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00:00project for another seven years i didn't call i didn't when i found out julian had extended his
00:05out-of-town project for another seven years i didn't call i didn't text i left new york and
00:11traveled hours to reach his project site only to be stopped at the gate by an older guard hello
00:17does julian work here what do you want with my son-in-law the words hit me like a thunderclap
00:26i told myself it was a coincidence relax mr miller everyone around here knows julian is totally
00:32whipped other guys might mess around but your son-in-law wouldn't dare she's probably here on
00:37business from corporate i kept my composure and pulled up a photo of julian on my phone i am here
00:43on business is this the julian you're talking about the old man relaxed yeah that's him that's my son
00:50in law the blood in my veins froze before i could process a single word a woman appeared well dressed
00:56smiling you here to talk business with my man come wait at our place our son's got a fever
01:05he took him to the hospital in town i stared at him thunderstruck barely able to breathe
01:12i'm julian's wife just call me mia she was warm and talkative smile never leaving her face
01:18there's nothing but rough guys around here and half of them don't know how to act a woman shouldn't
01:24be standing around alone out here come on back to the house he'll be a while and i followed her
01:30i
01:30watched her as we walked her foundation was uneven powder caked at her eye corners but she was clearly
01:36over 10 years younger than julian who just turned 37. lord you women from new york really are something
01:44else look at that skin smooth as a baby's bottom her eyes were full of admiration my man's got skin
01:54just like yours all soft and clear she laughed you city girls really do have it all i forced a
01:59smile
01:59she wasn't wrong julian and i both had good skin i was older than mia by a fair margin but
02:06i'd taken care of
02:06myself i still looked like i was in my mid-twenties no one would guess i'd been married for 12
02:12years
02:12but what did any of that matter i had a career raised our son cared for his parents and handled
02:18everything alone but my husband still built an entirely different life here behind my back mia
02:23talked the whole way she didn't seem to need a response at some point a couple on a motorcycle
02:28slowed as they passed the woman on the back held out a small paper bag your man thinks of everything
02:34takes the kid to the doctor and still remembers you wanted roasted peanuts asked me to drop these
02:38off he worries too much your husband really does take care of you that man does whatever she says
02:44no questions asked doesn't matter how tough he acts out here one look for mia and he folds one tear
02:49and he's completely hers oh stop it a bitter ache welled up inside me my husband the man who spent
02:5612
02:56years talking to me about equality respect and partnership that man had come out here and
03:02willingly turned himself into another woman's lap dog mia's house stopped me in my track
03:12my man built it nobody else around here has anything like it
03:18and he's the first guy in town to move in with his wife's family takes care of my parents like
03:23they're his
03:24own moved in with her family the moment i stepped into the living room i saw it we had a
03:32photo just like
03:33it only ours had just three people no daughter the year julian first left for this project
03:40two years max i'll get transferred back and when i do if you want we'll try for a second baby
03:48after that we'll never be apart again two years turned into seven he came home for a few days every
03:56christmas and that was it
04:00last year while he was back for the holidays i casually said i still wished we'd had a daughter
04:05honestly with the way things are smart people aren't having more kids one's enough
04:13why put yourself through it i thought he'd simply changed his mind turns out he already had his
04:18daughter he just hadn't had her with me we've got wi-fi passwords 990913
04:29something jolted in my chest dot julian had told me there was no reliable internet signal out here
04:34that was why i could never reach him directly he always had to be the one to contact me first
04:40i connected to the network full bars one lie after another each one like a knife sinking in deep
04:47you two seem really happy does it worry you that he might get transferred back to new york someday
04:52not really between us they almost called him back earlier this year my chest tightened he used every
04:57favor he had just to stay my heart dropped it wasn't the company keeping him here he'd asked to stay
05:03he'd fought to stay he'd done that knowing his mother had suffered a stroke and couldn't care
05:09for herself he'd done that knowing his father had broken his leg in a fall and needed help he'd done
