My Husband Was Supposed to Watch Our Daughter While I Worked – but I Found Out He’d Been Dropping Her Off with the Neighbors for Weeks

“Right, Mel? Today was the first time, right?”

Ben is usually a terrible liar.

Melissa chirped, “YES, DADDY!”

Ben smiled at me like that was it.

My skin crawled. Ben is usually a terrible liar.

This was smooth.

“Ben,” I said quietly. “Sit.”

He hesitated. “Karen—”

“Where are you going all day?”

“Sit,” I repeated.

He sat at the table. I pointed down the hall.

“Melissa, go play in your room.”

She pouted. I kept my voice firm. “Five minutes.”

She ran off.

I leaned in. “Don’t lie,” I said. “Not again.”

I stared at him until he shifted.

Ben swallowed. “I’ve been… getting help.”

“From Diane,” I said. “Without asking. Without telling me.”

He looked away.

“Where are you going all day?” I asked.

“Job stuff,” he said too fast.

I stared at him until he shifted.

He opened his mouth.

“Answer,” I said. “Because you weren’t answering your phone when Diane called.”

“I wasn’t disappearing,” he snapped.

“Then stop acting like it,” I shot back. “Where are you going?”

He opened his mouth. Then Melissa ran back in with a toy crown.

“Mommy! I’m a princess!”

Ben’s face brightened like he’d been rescued.

“You involved our daughter in a lie.”

I held up a hand. “Melissa, back to your room.”

She froze at my tone, then shuffled away.

I stood up.

“New rule,” I said. “Until I know what’s happening, you don’t drop her anywhere without telling me. Ever.”

Ben’s head snapped up. “Karen, don’t—”

“Too late,” I said. “You involved our daughter in a lie.”

“You feel guilty.”

That night I didn’t sleep.

The next morning, Ben insisted on driving me to work. He talked too much.

“We should take Melissa to the zoo,” he said. “Her birthday’s soon.”

I watched his hands grip the wheel.

“You feel guilty,” I said.

“I feel stressed,” he replied.

I wanted facts.

“Same thing,” I said.

In the parking lot, he leaned over for a kiss. I let him kiss my cheek because Melissa was watching.

Then, while he grabbed my bag from the trunk, I slipped a GPS tracker under his seat.

I wanted facts.