During the ten years I was married to Brian, he never expressed any interest in going to church and attending service. And honestly, neither did I. We were simply not raised in religious families and our Sundays were always predictable. It was either cartoons, some movies with our daughter Kiara, 9, or errands if we were up to getting out of the house.

However, that changed out of the blue. My husband insisted on church every Sunday. At first, I thought he was just joking, but no, he was dead serious. When I asked why he expressed such desire all of a sudden, he said he was stressed at work and just needed the calmness the church could offer. Being the wife I was, I agreed.

So, we started attending church. Every Sunday, we would sit in the same pew and exchange polite smiles with the same familiar faces.

It was peaceful, and somehow, it suited me.

But then, one Sunday, Brian told me and Kiara to wait for him in the car because he needed to use the bathroom. However, more than ten minutes passed by and I started feeling a bit anxious. You know that gut feeling that tells you something could not be right? That’s exactly what I felt at that moment, and because of some reason, I asked a churchgoer to keep an eye on Kiara while I went to check on Brian.

And that’s when I learned the truth about his sudden urge to become this religious person he never actually was.

Brian was nowhere near the bathroom, so I walked back down the hallway and spotted him in the garden through the partially open window. He was talking to a woman whom I spotted attending service during the past weeks. And then I heard him say, “Do you understand what I did? I brought my family here… so that I could show you what you lost when you left me.”

I froze. What was he talking about and who was that woman?

“We could’ve had it all,” he continued. “A family, a real life, more kids. You and me. If you wanted the perfect picture, the house, the church… I’m ready now. I’ll do anything. Anything.”

The woman took a step back. It somehow felt to me like she wasn’t comfortable listening to Brian’s words.

“I feel sorry for your wife,” she said. “And your daughter. Because they have you for a husband and father.”

She then spoke of his obsession with her, and that she considered requesting a restraining order if he tried talking to her again.

At that moment, I felt too weak to confront him, so I just went back to Kiara.

And that’s when Brian returned and apologized for keeping us waiting.

It didn’t take long before I learned who that woman was. It turned out Brian was in love with her from the time they attended high school together. I got her number and asked her to meet me. She agreed and told me about the messages Brian was sending her over the years. He was telling her how much he loved her and how willing he was to leave me and our daughter for her.

That’s when I knew that my picture-perfect marriage was fake from the beginning and that there was nothing worth saving. My lawyer handed Brian divorce papers the following week.

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