looked surprised.
02:49I asked him, who is this honey? He went pale. He opened his mouth but said nothing. Then he said, she, she is my woman.
02:59My heart broke. My heart broke. I stared at him. My voice was loud. Your woman? You mean your mistress?
03:08He nodded. Yes, he said. Sometimes I see her. I laughed. But it was a sad laugh.
03:17You cannot fix a shelf. You cannot walk to the store and you can meet a mistress. How is this possible?
03:24He smiled and said, she makes me feel alive. I felt pain in my chest. Tears came to my eyes.
03:36Alive? I said. I gave you 25 years of my life. I cooked for you. I washed for you. I raised your children.
03:47And now you need another woman to feel alive. He looked away. I am sorry, Erica, he said.
03:57I wiped my tears. Call your honey, I said. Tell her you are coming today. Not tomorrow. Today.
04:05He looked shocked. What? Today, he said. I said loudly. Yes! Go to her. Run, jump, crawl.
04:14I don't care. Just go. I don't want you here. He sat on the couch and did not move. His face was sad.
04:24But this is my home, Erica, he said. I shook my head. Not anymore, I said. You destroyed it. Go to your
04:34mistress. I need to think about my life. He took his wallet and car keys. He looked at me one last time.
04:43Please, Erica, he said. I am sorry. Please forgive me. I did not look at him. I said nothing.
04:53He slowly left the house. I sat down at the table. I put my hands on my face and cried. I felt sad. I felt
05:03hurt. I said to myself, 25 years and now this. What will I do? How will I live?
05:12I looked at the empty couch. It felt strange. For many years, he was always there. Now, it was empty.
05:24I remembered when our children were small. We were young. We laughed. We made plans. And now nothing.
05:34Just betrayal. But then, I felt something new inside me. A little courage.
05:40I said to myself, I said to myself, I will divorce him. I will not live with a cheater. I will be free.
05:49I will start again. I took a deep breath. My eyes were full of tears. But I felt stronger.
05:58The next morning, I called my daughter. My voice shook. I told her everything.
06:04She said, Mother, you are strong. You can leave him. You do not need a man like this. We love you.
06:16Her words gave me courage. That afternoon, I saw the mistress outside our house. She came to talk to my
06:25husband. My heart beat fast. My hands shook. I wanted to scream. But I stayed calm. I said,
06:34Leave my husband. He's married to me. Do not see him again.
06:40She looked surprised. She said nothing. She walked away. My husband tried to explain.
06:48I ignored him. I was very angry. That evening, we argued. I said,
06:54You waste your life. You are lazy. You cheat on me. I cannot believe this. He said quietly,
07:03I am sorry. I shouted, Sorry. Sorry does not fix everything. You betrayed me for years.
07:13You are selfish. You are not a good husband. He said nothing. I looked at him and cried.
07:21I cried for the lost years. For broken trust. For the man I loved once. I lived in the same house as my
07:33husband because I had nowhere to go. Both my children were married. I did not want to trouble them.
07:41My husband said sorry many times. But I did not forgive him. He did not respect the woman who gave 25 years of
07:53her life to him. I called a lawyer. I learned about divorce. I learned about dividing property.
08:05My heart was nervous. My hands shook. But I knew I must do it. At night, I cried again. I cried for lost
08:18years. I cried for betrayal. But I smiled a little. I smiled because soon I will be free. The evening
08:27before the divorce, I sat alone with tea. I looked at the house. Everything seemed different.
08:35The TV, the couch, the quiet rooms. They reminded me of all the years I spent caring for everyone else.
08:45Now I realized it is my time. I can live for myself. I can do what I want. I can be happy. I can meet new
08:56people. I can travel. I will enjoy my life. I will not be afraid to love again.
09:03Even though I feel sad and lonely sometimes, I also feel hope. Life is not over. I can love myself.
09:14I can live again. It's never too late to start fresh and be happy on your own.
09:22If you were in Erica's place, what would you do? Would you forgive your husband and live with him?
09:30Or would you leave him, like Erica did? Tell your answers in the comments below.
09:38If you liked this story, please like, comment, share, and subscribe.
