An Extra Used Blue Pill in Fiancée's Bag, I Smiled

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My fiance came home from work, and there was an extra used blister strip of blue pills in her bag.

I sank into thought: surely she hadn't mistaken these for candy.

I didn't question her, and I didn't shout.

I just quietly slipped a little nitric acid into the bottle.

Two in the morning.

One horrific photo blew up the internet.

Lucy was acting all wrong today.

Normally, the first thing she did when she got home was toss her white coat and dirty laundry at me and sweetly beg me to hand-wash them for her.

Today, though, she said nothing, her face flushed an unnatural red.

She walked in and went straight into the bathroom, without a single word of instruction.

When something is this far out of the ordinary, there's a reason.

When the water started running in the bathroom, I opened her bag.

And then I found something that set my heart hammering: there was an extra pill in her bag!

A blue pill.

My chest clenched hard.

The information I pulled up online froze me on the spot.

Viagra.

My vision went black in an instant, like I'd been dropped into an ice cellar.

As someone in the medical field myself, I knew better than anyone what that meant.

Two months ago, Lucy had suddenly told me she'd be getting a lot more chances to assist on surgeries and work night shifts.

I was routinely stacked with surgeries back to back, often working overtime late into the night, with pathetically little time to spend with her.

I just assumed she wanted to buckle down at work, get through her residency smoothly, and land a permanent staff position, and I felt nothing but guilt.

So whether she wanted the latest phone, a designer handbag, or skincare products, I swiped my card and paid without blinking.

Even the literature reviews she had to turn in for her residency and the general-journal papers she needed to publishI stayed up night after night revising them and filling in the experimental data, just to barely get them past review.

But now those two things in her bag were like two slaps landing hard across my face.

The bathroom door opened, and Lucy came out wrapped in a towel to dry her hair.

I walked over and, out of habit, reached out to slide my arm around her waist. The moment my fingertips touched her skin, she shoved me away, hard.

"I assisted on three surgeries back to back today. I'm dead tired. Give it a rest. What kind of filthy things are running through your head all day? Doesn't it wear on a person?"

She slammed the bedroom door with a bang, and the coldness and distance in her voice stabbed into me like an icicle.

Getting close to my own girlfriend counts as wearing on her now?

Then what do you call going in to assist on surgery with Viagra and half a bottle of lubricant in your bag?

That night, I didn't sleep a wink.

Once she was fast asleep, I unlocked her phone. Her texts, work groups, call logsI went through all of it, but it was as clean as a blank sheet of paper, not a single suspicious trace.

I took three days of annual leave, and every day I wore a mask and a hat, staking out the base of the inpatient ward to follow her movements.

But for two straight days, she made her rounds, went into surgery, and wrote up charts, all perfectly by the book, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then on the evening of the third day, a little past seven, Lucy came out of the inpatient building. Instead of heading for the subway station, she stood at the curb pacing back and forth, glancing down at her phone now and then and looking all aroundclearly waiting for someone.

I pulled the brim of my hat down, clenched my fists, and had only one thought: the second that man showed up, I would make sure he learned exactly what it costs to cuckold another man.

But when I got a clear look at who it was, I was floored.

It wasn't a colleague from her departmentit was her supervising mentor, Basil Chavez, the chief of general surgery.

Basil Chavez, fifty-eight, was a leading candidate for a hospital deputy director post. He controlled the permanent-position slots for surgical residents and held the power over board certification reviews, and he was a heavyweight surgical authority in the state.

Day to day he came across as upright and dignified. He and his wife, Polly Lawrence, the director of the Nursing Department, were the hospital's famously model couple; their son and daughter were both studying at top medical schools, and they lived the kind of life everyone respected.

After exchanging greetings, the two walked side by side toward the parking lot, looking no different from any ordinary mentor and student.

I had just breathed a sigh of relief.

The scene the next second shattered every last bit of the hope I'd been clinging to.

