My daughter’s high school graduation was supposed to be one of the proudest days of my life. We had been planning her entire look for weeks – the perfect dress, the shoes that sparkled just right, and a hairstyle that would make her feel like a princess. Each graduating student was allotted two guest tickets, and without hesitation, she gave them to me and her father. I think, embarrassingly, I was even more excited than she was; after all, it marked a significant milestone in her life, one that we had all worked so hard to achieve together. She left early that morning for a pre-ceremony photoshoot with her friends, and my husband and I were planning on driving together to the school later in the afternoon. Everything seemed perfectly normal until my phone rang. An unfamiliar number flashed across the screen, and I hesitated before answering. On the other end was a woman claiming to be Mrs. Jensen, my mom’s next-door neighbor. Her voice was laced with panic as she told me that my mom had collapsed in her backyard and was unresponsive. She emphasized there was no time to wait for an ambulance; I needed to get there immediately. My heart lurched into my throat. Without a second thought, I told my husband to go on to the graduation without me. I promised I would join him as soon as I could, but right now, my mom needed me.
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I jumped into my car and raced across town, my mind reeling with worst-case scenarios. I imagined all sorts of horrible things. When I finally arrived at my mom’s house, I burst through the back gate, expecting to find chaos. Instead, I found my mom perfectly fine, casually trimming her rose bushes. She looked up, completely bewildered to see me. I sputtered out an explanation about the phone call and Mrs. Jensen, but my mom just blinked in confusion and said, “Mrs. Jensen is in Florida visiting her daughter. She couldn’t have called you.”
A wave of dizziness washed over me. The pieces weren’t fitting together. Shaking with a mixture of relief and dread, I jumped back into my car and rushed towards the school, desperately hoping that I hadn’t missed too much of the ceremony. The closer I got, the clearer things became and the more I began to understand what had just happened.
By the time I arrived at the school, the sickening realization had fully dawned on me. It was a setup. Someone had deliberately orchestrated this elaborate scheme to keep me from seeing my daughter’s graduation. But who would do something so cruel? And why? My mind raced, trying to make sense of the senseless. I slipped into the auditorium, scanning the crowd for my husband and daughter. I spotted them almost immediately. My daughter was glowing in her cap and gown, beaming with pride and accomplishment.
Then I saw my husband and the person seated next to him. He looked just as I’d left him, proud and clapping. However, sitting right next to him, holding his hand, was a woman I recognized instantly. It was Sarah, my former assistant, whom I had fired six months prior for [“SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR!”]. There was a rumor going around the office about her and my husband but I didn’t believe it for one moment. I wanted to but thought there was no way that he’d stoop so low.
The sight of them together, her hand entwined with his, was like a punch to the gut. The realization of what had been happening behind my back crashed down on me with full force. Not only had they betrayed me, but they had also robbed me of the chance to fully celebrate my daughter’s graduation. All of that time she had been helping him deceive me! I don’t know what to do now.
