Circles of Deception

I noticed Connor's fitness tracker had been logging over twenty thousand steps a day for an entire week.

I teased him about it, asking if he was secretly hitting the gym behind my back.

He walked out of the master bathroom, roughly towel drying his wet hair.

The firm is pushing a massive new campaign. I've been running around meeting clients all day. I am absolutely dead on my feet.

He caught the thoughtful look in my eyes.

Coming up behind me, he wrapped his arms around my waist, his voice dripping with that familiar affection.

"What's wrong? Scared I'm running away from you? Relax, babe. I'm yours. Always."

I forced a smile and kept my mouth shut.

Later that night, long after his breathing leveled out in sleep, I unlocked his phone and opened his running app.

His GPS route didn't show client meetings. Every single day, a thick red line looped around the apartment complex where his ex lived. Lap after lap. Circle after circle.

I quietly took a screenshot, opened my Instagram, and posted it to my close friends story.

The caption read: "Congratulations to my husband on re-entering the dating market."

My story had been live for less than three minutes when Connor's calls started rolling in.

I let it ring.

He was relentless. My phone buzzed angrily against the glass coffee table, vibrating over and over.

Finally, I swiped to answer, put him on speaker, and tossed the phone onto the sofa.

"Justine, what the hell is wrong with you? Take that post down right now!" His voice was tight, barely suppressing a furious roar. I could hear the wind whipping through the receiver. He was definitely outside.

I poured myself a glass of cold water, taking my time. "There's nothing wrong with me. The caption is pretty self explanatory."

"Do you have any idea how many people are blowing up my phone? The guys from the office, our mutual friends! Everyone is asking what happened! Are you trying to publicly humiliate me?"

"You humiliated yourself, Connor. Twenty thousand steps at a time."

Dead silence on the other end.

When he finally spoke again a few seconds later, the anger had drained out of him, replaced by an exhausted, pleading whine.

"Justine, please stop this. I am so burnt out from work. Can you just cut me some slack for once?"

"Cut you some slack for jogging laps under your ex's balcony?"

"It is literally just a coincidence! The new development project is on the West End. All my clients are over there. I just decided to get some cardio in while I was in the neighborhood. Is that a crime?"

"We have been married for three years, Connor. Since when do you run?"

He choked on his words, completely out of ammunition.

I was sick of listening to him scramble for lies. "If that is all you have to say, I am going to bed. My lawyer will email you the divorce papers in the morning."

"Justine!" he screamed into the phone. "You are ending our marriage over a freaking run? Are you insane?"

I ended the call and immediately blocked his number.

The apartment was beautifully quiet.

I opened my phone again. My notifications were an absolute war zone.

One of our mutual friends had cautiously replied to the story: "Justine, what did Connor do?"

One of Connor's frat brothers jumped into my DMs: "Yo Justine, aren't you overreacting a bit? My boy has been stressed out of his mind with this new account. You really shouldn't put him on blast like this."

I stared at the messages, let out a cold laugh, and didn't bother typing a single word back.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.

I peered through the peephole. It was Connor.

His hair was a messy disaster, his eyes bloodshot, and he was pounding his fists against the heavy wood.

"Justine, open the damn door! Let's talk about this like adults! Face to face!"

I didn't move a muscle.

His pounding grew heavier, his voice echoing down the hallway loudly enough to make the neighbor across the hall peek out.

"Justine, please! Just let me explain!"

I turned my back on the door, walked into our bedroom, shoved my noise canceling AirPods in, and cranked up the volume.

The banging faded into nothing.

I lost track of time. When I finally pulled the earbuds out, the living room was completely silent.

He had given up.

I let out a long breath and was just about to head to the shower when my screen lit up again. It was Connor's mother.

"Justine, what on earth is going on between you two? Married couples have spats, but airing your dirty laundry on social media? Threatening divorce? Were you raised with zero class?"

Helen's voice was exactly as sharp and venomous as it had been since the day we met.

I listened to her rant, my face expressionless, refusing to interrupt.

"Connor told me everything. He went for a jog. That is it. Why are you turning this into a massive circus and making our family look like fools in front of everyone?"

"Did he happen to mention exactly where he was jogging, Helen?"

"What does the location matter? It is a good thing he is staying active! You are his wife. You should be worried about how stressed he is, but instead, you are throwing a tantrum over nothing. Do you even care about him?"

I let out a dark chuckle. "He was running laps around the apartment building of his ex, Lily. Twenty thousand steps a day. For an entire week."

The line went dead silent.