Before they even reached the car, Basil reached out and pulled her in, and Lucy, far from pulling away, leaned sweetly into his arms and wrapped her own arms around his neck.

My stomach churned, and a wave of nausea rose up inside me.

Never in a million years would I have guessed that Lucy's affair was with an old man old enough to be her father.

I clamped a hand over my mouth and stumbled home, utterly shattered.

On the sofa, one corner of Lucy's tablet stuck out. I'd bought it for her, to look up references and write up her case notes.

In a daze, I picked it up and entered our anniversary as the password to unlock it, and my heart went stone-cold.

Her secret messaging account was logged in, and the pinned contact was labeled "My Professor Chavez."

With trembling hands I opened the message logs, and the more I read, the heavier the horns on my head felt, until I could barely breathe.

"I can't take it anymore."

"That's the idea. I bought you some clotheswear them to the office next time you're on the night shift."

"Between me and your wife, who's better?"

"How could that worn-out old hag compare to you? With looks and a figure like yours, what man wouldn't be tempted?"

"No wonder you're always calling me in for overtime at the office. So that's the real reason."

"The hospital's got too many eyes around, it's no fun at all. Let's go to a hotel after work tonight, I'm about to burst!"

"You're so embarrassing, stop it..."

A chill ran through my whole body. I couldn't believe these filthy, explicit words came from the girlfriend I'd seen as innocent and sweet, the one who blushed even when she acted coy.

What choked me even more was that they mentioned me right out in the open in their messages.

"David Lambert's a decent enough guy. He's generous with his money, took care of all my papers and case notes for me. It's just that after being together a while, there's no spark left."

"He's just a greenhorn who only knows how to cut people openwhat does he know about romance? Better to dump him sooner than later."

"Hmph, if you've got the nerve to divorce that old hag of yours, I'll break up with him right away."

"Sweetheart, don't be like that."

"Can you come to the on-call room on the fourth floor of the inpatient ward right now? I'm here all by myself, I can't take it anymore."

The latest message, sent three hours ago, read: "We're both on night shift tonightlet's go to the morgue, it'll be a thrill."

Looking at these text message logs, the angrier I got, the more my blood boiled.

Just beating him up, giving him physical pain, would let him off far too easy.

He'd stolen my woman, made a cuckold of me. If I didn't ruin the two of them, disgrace them so they'd never recover, then I'd write my name, David Lambert, backwards.

I screen-recorded and photographed all of itthe text message logs, the money transfer receipts, the hotel booking recordsand made more than a dozen backups.

Lucy came home at ten o'clock that night.

She had a smile on her face she couldn't hide, a rosy glow to her cheeks, her hair freshly washed, and along with the disinfectant she carried the scent of some unfamiliar men's cologne.

The afterglow of passion still lingered in her eyes, and the foundation between her brows was smudged a little too abruptly, done in too much of a hurry.

Did this look like a woman wrung out from three back-to-back surgeries? I'd just been too careless before.

"You're back?" I said evenly, giving nothing away.

"Mm, I'm dead tired. I'm going to take a shower." She hung her bag by the entryway and went straight into the bathroom.

The smile on my face vanished in an instant, leaving only a cold light in my eyes.

The next morning, I timed it for the department's morning meeting and went straight to the doctors' office.

Lucy was clustered with a few surgical residents, getting ready to go to breakfast. When she saw me walk in, a flash of panic and surprise crossed her eyes.

"Aren't you in surgery today? What are you doing here?"

I smiled, all tenderness, my voice pitched neither loud nor softjust enough for everyone in the office to hear. "Baby, your residency is almost done. I've had a word with the department and talked to the hospital leadership. Your permanent staff position hereI've got it taken care of for you."

"What? A staff position?" Lucy's eyes went wide in an instant.

