I Found Out That My Husband Threw a Secret Birthday Party Without Me — I Showed Up to Give Him a Reality Check
After knowing Mike for only eight months, Lisa gets married to him, thinking that she has found her happily ever after with him. But it is only later on, when Lisa sees an unfortunate message on his iPad, that she realizes Mike is up to something. Next, she teaches him a lesson, forcing him to take note of his actions.
I met my husband, Mike, only eight months ago, and we got married just two months ago. It was a whirlwind romance that seemed perfect at the time.
A young married couple | Source: Pexels
So, for his birthday, I wanted to throw a big party.
“Are you sure, babe?” Mike asked, looking at me with those big brown eyes that first captivated me.
“Yes, darling,” I said. “I want to throw you a big birthday party. It’s our first year of birthdays as a married couple,” I said, trying to keep my tone light.
A close-up of a man | Source: Midjourney
My husband sighed.
“I really appreciate it, love,” he said. “But I prefer a small celebration. Just family, you know?”
I forced a smile.
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” I said.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
So, we celebrated his birthday with a quiet family dinner. It was intimate, with just Mike’s parents and siblings. But even so, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
“Why do you and Jeff keep whispering and laughing to yourselves?” I asked Mike when I served the snacks.
A snack platter | Source: Unsplash
“Oh, nothing, Lisa,” my husband said. “Just brother things. Inside jokes and all that.”
“I think we should serve dinner now,” Mike said, making me go to the kitchen and get all the food platters.
All seemed fine, but then a few days later, something changed.
People sitting around a table | Source: Unsplash
“I’m going to be going on a business trip, Lisa,” he said, flipping through his section of the closet.
“On a weekend?” I asked. “How long will you be gone for?”
“Not long,” my husband replied. “I should be back on Monday.”
Formal shirts on hangers | Source: Unsplash
“So, it’s local?” I asked, trying to understand why everything was so sudden.
“Um… yes. But we’re staying in a hotel for the duration of the conference.”
“Is it a conference or a business trip?” I asked, taking some of Mike’s clothes out and folding them away to be packed into the suitcase he had taken from our spare bedroom.
An open suitcase | Source: Unsplash
Mike left early the next morning. He stopped to kiss me and then bolted out the door without a second glance.
“Enjoy your weekend, too,” I said to myself grumpily as I made myself some toast and jam.
Toast and jam on a board | Source: Unsplash
As I was eating, I decided to take the day for myself. I wanted to give myself a pamper session and do my own hair and nails.
But later in the day, as I began to tidy the house, I stumbled upon my husband’s iPad on the coffee table.
Just as I wiped the surface, a message tone played and a text popped up.
A person holding an iPad | Source: Unsplash
Hey, Big Mike! Angie and I are on our way to your party! Can you just drop me the location to the dance club?
My heart pounded.
“A party? Without me?” I muttered. I called Mike’s mother, hoping for some sort of clarity.
A woman holding a phone | Source: Unsplash
“Hi, Linda,” I asked the moment she answered the phone. “Do you know anything about a party that Mike is having today?”
There was a long pause, and I could hear Linda shuffling in the background.
“Well, dear, he might have mentioned something to Jeff,” she said. “You know my sons, the brothers are always doing something or other together.”
An older woman on the phone | Source: Pexels
“Well, why wasn’t I invited?” I asked, my voice shaking with uncertainty.
I had wondered whether Mike and I had gotten too close too quickly. As much as I knew that I loved him, I didn’t know how much he loved me.
A close-up of a sad woman | Source: Midjourney
“It’s a sense of infatuation, Lisa,” my mother had told me.
She was against our marriage from the first.
“You’re both young,” she insisted when she summoned me to her house for coffee one evening. “If you wait a little longer, I’ll give you my wedding dress and grandma’s jewelry for your day.”
Necklaces hanging on a book | Source: Pexels
“But, we both want to get married now,” I said, dipping a biscuit into my mug.
“It’s not going to last, my girl,” my mother said. “Just be warned.”
A cup of coffee | Source: Unsplash
Linda hesitated.
“He’s embarrassed by your scar, darling,” she said.