A long moment passed before Helen cleared her throat, her tone turning defensive and rigid. "So... so what? It was probably just a coincidence! You know Lily has a weak heart. The poor girl is practically an invalid. Connor was probably just... checking in on her to make sure she was okay. Is that such a crime?"

"Checking in on her by running in circles outside her window every single night?"

"Why are you being so stubborn? He married you, didn't he? Stop being so hysterical. Delete that ridiculous post, apologize to Connor, and we will pretend this never happened."

"I did nothing wrong. Why would I apologize?"

"You..." Helen sputtered, choking on her rage. "Justine, let me make this very clear. The family name will not be dragged through the mud! If you want to remain a part of this family, you will fix this mess immediately!"

She slammed the phone down.

I stared at the darkened screen, feeling a freezing hollow sensation in my chest.

This was the man I had married. These were the people I had tied myself to.

Whenever anything went wrong, I was always the villain.

I dragged my suitcase out of the closet and started tossing my clothes inside.

I couldn't stand to breathe the air in this apartment for one second longer.

Just as I zipped the bag shut, my phone buzzed with an unknown caller ID.

I hesitated, then swiped to accept.

A soft, breathy female voice filtered through the speaker, sounding like she was on the verge of collapsing.

"Is... is this Justine?"

It was Lily.

"It is Lily. Justine, please, you have to listen to me. Do not be mad at Connor. It is... it is not what you think."

Her voice was so frail it sounded like she was whispering through a dying lung.

"He just heard that my heart condition flared up again. He was terrified I was going to pass out alone in my apartment, so he just... lingered around the neighborhood to make sure I was safe. I swear to you, we haven't even seen each other face to face."

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

"So, I should be thanking him? Is that it? Thanking my husband for dedicating his precious free time to babysit his fragile ex while I am working myself into the ground?"

"No, Justine, please don't say that..." She sounded like she was about to burst into tears. "It is all my fault. Blame me, but don't punish him. He only loves you. If you don't believe me, I will swear on my life right now that I will never text him again!"

What a brilliant performance. The ultimate damsel in distress.

I scoffed into the mic. "I really don't care if you text him or not. We are getting divorced."

I killed the call.

I was done listening to their pathetic excuses.

I dragged my suitcase out to the curb, flagged down an Uber, and went straight to Roxy's place.

After I spilled the whole story, Roxy was so furious she hurled a throw pillow violently across her living room.

"Are you kidding me right now? What is wrong with his mother? And what exactly is Lily suffering from? The Black Plague? Does Connor need to perform a goddamn healing ritual on her front lawn every night?"

I sank deep into the cushions, too drained to formulate a sentence.

"You are divorcing that trash! Tonight! We are not dragging this dead weight into the new year. I've got your back, babe, whatever you need."

Roxy shoved a mug of hot tea into my hands, rubbing my freezing knuckles.

"You did the right thing putting him on blast! Let the whole city see what a lying snake he is!"

I managed a weak, bitter smile.

My phone buzzed. Another text from Helen.

"Justine, come over for dinner tonight. I made that glazed pork you like. We are going to sit down as a family and talk this out like adults."

A second text immediately followed.

"I invited Lily to join us. She is going to look you in the eye and clear this whole misunderstanding up, so you can stop being so paranoid."

I turned the screen toward Roxy.

Roxy's jaw literally dropped before her eyes narrowed into lethal slits.

"Oh, this bitch is good. It is a total ambush. What is she expecting? You and the mistress holding hands over dessert, bonding over how much you both love her precious son?"

"Get up," Roxy demanded, suddenly yanking my arm. Her eyes were burning with a terrifying thrill. "We are going. And we are going to look drop dead gorgeous. I want a front row seat to whatever psychotic play this family is trying to put on."

By sunset, I was wearing a killer cherry red dress Roxy had pulled from her closet, my makeup flawlessly sharp. We pulled up to his parents' suburban house together.

Connor opened the door.

His eyes lit up the second he saw me, but the relief vanished the moment he spotted Roxy glaring at him from my right.

"Hey. You came." He reached out to grab my hand, but I dodged him smoothly.

"Roxy, this is family business. Why are you here?"

Roxy crossed her arms, flashing a predatory grin. "What, scared I'm gonna eat all your groceries? Relax, I'll Venmo you for the water."

Helen rushed out of the kitchen, plastering a painfully fake smile on her face. "Oh, Roxy! What a surprise. Come in, come in. Justine, sweetie, I made soup for you."

I slipped my heels off and stepped into the living room. My eyes immediately locked onto the girl sitting on the sofa.

Lily.

She was wearing an oversized white knit dress. Her skin was incredibly pale, her lips completely bare of color. She looked so pitiful and frail, like a strong gust of wind would snap her in half.