"That's right." I reached out and ruffled her hair, my tone doting. "We're getting married soon. If you want to stay on at this hospital, of course I'm going to give you the best security there is. Not just the positionthe flagship journal paper you need for your board certification review, I've already lined up the journal. I'll fill in the lab data myself. I guarantee you'll make attending next year."

The office erupted at once, colleagues crowding around, faces full of envy as they egged us on.

Amid everyone's cheering and envy, the shock on Lucy's face slowly turned into excitement and smugness she couldn't hold back.

I knew her far too well.

She cared about face more than anything, loved to measure herself against everyone around her. I'd deliberately picked a moment when the whole department was there to say it, precisely so she could bask in the glory. In less than half a day, the news would be all over the hospital.

If you're going to put on an act, do the whole thing. That very day I took her to the HR Department, pretended to ask a colleague I knew about the policy for a permanent position, then showed her the flagship journal paper I was about to finish, with her listed as first author.

Lucy was completely lost in the joy of the position she was about to get, and even the way she looked at me was clingier than ever before.

"Should we tell my parents about this?" I probed on purpose.

Lucy's face changed at once, her tone impatient. "What's there to tell them? This is my position, my job. Once I've got it all locked down, then I'll tell them."

I sneered inwardly.

Her family favored sons over daughtersevery good thing was saved for her younger brother, Wesley. Now her brother was talking marriage, and the girl's side wanted a house and a car, so her parents were on her every day to earn money and help him out.

If they found out she was about to get a permanent staff position, there was no telling how they'd force her to pave the way for her brother.

My face instantly took on a look of tender concern, and I pulled her into my arms. "Baby, I know all about it. Your parents don't love you, but your husband does. From now on your job, your futureI'll have it all arranged perfectly for you, and no one will get to push you around."

Lucy was so moved the tears fell. That very night she snuggled up to me on her own, pulling out every trick she had to please me, mumbling promises that from now on she'd truly make a life with me, be a virtuous wife and loving mother after we married.

A virtuous wife and loving mother? The virtuous wife of an adulterer, or the loving mother raising some other man's brat?

In the days that followed, Lucy hovered around me constantly, either talking about the permanent position or brainstorming paper topics. She rarely stayed late in the department anymore, and she almost never met with Basil alone.

That got Basil worked up.

Watching Basil's messages in Lucy's secret account, I could see his tone getting more and more agitated: "Girl, what's the matter with you lately? I message you and you don't reply for hours, and when I call you to my office you don't come!"

"Oh, come on, I'm busy with my papers and the position thing."

"I heard from people in the department that David's going to help you land a permanent staff position at the hospital? You're not planning to settle down with him and dump me over this, are you?"

"Mm-hmm, well, I'm going to have to settle down with someone eventually, and it doesn't matter who, so of course I'll pick the one who treats me well."

"Ha. I really never expected a naive little girl like you to sink into the swamp of marriage too. What a shame."

I almost laughed out loud.

He must have some enormous misunderstanding about the word "naive."

Basil clearly wasn't giving up, and he quickly dangled the bait: "Next month is the final residency certification review, and the final interview for the permanent position. I'm the head of the review panel. Don't you want to lock down that spot? Come work the on-call shift in my office tonight, and I guarantee that spot is one hundred percent yours."

Lucy caved in an instant and fired back immediately: "Mwah mwah mwah! I knew Professor Chavez treated me the best~"

"Girl, stick with me and you'll never come up short."

"But this time you promised, no more of the back. Last time it really hurt too much!"

"You've got two mouths and you only let me use oneisn't that just a waste? Heh heh."

I stared at the screen, my face black as the bottom of a pot.

All this time, besides feeding Lucy her empty promises, I hadn't been idle on Basil's end either.

His home address, his wife Polly's contact information, evidence of the kickbacks and backdoor deals he'd taken over the years, even his improper relationships with two other female residentsI had all of it down cold.