05:14that knowing our son had cried over and over about missing his father he'd done that knowing i'd been
05:20worn down by work and family until i'd ended up in the hospital more than once and he'd stayed
05:27anyway dot comfortably dot a thousand miles away a chill ran through me my shoulders trembling slightly
05:37me across the room and switched on the air conditioning thinking i was cold it'll warm up in a minute
05:43my man got me a good one a big brand name didn't even blink at the price
05:52nobody else in town has one i didn't even want it i told him it was too much but he
05:58insisted
05:59said he was worried i'd be cold in the winter i kept the smile on my face he's quite a
06:05bit older
06:05than you i said is this his second marriage ten years older we're both getting married for the first
06:11time mia smiled i'm the lucky one a girl like me barely finished high school ending up with a man
06:18who has a master's degree he's the project manager for the whole development
06:25basically second in command under the owner i never imagined i'd end up married to someone like that
06:31he says meeting me was the best thing that ever happened to him the age gap's a good thing honestly
06:36older men know how to take care of you he's responsible at work and at home every paycheck
06:43goes straight to me i give him a little spending money and that's it bitterness welled up in my chest
06:48for years julian had been sending money back to our joint account every month only left one thousand
06:53dollars for himself he told me his housing and meals were covered that he barely spent anything out
06:59here i had a college roommate who worked in his company's payroll department years ago i'd quietly
07:05checked his monthly salary once eleven thousand dollars and let myself be believe him i didn't
07:10believe him anymore he takes good good care of the whole family god yes she gestured around the room
07:17my mom has a bad back he bought her that massage chair without blinking my dad likes his whiskey so
07:24julian keeps cases of the good stuff stocked for him and he gives me a separate allowance every month
07:30for whatever i want i heard it and i knew julian had been taking bribe the bitterness turned colder
07:37not just for myself but for his parents who had no idea
07:43three months ago his mother had nearly died a severe stroke julian please
07:51she's in critical condition she keeps asking for you please come home i'm so sorry chloe the project is at
07:57a
07:57critical stage right now i really can't leave she'll be okay so many nights like that his phone
08:03unanswered or always some excuse he couldn't come he never came back he ignored his own family his parents
08:10his son and the whole time he was here being a good husband a good father a good son-in
08:17-law the irony
08:18was sickening mia's phone rang she didn't step away or lower her voice she just answered it right there
08:25hey baby close enough that i heard every word julian's voice the same warm tone he used to use
08:31with me our son still hasn't broken his fever the doctor wants to keep him overnight i'm a little short
08:37on cash can you transfer me some three hundred dollars should cover it of course i'll send it now
08:43i laughed inwardly the devoted family husband then julian's voice softened i can't hold you tonight
08:50baby stay warm okay don't kick off the blankets one day away from you and i already feel off those
08:56words stabbed at my chest like sharp blades 12 years of marriage and the last time he'd said anything
09:02like that to me felt like a lifetime ago these days he didn't even show that warmth toward our own
09:08son
09:09time had turned us an old married couple in name only
09:19i just realized i never asked your name chloe what a pretty name she was as cheerful as ever
09:27even now i was still giving her the benefit of the doubt there was a good chance she had no
09:32idea
09:33that she was just as deceived as i was since julian won't be back tonight why don't you just stay
09:42you can talk to him about the work stuff tomorrow that evening mia cooked a full dinner a proper
09:49generous spread i met their daughter for the first time she had julian's eyes mr and mrs miller were
09:56polite to me but barely there was a wariness in their gaze that i noticed but didn't mention at the
10:02table the conversation kept circling back to julian the way they talked about him he wasn't a
10:08son-in-law he was their son mia was an only child in a town like this that had always
10:13meant something
10:14for her parents they'd spent their whole lives looked down on for not having a son then julian
10:19arrived moved in supported the whole family treated them like his own and for the first time
10:25they held their heads up julian is the rock of this family we can't do without him something stuck
