The Perfume of Betrayal

The silence in our perfect, cold house was heavy, broken only by the hum of the refrigerator as I waited for my husband, Walter, to come home.

I knew the moment he walked in: a sickly sweet, cheap perfume clung to his expensive suit, a stark, vulgar stain on our pristine air, and a single text notification on his phone screamed: "Chloe: Had so much fun tonight ❤️ Can't wait for more. xx."

He tried to dismiss it, to gaslight me, but when I fled to my sister' s, my mother and even his own mother called, not to offer comfort, but to demand I "be the bigger person" and forgive his "little…