That evening, Lucy dressed up carefully, sprayed on perfume, put on black stockings, told me she had to go to the department to work late writing up charts, and hurried out.

I stood by the window and watched her get into Basil's car. The two of them headed straight for the five-star hotel next to the hospital.

I took out the anonymous SIM card I'd prepared in advance and sent Polly a text: You washed-out old hag, do you understand Basil at all? Can you give him the most primal kind of pleasure? Do you know what nurse-uniform play is? When he holds me, he says you're old and faded, that lying in the same bed with you can't even get a rise out of himI bet you've never heard any of this in your whole life, have you?

Less than two minutes after I sent it, the other end started blowing up my phone. I didn't even glance at it. I just powered off.

Sure enough, not ten minutes later, through the surveillance feed I'd arranged in advance with a friend at the hotel, I watched Basil's phone suddenly ring. The moment he saw the caller ID, his face changed instantly. He fumbled to cover the phone and told Lucy beside him to keep quiet.

Instead of holding back, Lucy rolled her eyes in contempt and, as if to provoke him, pulled his hand to press it against her chest.

But right then Basil was in no mood for her teasing. Groveling into the phone in a low voice, he threw his clothes on in a panic and rushed out of the hotel.

Stood up, Lucy stomped around the room in a fury.

I went home more than satisfied. I'd barely stepped inside when Lucy came in right behind me. The second she walked through the door she flung her bag onto the couch and dumped all her anger on me.

"Where's today's fruit? Didn't I tell you I wanted a fruit platter when I got off work? You sit around at home all day and you can't even handle this one little thing? I'm working myself to death at the hospital every day, and here you are taking it easy!"

Before, I'd have rushed over to soothe her right away.

But now, I'd sooner coax a dog than her.

I sat on the couch without moving an inch and looked at her coldly. "I'm not your maid. Don't throw your tantrums at me. You really think that once you've got a permanent position you get to lord it over people? Go look in the mirror first and see if you even measure up."

Lucy froze, disbelief all over her face.

She could never have imagined that Iwho had always done whatever she saidwould talk to her like this today.

Just as I'd planned, we had a blowout fight.

Lucy was shaking with rage. She threw out her threat on the spot: "David, you'll regret this! I will never forgive you!"

And with that, she slammed the door and left.

The moment she was gone, I picked up my phone and called her mother, my tone full of guilt: "Ma'am, I owe you an apology. I pulled some strings and got Lucy a permanent staff position at our hospital, but when I told her, she said we absolutely couldn't let you know. We had a huge fight over it, and she just walked out."

The other end exploded instantly.

"David, what did you say? You got Lucy a permanent position at the hospital?!"

"That's right, ma'am. I arranged this position for her before we're even married. It's in her name alonea rock-solid job. I felt this was too big a deal not to tell you."

Lucy's mother flew into a rage: "That ungrateful girl! Feeling too big for her britches, is she! How dare she keep something this important from her own family!"

I added, all fake concern, "Ma'am, she stormed out just now in a temper. If she comes home, please tell me right away."

Not half an hour after we hung up, her mother called back, her voice full of anger: "That girlshe came home and had a huge fight with us too, saying all we ever care about is her job!"

Before I could get a word in, her mother rushed on: "David, on this position, you absolutely have to listen to me! No other department will doit has to be the General Surgery Department! General Surgery is where the money is, and later, when her brother Wesley is looking for work, he can benefit from it too!"

It made me laugh out of sheer anger. Sure enough, in their eyes, a daughter's rock-solid job was, in the end, just there to pave the way for the son.

I sighed, my tone deeply troubled: "But Lucy and I have fought this badly right nowwhat if she breaks up with me? Then the position..."

"She wouldn't dare! I'll break her legs! A son-in-law as outstanding as you couldn't be found even with a lantern. If she dares breathe a single word against it, she's no daughter of mine!"

On the other end of the line, I could hear Lucy shrieking in fury and her father sternly barking her down.