10:34in my throat like a thorn i couldn't pull out the rock of our family gone for seven years had
10:41been
10:41holding up someone else's family all along mia put me in the guest room for the night after the lights
10:47went out i lay awake unable to sleep through the wall i could hear mr and mrs miller talking quietly
10:55for a long time i made two decisions i filed a report with documentation with proof to julian's
11:04corporate headquarters then i texted my brother he was a police officer i'm going to need you to make an
11:09arrest neither decision felt satisfying but both were right justice for my life a consequence he'd earned
11:16the next morning it's cold and you're not dressed for it um my man just bought this for me only
11:24been
11:24washed once never worn a designer label i'd spent an entire winter eyeing adding to my cart removing it
11:30telling myself there were more important things to spend money on parents to care for a son to raise
11:36i used to say things like that to julian other husbands buy their wives things in all these years
11:41you've never once picked something out for me in all these years he always had the same answer
11:46calm and easy the money's yours buy whatever you want i wouldn't know what to choose anyway
11:53i'm no good with that kind of thing he wasn't no good he just didn't care enough to try not
12:00for me
12:00thank you so much it was beautiful it was warm mia blinked a flash of surprise crossing her face
12:08she'd clearly expected me to refuse politely at breakfast she was back to her usual self cheerful
12:14talkative dropping julian's name into every other sentence she asked me questions too
12:20what was new york like what did i do for work at one point she looked at me and asked
12:24are you happy it's fine my husband just isn't as attentive as yours she smiled widely at that
12:32then just before noon the front door swung open honey i'm home julian's voice filled the house he
12:39walked in carrying their five-year-old son the moment his eyes landed on me he went rigid i looked
12:45at him steadily which honey are you talking to exactly julian's face locked up he stood there holding
12:53the boy and said absolutely nothing i held his gaze my eyes said everything i didn't speak aloud
13:00why how could you do you have any idea what you've done to your son to your parents he was
13:06an only child
13:07his whole life they had sacrificed everything for him and he had walked away from all of it and quietly
13:13become the son of someone else's family i would never understand it i would never forgive it
13:24what what does that mean she grabbed my arm then turned to julian julian julian look at me
13:31what is going on i i don't understand why why would she call you that why is she calling you
13:38that
13:39the paralysis broke from julian's face he quickly set the boy down he took a few steps forward then
13:45stopped caught exactly halfway between us unable to choose a direction i'll explain everything
13:51explain what that our 12-year marriage is nothing but an empty shell that you have no parents no son
13:58or that you a married man have been living out here as another woman's husband and you're ready to file
14:03for divorce so she can finally have your last name every word landed he had no answer he looked like
14:08a man
14:09caught with nowhere to run i know i don't deserve forgiveness he finally said i'm sorry mia fell
14:15apart sorry what does that mean for me she was crying now fully you said i was everything to you
14:21you said i was your life say something tell me what's happening right now and then julian turned
14:26away from me and moved to pull her into his arms my heart was bleeding fury rose through me then
14:33what are you
14:33saying i demanded he let go of her he didn't dare hold her again he stood there looking cornered
14:39miserable caught between two directions with no good move left in the silence my phone rang julian's
14:46father a video call i answered without hesitating and switched to the rear camera have you found julian
14:53yet the old man's voice was full of hope he hadn't seen his son in almost two years i walked
14:57the phone
14:58slowly across the living room until the camera landed on the family portrait on the wall all six of them
15:03all smiling found him along with his new wife his new son his new daughter his new family this is
15:15other home he moved in with her family he's been taking care of them for years i heard my father
15:21-in-law's
15:22sharp intake of breath for a moment he was too furious speak i turned the camera to julian and mia
15:26dad meet the
15:28new family julian is this what you've been doing this you have no regard for your mother and me no
15:38regard for your wife and son are you trying to put me in the grave turn it off stop filming
15:45just stop
15:47i no longer have a son
15:51do you hear me i have no son in the middle of it all mr and mrs miller walked through