When she saw me, she nervously got to her feet, offering me a trembling, fragile smile.

"Hi, Justine."

I looked right through her, walking straight to the armchair across from her and sitting down.

The dining table felt like a graveyard.

Arthur, my father in law, sat stone faced at the head of the table. Helen aggressively piled food onto my plate, acting as the frantic peacekeeper.

"Justine, look at you, you've lost weight. You need to eat. Work is important, but health comes first."

"And Connor," she scolded, shooting her son a theatrical glare. "You are acting like a child. If you had a problem, you should have just talked to your wife instead of making her worry."

Connor instantly dropped his head, playing the role of the repentant boy perfectly. "I know. I'm sorry, babe. Please stop being mad."

I hadn't picked up my fork. I just sat back and watched the family theater unfold.

Under the table, Roxy tapped my ankle with her boot, shooting me a knowing look.

Helen cleared her throat, finally pulling the trigger.

"Justine, the reason I asked Lily to join us tonight is so we can get everything out in the open and squash this silly rumor once and for all."

She gave Lily a pointed look. Lily caught her cue perfectly, her voice trembling like a dying bird.

"Justine, I am so, so sorry for causing you so much stress."

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

"There is absolutely nothing going on between Connor and me. He just... he just pitied me."

"I was born with a severe heart defect. The specialists told me I wouldn't make it past thirty. My parents passed away a long time ago, so I have been fighting this totally alone. A few weeks ago, my condition crashed. They handed me a terminal prognosis. Connor must have heard about it from our old college friends, and he just..."

She choked on a sob, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently.

Connor practically leaped out of his chair to hand her a tissue, his eyes swimming with guilt and desperate affection.

"Don't push yourself, Lily. Take a breath."

Helen sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Such a tragic hand to be dealt. You see, Justine? Connor just has a bleeding heart. He couldn't stand seeing her suffer. You are reading way too much into this."

Roxy actually snorted, nearly choking on her wine.

She slammed her glass down, flashing a razor sharp smile. "Wow, Helen. That is some wild logic. So because he feels bad for his ex, he gets a free pass to completely trash his wife's boundaries? What happens next week? He sees a homeless guy on the street and moves him into the master bedroom?"

Helen's face flushed purple. "Excuse me? Who taught you how to speak to adults?"

"Just calling it how I see it," Roxy fired back, staring Helen down without blinking. "Also, it is so crazy, because when Lily was doing her master's degree in Europe, she looked incredibly healthy. Scuba diving, rock climbing, partying in Ibiza. Her Instagram grid looked like a Red Bull commercial. But the second she moves back to the States, she is suddenly on her deathbed?"

All the blood instantly drained from Lily's face.

She stammered in absolute panic, "That... that was years ago. My heart started failing right after I flew back..."

"Really?" Roxy raised an eyebrow. "What terrible timing."

Connor slammed his hand on the table, stepping up to shield Lily.

"Back off, Roxy! Who do you think you are interrogating her like this? You don't know a damn thing about her medical history!"

"No, I don't. But I know that a married man orbiting his ex girlfriend like a pathetic satellite is cheating!"

"I didn't cheat!" Connor roared, his neck turning red. "I was just jogging! Stop acting like a psycho!"

The shouting match was seconds away from exploding. I finally opened my mouth.

"Enough."

I didn't yell, but the room instantly went dead silent.

All four pairs of eyes snapped to me.

I pulled out my phone, pulled up a specific webpage, and flipped the screen around for all of them to see.

"I posted this on a local Reddit forum yesterday."

The title of the thread read: "My husband logs 20k steps a day, but his GPS shows he's circling his ex's apartment. What do I do?"

There were already hundreds of comments.

"Girl, throw the whole man away!"

"Pack your bags. If you stay, you're the clown."

"My ex did the exact same thing. Found out six months later he had a whole secret baby with her!"

Connor and Helen looked like they were going to vomit.

I scrolled past the comments and opened a specific direct message.

A user named MidnightJogger had sent me a massive block of text.

"Hey OP. I am pretty sure I know exactly who you are talking about. I live in the same building as your husband's ex."

"There is this guy who runs laps around our courtyard every single night. He stays for hours. He always stops to stare up at the third floor balcony."

"Last night, I actually saw him bring a pharmacy bag up to her door. They were standing way too close. He was holding her."

Right beneath the text message was an attachment.

The photo was slightly grainy, taken in the dim hallway lighting, but it was undeniable. Connor had his arm firmly wrapped around Lily's waist. His face was buried in her hair.

And Lily was leaning completely into his chest, looking like the happiest girl in the world.