I put a laxative in my husband’s coffee before he left to see his mistress… but what happened next was worse than I imagined.

—We’ll be waiting for you!
—Today we toast to being single!

I put on lipstick in front of the hall mirror.

I grabbed my keys.

My bag.

My dignity.

As I was closing the door, I heard her desperate voice from the bathroom.

—Where are you going?!

I smiled.

—To a meeting—I replied.

I paused briefly before leaving.

—The important ones… you know.

And I closed the door.

But the story didn’t end there.

Two hours later, when I returned home laughing with my friends and with the smell of beer in my hair, I found him sitting on the sofa.

Pale.

Exhausted.

Humiliated.

The cell phone in his hand.

“Did you have fun?” he asked dryly.

“A lot,” I replied, putting my bag down on the table.

He picked up the phone.

“Carolina wrote to me,” he said.

I remained silent.

—The canceled quote.

That did surprise me.

—Oh yeah?

-Yeah.

He ran his hand over his face.

—Because I understood something today.

I looked at him without saying anything.

—If I have to take a laxative to remember that I’m married… then I was already too far from home.

There was a long silence between us.

It was not a comfortable silence.

But he wasn’t the same as before either.

It was an honest silence.

Finally, I sighed.

—Next time —I said— I’m not going to use laxatives.

He raised an eyebrow.

—Oh no?

—No.

I looked him straight in the eyes.

—I’m going to put your suitcases at the door.

For the first time in a long time…

My husband didn’t have any witty replies.

He just looked down.

And at that moment I understood something very simple.

Sometimes revenge isn’t about shouting.
It’s not about destroying.

Sometimes…

It’s just reminding someone
that respect is also something you digest.

And if he doesn’t learn it the easy way…

The universe always finds a very… direct way to teach it.