15:58the front door
15:58the moment mr and mrs miller understood who i was if julian chose to marry my daughter and have
16:06children with her that tells you everything about where he stands end it clean and move on we're not
16:13giving him up i've treated julian like my own son from the day he walked into this house he and
16:20mia
16:20love each other that's not going to change and what do you say he had been staring at the floor
16:26when my
16:27eyes finally forced his head up he hesitated then asked me slowly do you still want me back before i
16:34could answer mia flew across the room she dropped to the floor in front of him and grabbed his collar
16:40what
16:40kind of question is that she still wants you does that mean you'll throw me away julian if you dare
16:46leave this family i'll take the kids and end it all i mean it she gave you one child i
16:52gave you two
16:53i have given you more you can't just julian pulled her up and tried to calm her i just need
16:58to know what
16:59she i laughed hollowly to myself then deliberately i want you to come home cut everything here off
17:07for good i knew exactly what he was doing he was waiting for me to make the choice for him
17:12sure
17:12that someone like me with my standards would never accept a man who had done this he expected me to
17:17say i want a divorce and hand him his exit when i didn't surprise flickered across his face even a
17:23trace of disappointment i stared at him now it's your turn to choose his lips moved nothing came out mia
17:28shook him by the arm say something you said i'm the love of your life you said you'd grow old
17:33with me
17:33say it to her face julian had no choice he looked at me with pleading eyes could we just keep
17:41things
17:41the way they are the way they are i stared at him cold he wanted to keep both of us
17:46my look made him
17:47too ashamed to repeat himself you stay out here and keep playing husband i go back to new york take
17:52care
17:52of your parents raise our son alone run your whole life from the background enjoy this one he had nothing
17:58to say but i could see it in his face that was exactly what he'd hoped for mia grabbed his
18:02arm again
18:03sobbing if you don't choose this family i'll take these kids and die in front of you you promised me
18:09we'd grow old together you can't abandon us she pulled both children over to her crying i understand it
18:19ask your daddy she said to them ask him if he's going to keep you the two children didn't understand
18:26what was happening but seeing mia cry they cried too crowding into julian's arms daddy please don't
18:32leave us daddy mommy's crying you always said you can't stand to see mommy cry please julian finally
18:39broke he pulled all three of them into his arms his eyes went red then he looked at me he
18:43had made
18:44his decision chloe i'm sorry i know you can manage on your own i know you'll be okay
18:53she can't she has nothing without me he glanced at mia and the children then back at me
19:00take everything in the house i won't fight you for custody but this is the choice i have to make
19:09i'm asking you to let us go i laughed not from humor from the absurdity of what i was hearing
19:16she's the one to be pitied what about your mother who had a stroke and can't care for herself who
19:22wants
19:22nothing more than to see her own son what about your father who broke his leg and needed you home
19:27and
19:27never once said a word about the fact that you didn't come what about your son who gets mocked at
19:32school for not having a father around who has cried more times than i can count as i spoke tears
19:38fell
19:38from my eyes not for him never again for him only because a man like this was never worth everything
19:44our family had given him julian stood there in silence shame was written across his entire face
19:50mia filled the gap don't worry i'll bring his parents here i'll take care of them myself you don't need
19:56to concern yourself with any of it then her eyes hardened and you you knew who i was from the
20:02very
20:02beginning didn't you you sat there and let me talk and talk and you were just collecting evidence
20:07i smiled at her contemptuous then i called julian's parents back right there and told them in front of
20:14everyone who went to manage his mother's voice if you divorce chloe you're not my son do you
20:21understand me while you were gone she gave everything to this family to us and you want to throw her
20:27away
20:27i will never accept that woman and those children i don't know them and i never will julian's father
20:32said the same mia broke down crying julian was at his breaking point i ended the call
20:39he wiped his eyes couldn't look at me and finally said chloe i i have no right to ask anything
20:45of you
20:47but name your terms whatever i can give you i will mia knelt down in front of me
