Lana, who loves reading gossip columns online, finds her life turned upside down when her twelve-year-old son discovers a folder on her husband’s laptop—revealing incriminating photos that scream out an affair. And who is the other woman? Lana has to take everything she has learned from her online reading and decide what to do with her marriage.

I love reading gossip columns. I’ve loved being able to sit down with a cup of coffee and read through the absolute nonsense that people go through. Nonsense in the sense that most of the stories seem exceptionally unbelievable.

And I was always convinced that my life was better. I was a mom to 12-year-old Seth and a wife to my doting husband, Jimmy. Everything was perfect until it wasn’t.

I remember the day unfolding as any other—Seth and I were at home for the afternoon. He was making his way through homework and assignments for school, and I was in the kitchen, going through recipe books and deciding what to make for dinner that evening.

“Mom,” Seth called from the dining room where he was working. “Can you make me a sandwich or something?”

“Of course, honey,” I said.

“And can I use Dad’s laptop for my assignment?” he called.

“Yes, he said that you can!” I replied.

Just as I was about to begin making Seth’s food, my phone rang, and my sister’s number displayed across the screen.

“Lana!” she said excitedly, as I answered the phone.

“Hey, Sis,” I replied, putting her on speaker so I could move freely.

“I was just checking to see if you wanted to do something this weekend. Get our nails done maybe? Or an entire spa day.”

I loved my sister, Maya. And we were incredibly close. Even when Seth was born, she had moved into my home to help me readjust to the new role of mother, while taking care of me the entire time.

“Yes, of course,” I said. “We can decide when you get here on the day.”

I continued to make Seth’s sandwich when he came in, his face drained of color. He looked at my phone and grimaced while my sister started talking about the latest events at her book club meeting.

“I’m telling you, Lana,” she said, oblivious that I was no longer listening to her. “There’s something going on between Toby and Susan. She mentioned it when we got to a steamy passage in the book. And she kept hinting about something, but when I asked her straight out, she denied it.”

I watched Seth come in, holding Jimmy’s laptop under his arm.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Cut the call,” he said. “Please.”

“Hey, Maya,” I said. “I’m getting another call. I’ll call you later, okay?”

I cut the call and turned back to my son.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Mom,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. He put the laptop down on the counter and opened it.

“I found something on Dad’s computer. It’s bad. But you need to see it.”

The urgency in his eyes pushed my heart into my throat. My son wasn’t dramatic. He was a typical kid who enjoyed playing video games and eating junk food. He did his homework on time and was on top of anything school-related.

And more than that—Seth was a mama’s boy through and through.

So, to see him so worked up over something on Jimmy’s computer made me really nervous.

As I reached out to take the laptop from him, my grip faltered. The laptop nearly crashed to the ground, but I was able to secure it just in time.

I exhaled, relieved at the minor save, and opened the folder he had found. But what I saw next was far from minor.

The folder was a virtual diary, and displayed on the screen were a series of punches to my gut—each one knocking the air from my lungs.

My husband and sister, together in scenes that whispered secrets and screamed betrayal. They were laughing over shared meals, sitting too close on our own living room couch.

There was a photo of Jimmy kissing Maya’s hand. Another one where she had her feet on his lap. Photos of them holding hands and posing together at restaurants.

Each image was timestamped within the last few months.

I felt a cold wave of shock through my body as I scrolled through them, each click a resounding echo in the silent room.

“Eat,” I told Seth, reaching out and sliding the sandwich to him.

I knew that he had seen everything. It explained the shock on his face and the anxiety radiating off his body. Seth was traumatized by what he had just seen—so was I.

“But, Mom,” he said, his voice cracking. “What are they doing? Did you know?”

I struggled to form words, each one heavier than the last.

“I don’t know, honey,” I managed, my voice steady despite the way my hands shook. “But we’re going to find out.”

“What are we going to do?” he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“We’re going to act normal,” I said, thinking on my feet. “Can you do that for me? I know that this is upsetting. Not just because it’s Dad, but also because it’s Aunt Maya.”

He nodded, his eyes wide and trusting.

“Now, go and do your homework. Call me if you need any help,” I said.

