Husband Texts He’s in a Business Meeting & Cancels Our Date—I Saw Him Leaving Work at the Same Time

It made no sense, but at the same time, a story seemed to be unfolding.

“Happy anniversary,” I said, the words laced with bitterness.

My husband leaped up, his face full of shock and his mouth hanging open.

“Leighton,” he said. “It’s not what it looks like!”

Sophia, her face flushed with surprise, began gathering the papers.

“Then what is it?” I asked. “You skipped dinner for whatever this is.”

My voice broke, teetering on the edge of anger and sorrow.

“No, Leighton, listen,” Sophia interjected, her voice calm, trying to soothe the storm.

“What are those papers for?” I asked.

I couldn’t see what they were, but my mind was convinced that they were divorce papers. Why else would my husband be sitting in a motel room with another woman?

“Darling,” Josh said, taking a step toward me. “We’re planning to buy this motel.”

“What?” I asked, genuinely surprised by the turn of events.

“We thought that it would make a perfect business venture,” Sophia said. “This isn’t about me, Leighton. I just have the contacts to help it happen. The man who drove Josh here is my husband. He’s sorting out the final paperwork with the owner, who happens to be his brother-in-law.”

My husband nodded earnestly, adding, “I wanted this to be our new start, something that you and I could build together. To create a legacy for ourselves. This was supposed to be official last week, but there was a delay with the owner.”

“We only had this evening to sign everything,” Sophia chirped in.

The room was thick with tension as I processed their words.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” my voice softened as my heart rate slowed down.

Sophia looked from Josh to me and back to the pile of paperwork. She helped herself to a piece of candy from the dish in front of her.

“I thought keeping it a surprise until everything was set would be… I don’t know, more special?” he said.

He looked down at the dirty carpet beneath our feet.

“So, what now?” I asked, looking at my watch.

“The moment my husband gets back with the signed documents, Josh can sign, and we’ll be done here,” Sophia said, picking up her handbag.

“Have a seat,” Josh said, pulling out a chair for me. “The moment I sign, we can get out of here.”

Sophia excused herself, claiming that she wanted to check out the vending machine because she was starving.

“You really just wanted this to be a surprise?” I asked Josh.

“Of course,” he said. “I’ve been looking into property for a while now. I want it to be our safety net in terms of finances.”

We sat together and spoke for a little while longer before Sophia and her husband came in, carrying the stack of paperwork that I had seen him holding earlier.

“Almost done now,” Sophia said, handing Josh a pen.

A little while later, we were in my car, with Josh driving us home.

“I know it’s late, and that we have missed our reservation,” he said. “But let’s get some dinner anyway.”

We went to a diner not too far away from our home.

“No more secrets, Josh,” I said as our food arrived.

“I promise,” he said, reaching for my hand across the table, his eyes earnest.

As we drove home, I realized that although the night had not gone as planned, perhaps it needed to have been that way. With a promise renewed and a future venture to embark on together.

But as Josh showered that evening, I pulled out the anniversary cake that I had gotten the day before. As it had been my parents’ tradition, I wanted it to become ours.

I surprised Josh with the cake as he was getting into bed.

“This is better than a fancy dinner,” he said.

After seeing the motel, I know that there’s going to be a lot of time and dedication going into it. At least while we try to make it our own.

I have paint swatches and room layouts already planned in my head.

What would you have done?

Here’s another story for you |

Bride Claimed I Destroyed My Son’s Wedding Because of My Outfit Choice – Was I Really Wrong Here?

Claire just wants to be the glamorous mother-of-the-groom—but when she realizes that her daughter-in-law has her own plans for the wedding, she steps back to focus on her own outfit, only for there to be a fight between her and Alice on the big day. Alice claims that Claire has destroyed the wedding by stealing her dream dress, while Claire sees nothing wrong in her actions. Who is wrong?

All I wanted was to be the mother-of-the-groom. That’s it. I just wanted to be the doting mother who loved her son more than anything—but this is the story of how my attempt to make my son’s wedding perfect turned into a day we’d all rather forget.

Mark had big dreams, and I knew that my son was always going to reach for the stars.

Alice, on the other hand, was completely different from my son. Her entire personality was light and carefree, whereas Mark was serious and brooding. Alice was a self-taught coder, who freelanced from their cozy apartment. Their worlds, their politics, their interests didn’t align.

But they made it work—and they were a sweet couple for the most part. But love, as they say, is blind.

When Mark proposed to Alice, we were all invited to the scene to help surprise her.

“Please, Mom,” Mark said on the phone. “Alice isn’t close to her family, so to see you and Dad there will be good for her. She’ll know that she’s welcomed and supported.”

“Of course, honey,” I told him, already envisioning their wedding in my head.

After a few months into the wedding planning, I met Alice at a coffee shop so that we could go over the details. But we clashed on everything.

“I think roses are timeless,” I said, helping myself to a slice of cake.

“They are, but they’re also overdone in a sense,” Alice said, sipping her tea. “Mark and I want peonies.”

Of course, we didn’t see eye-to-eye.

But then, on the wedding day, everything changed.

Upon opening the door, Alice looked up—her joyful expression collapsing into one of utter devastation. She looked me up and down before bursting into tears.

Read the full story here.

This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.