20:59please please you're educated you're capable you're beautiful you'll find someone better than him
21:09i can't he is all i have she pulled both children over
21:19kneel down
21:22ask her to let your daddy stay two small faces turned up toward me please madam don't take our daddy
21:29our family needs a daddy otherwise it won't be whole she was using the children to work on my
21:35conscience anger surged through me your children need a father and mine doesn't your child is older
21:42mine are still small i laughed and stood up from the couch
21:50the truth is none of these children yours or mine will have a father from here on out both julian
21:58and
21:59mia looked up sharply not understanding not until my brother walked through the door with local police
22:04officers behind him and julian's boss and two company directors right after only then did julian
22:09understand i had never intended to give him a choice and i was certainly not going to let them walk
22:14away
22:14clean the sight of so many strangers sent both children into tears an officer quietly asked mrs
22:20miller to take them to another room julian stood still calm as if he had always known this day would
22:27come mia was anything but what is this hides you have no right to come in here and take my
22:34husband
22:35when no one responded to her satisfaction she turned all of it on me her pointing finger trembled
22:42you call yourself a decent person he already told you you can have everything
22:48what more do you want from him he's your son's father
22:52how can you be this heartless julian touched her arm stop she didn't stop i looked at her and said
22:59plainly everything you've been wearing living in eating that money didn't just come out of my pocket
23:05it was dirty it came from fraud and corruption you told me yourself what he was giving you every month
23:12that figure is exactly what i used as evidence you handed it to me yourself julian turned to stone
23:19his boss stepped forward his disappointment total i trusted you with this entire project bribery
23:27kickbacks substandard materials embezzlement of public funds i i gave you everything and this is
23:35what you did with it julian kept his eyes on the floor and said nothing mia spun toward the officers
23:40and grabbed one by the arm we'll pay it all back every cent just please he's a father we have
23:48children
23:49please give him one more chance ma'am the officer's voice was firm this is a criminal investigation
23:58repayment is not the issue and while that's being sorted out mia you should probably find yourself a
24:04lawyer what you and julian have constitutes bigamy that's a separate charge she went white julian finally
24:10looked up his control snapped everything i did i'll take responsibility for all of it but she had nothing to
24:15do with any of it she didn't know why are you going after her i smiled cold and contemptuous inside
24:20the
24:21hatred was overwhelming enough that i wanted to strike him across the face and then right at the
24:26peak of it i felt it all drain away into something vast and empty none of this is worth anything
24:31she didn't know i said she knew i was your wife she brought me home deliberately to force the
24:40confrontation to pressure you into a divorce and if she hadn't bragged about the 50 000 a month
24:49i wouldn't have had the evidence i needed julian stared at mia stunned demanding the truth
24:57mia shook her head frantically i didn't know she was going to report you
25:01i never thought she would i played a recording julian's face drained of color at the first two
25:07sentences julian's gonna have to go back and deal with his wife eventually even if he drags his feet
25:13mia will raise hell until he files she's not the type to share look at that woman she sat here
25:19and
25:20took it all without a word either she has no backbone or she's playing a very long game oh she's
25:27playing a
25:27game but it won't matter julian has no feelings for her anymore mia just has to cry and he'll sign
25:35the papers you know why mia brought her home right to light the fuse herself julian's expression moved
25:41from shock to disbelief to a deep exhausted disappointment he looked at mia so you knew all
25:48along that i was married you brought her here on purpose to force my hand mia couldn't argue her
25:54way out of it she broke down and admitted it through tears i just wanted you to belong to me
25:59completely what's wrong with that i never thought she'd go this far i never thought she'd actually
26:08mr miller who had said nothing and immediately began deflecting blame if you weren't so spinless and
26:14indecisive none of this would have happened now you've brought this on yourself what happens to the
26:21children what happens to mia what are we supposed to do how do we ever show our faces around here
26:29again as he laughed tears slipped from the corners of his eyes his face was full of helpless exhausted