When Seth moved back to the dining room to work, I went through the folder again, looking at the photos of my husband and sister once more.

I had a thousand questions flying around my mind, but more than anything, I couldn’t describe the heartbreak that I felt.

Jimmy and I had been together for years, and I always thought we were good—that despite the general marital arguments or disagreements, we were stronger than anything else.

But, here it was—clear as anything, that he had been having an affair with my sister.

Maya, on the other hand, was my best friend. And we spent most weekends together—grabbing coffee, shopping, or just taking time out at a park together.

The fact that she had actually called me minutes before Seth’s discovery made me feel sick to my stomach. Here she was, setting up a sister date like everything was normal when she was having an affair with my husband.

I couldn’t breathe.

I needed a moment. I opened the kitchen tap and let my hands feel the soothing nature of the running water.

I didn’t know what to do next. I wanted to kick and scream and run to Jimmy’s office and confront him. But I had just told my son to calm down. I needed to follow that advice, too.

After a while, I began to make dinner. As I was cooking, Seth walked in.

“Are you okay?” he asked me as he helped himself to a bag of chips.

“Yes,” I said. “But here’s the plan. We’re going to invite Aunt Maya over for dinner this weekend, she wants to do a nail date with me on Saturday.”

“And you’re going to go?” he asked me, frowning slightly.

“Yes,” I said. “I want to see if she says anything about it.”

The week flew by—Seth distanced himself from Jimmy, claiming that he just needed to work on school things or he would say that he wanted to play video games alone.

Jimmy never questioned our son’s distance—he accepted it for what it was and continued with his routine.

I met Maya at the nail salon we always went to, and she was her usual chipper self. She spoke about work, complaining about her long hours and how sore her feet were at the end of the day.

“When Mom told me to become a teacher, I didn’t think about the time I would spend on my feet,” she said, choosing her nail color.

“Is there anything new going on with you?” I asked her, sitting back in my seat. “Seeing anyone new?”

My sister’s smile didn’t falter as she said that there wasn’t anyone new in her life.

“Just the single life, Sis,” she said.

Afterward, we grabbed takeout for dinner and headed back home.

“I’m so excited to see Seth,” she said. “He’s always taller whenever I see him.”

At home, after dinner, I excused myself from the table to get the cheesecake that we had gotten for dessert.

Seth couldn’t take the pressure of having his father and Maya in the house and had invited one of his friends over for dinner. However, they had their dinner in his room while playing video games and watching gaming videos online.

As I was about to return to the living room with dessert and another bottle of wine, I heard Jimmy and Maya’s voices.

“We can’t keep this from her anymore. It’s wrong,” Maya whispered to Jimmy.

“I know,” my husband replied, his tone heavy. “It’s just that this entire situation is complicated.”

I stepped into the room, my presence startling them into silence.

“Complicated?” I echoed sharply. “You mean, like lying to your wife and your sister?”

Their faces registered shock, then shame. My husband stood up, his mouth hanging open.

“I’m so sorry, Lana,” he said. “We can explain.”

“Stop,” I cut him off. “I’ve seen enough, I just want the truth. Because Seth and I saw the folder of your photos.”

The room filled with heavy silence as they exchanged a look. Then, my sister spoke, her voice a mixture of defiance and remorse.

“It’s true,” she said, picking up her glass of wine. “We’ve been seeing each other. But it’s not what you think—it’s not a sordid affair. It’s genuine feelings, Lana.”

“You’re just caught up in the fantasy of the books you read at your book club,” I retorted.

The confession hurt, but it was the beginning of the truth. As much as I wanted them to admit it, there was just something else added to it, too.

It was the devastation that came with being proven right—especially when I wanted everything to be some sort of façade.

In the months that followed, Jimmy and I went to couples counseling. I felt that my marriage had ended, but I still wanted to explore the fact that there may be something left for us. I figured that if the therapist could reveal it, then I would be able to hold onto that one thing for Seth.

But there wasn’t anything left.

I didn’t want anything to do with Jimmy. And I realized that as much as I loved my sister, I needed a break from her, too.

In the end, Jimmy and I decided to separate until we could figure something more permanent out. All I know is that Seth cannot look his father in the eye.

What would you do?