When we met at the hotel,Steven’s face was ghostly pale,his steps unsteady.
He was clearly on edge.
As Daniel’s secret lover,he had to taccompany me,the legal wife,to catch him cheating.The irony was delicious.

Their room was on the 16th floor—no where to run.
Even as Daniel delayed opening the door,I remained calm,knowing he was cornered.
My loud knocking drew other guests out to watch—some annoyed,some curious.
An older woman asked,“Miss,why are you banging on that door?If no one’s answering,maybe it’s empty.”
A man from the next room chimed in.“There’s definitely someone inside.From my room,I can see their balcony.A guy even tried to jump to my balcony,but it’s too far and too high,so he backed off.”
I shouted through the door,“Daniel Harris,I’m not leaving!Stay in there forever if you want.Don’t think you can jump balconies—I’ve got plenty of folks here watching.A wife catching her husband’s mistress always has the moral high ground,and everyone’s on my side!”

The neighbor added,“I saw two guys in there.Are you sure you’ve got the right room?”
I pinched my thigh hard,tears streaming as I sobbed to the crowd about my plight.
“Someone told me my husband’s gay,and I didn’t believe it—thought it was a rumor to tear us apart.But they didn’t want me fooled,so they tipped me off to catch him.”
“My life’s a mess—tricked into pregnancy,and now I can’t even get the door opened to confront him.”

Hotel staff arrived.After hearing the crowd’s chatter,they said they couldn’t open a guest’s door unless lives were at risk.
The neighbor helped again.“There is a life - threatening situation! The guy in there was on the balcony, trying to jump. At this height, a fall would be fatal. Open the door and check!”
Panicked,the staff unlocked the door to investigate.
As it swung open,a wave of intimate odors hit us.
The crowd gave me pitying looks.
But the most devastated wasn’t me—it was Steven,who’d been silent beside me.
Daniel,feigning calm,demanded,“What’s all this racket?Emily,you’re pregnant—running all the way here,aren’t you afraid of hurting the baby?”
“Daniel,what on earth are you doing here?You texted me saying you were working late.What kind of‘work’involves cozying up in a hotel room?”
Daniel deflected.“Two guys—what could we be doing?Stop making a scene.”
Then Steven pulled a used condom from the trash,holding it up.“What’s this?”
Daniel stammered,“I don’t know—not mine.Probably from the last guest.”
A hotel cleaner interjected,“I clean every room thoroughly after guests leave.That’s from your stay.”
Steven pressed,“Not going to admit it?Should I take this for a DNA test,or do I need to search this guy to see if you two were intimate?”
Steven was livid,but no one suspected he was Daniel’s lover.
An older woman asked me,“Is this your brother?He’s so protective of you—looks like he’s ready to tear your husband apart.”
I didn’t know how to say,so I pretended to be heartbreak and ran off.