26:36disbelief at how stupid mia had been for a moment he genuinely didn't know who to blame he kept his
26:43head
26:43down the entire walk to the police car outside people had gathered then more from neighboring streets but
26:50there to see the most famously devoted husband in town taken away his wife back in new york is
26:55beautiful educated a professor i heard and he threw all of that away for this men are never satisfied
27:03doesn't matter how good things are at home mia said never questioned her once and he was rotten
27:10the whole time i knew he was married brought his wife here himself to force a divorce
27:17backfired didn't it tried to steal another woman's husband burned her own life down the police car door
27:25julian stopped he turned and found me in the crowd take care of yourself i'm sorry chloe
27:32find someone who deserves you i looked at him i said nothing he got in mia ran after the car
27:38stumbling falling picking herself up and running again pounding on the windows screaming his name
27:45until it turned the corner and disappeared she came back and collapsed at my feet
27:52she was on her knees in front of everyone past caring who saw please please help him you're educated
28:00you understand how this works better than i do i don't care about anything else anymore i just need
28:05him not to go to prison she held on to the hem of my coat believe me or don't but
28:10i did love him
28:11that part was real i looked at her calmly the hatred i had carried into this situation was gone
28:18she kept going her voice breaking i genuinely didn't know he was married when we first got together
28:24i found out when our son was almost a year old i found a photo of you on his phone
28:28by then i was
28:29already in too deep the children this house my parents we were all depending on him i didn't know
28:36what to do i know nothing i say matters now i'm only asking if there's anything you can do she
28:47didn't
28:47get up she just stayed there on the ground in front of everyone her hand clutching my coat
28:54not caring about the stairs i reached down and removed her hand i looked at her you know what
29:01your tears mean to me i said quietly crocodile tears she blinked up at me then she folded over and
29:11wept into the ground and i walked away i did not soften i pressed forward with every charge including
29:19bigamy julian's parents never blamed me they supported every decision i made my son did not
29:25take it well he spent months in therapy struggling to accept that his father had another family out
29:30there other children living a parallel life it took a long time six months later mia was sentenced to
29:37one year for bigamy julian's sentencing came three months after that the court found that he had
29:43embezzled nearly 97 million taken over 10 million in bribes paid out 60 million in kickbacks misused 20
29:50million in public funds violated construction regulations and committed bigamy multiple charges
29:56concurrent sentencing 11 years he asked to see me the day he was taken in i didn't go i sent
30:03my lawyer
30:03to handle the divorce julian's parents were good to me and my son until the end before they passed
30:09they transferred both of their properties into my son's name and left everything they had to us
30:14i kept my promise to them regardless i cared for them and i was there when they left in the
30:19seventh
30:20year of julian's sentence they both passed his mother went first another stroke too severe to
30:25his father followed the next day they had been devoted to each other their entire lives he simply
30:31could not face a mourning without her i arranged a proper funeral for both of them i had my lawyer
30:37notified julian he sent back one message through the attorney thank you can i see you i didn't respond
30:43my son was accepted to an ivy league school the following year that more than anything let me
30:49breathe i heard mia remarried about three years after her release a divorced man with two children of
30:55his own she moved on i moved on too my son played matchmaker he introduced me to the single father
31:02of
31:03one of his college friends by then i wasn't looking for anything grand what i found instead was someone
31:08steady someone present someone who picked up when i called we agreed from the start no children together
31:15we weren't starting over from scratch we were two people who chose to share the rest of the road
31:20three years into that marriage julian was released he came to find me eleven years had not been kind to
31:27him he looked far older than a man his age should worn down diminished nothing left of the confidence he
31:34used to carry he stood at my door and asked quietly chloe is there any way i could come home
31:39i looked at him
31:43i took your advice i found someone good i married him
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