Of course, Mike was embarrassed by me.
A woman with a scar on her face | Source: Midjourney
And as for my scar? That was something I had gotten when I was horse riding years ago. My horse had been startled by some sound or the other and had taken me off course, resulting in a low-hanging branch attacking my face.
“Thanks, Linda,” I said. “You’ve been very helpful.”
I felt like I had been punched right in the gut. Mike had always assured me that my scar didn’t matter, but clearly, it did to him.
A woman riding a horse | Source: Midjourney
“It’s a story about your life,” he said, touching my scar.
I decided I wouldn’t let this slide.
No. I was going to teach him a lesson.
I went back to Mike’s iPad and read his reply to his friend, accessing the location that Mike had dropped.
When I saw the location, my jaw dropped.
A woman holding an iPad | Source: Midjourney
My husband was at a club with his friends. And according to the internet, it had revealing dancers as the entertainment.
“Oh, Mike,” I said to myself as I dug into my closet for my gold bikini. “You’re going to regret all of this.”
Before going to the club, I stopped at the party store, picking up a sequined mask that would hide my scar nicely.
People at a club | Source: Midjourney
I planned on dancing my way around my husband and his friends. If he was embarrassed by me, I’d make sure that everyone saw what he was missing.
Arriving at the venue, the music was loud, the lights were dim, and raucous laughter echoed everywhere.
I slipped into the restroom, where I just needed to change my shoes and slip my dress off. My gold bikini was on underneath.
A woman wearing a mask | Source: Midjourney
I fluffed out my hair and put on the mask. With a deep breath, I stepped into the party.
All eyes turned to me as I walked through the crowd, trying to find the table where Mike and his friends were.
They were sitting in a corner booth, the table full of bottles of alcohol and cigarette butts.
Bottles of alcohol in a bucket | Source: Unsplash
“It’s time, Lisa,” I said under my breath. “Commit to it.”
When a new song started, I began to dance. Each move was filled with the anger and hurt I had bottled up. I danced with such grace and passion that I could feel all eyes were on me.
Mike’s eyes widened in astonishment.
As the dance ended, applause erupted.
My husband walked up to me, his hand resting on my lower back as he stopped next to me.
A man’s outstretched hand | Source: Unsplash
“Who are you?” he asked. “Take off the mask. Show me who you are.”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling uneasy.
“Please,” he insisted. “Whatever your face looks like, I’m sure it doesn’t matter. You are beautiful as you are. Take off the mask, honey.”
And I did.
I slowly removed my mask. Gasps echoed around the table as my scarred face was revealed.
“Lisa!” Mike exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
I looked directly at him, holding back tears.
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
“If I’m so beautiful, then why were you ashamed to invite me to this?” I asked, my voice steady but filled with hurt.
Mike stared at me, speechless.
“I can’t be with someone who is ashamed of me,” I said firmly. “Maybe we should call it quits and get divorced.”
“Lisa, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Mike stammered.
“But you did. You lied to me, to your friends, to everyone here. How can we build a life on lies?”
Mike opened and closed his mouth a few times.
“This marriage is over,” I declared. “I’m going home to pack your things.”
A close-up of a woman | Source: Midjourney
My husband nodded his head stiffly.
Without another word, I walked out, leaving Mike and his stunned friends behind.
But instead of driving home, I drove to my friend Anna’s house. I needed some comfort. And I needed to vent.
“So, he was there with a bunch of his friends?” Anna gasped, pouring me some wine.
“Yes,” I replied, helping myself to the bowl of pretzels Anna had given me.
A woman pouring wine | Source: Pexels
“I’m proud of you for showing up and doing the right thing for yourself,” she said, wrapping me in a hug. “I know that you loved the possibility of a life with Mike, but he’s just very wrong for you.”
“I agree,” I replied. “And if I didn’t find out this time, then it was bound to come up again.”
And that’s true. I knew that if I hadn’t discovered Mike’s tendencies now, then it would have happened over the years we were yet to spend together.
And I didn’t think that I could handle that sort of behavior. Not from the person who claimed to love me.
“Now it’s time to move on and find real happiness,” I said to Anna as I left her home.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
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