You’ve been in a committed relationship for ten years. To everyone else, it looks perfect. A nice home, successful careers, well-behaved children. From the outside, you’re the couple everyone envies.
But behind closed doors, things are different. You and your partner never truly loved each other. You have an arrangement to open a relationship. To make it work, you created strict rules:
1. No affair partners in the family home.
2. No illegitimate children.
3. The truth must be kept from family and friends.
4. No affair partner can ever disrespect your spouse.
For ten years, these rules kept things in balance. Until last night.
You were walking through a strip mall with a friend when one of your affair partners spotted you. They waved. You pretended not to see them. But they didn’t take the hint. They walked straight up to you.
In a panic, you lashed out. “Leave me alone. You’re acting like a creep.” The words echoed louder than you meant them to. Shoppers turned. Your friend stared. The partner’s face fell — confused, embarrassed, hurt. And then they left.
That night, you came home to find your spouse waiting. They had already heard what happened. The affair partner had reached out, furious at how you humiliated them. They threatened to expose everything — your arrangement, your affairs, the picture-perfect lie.
Your spouse is livid. “You broke the rules. You let someone disrespect me by making me look like a fool. And now we’re both at risk.”
Now you’re trapped.
· If you apologize to the affair partner, you risk giving them more power over you and your spouse. They could hold the secret over your head forever.
· If you cut them off completely, they may retaliate by exposing the truth, destroying your reputation, your family, your children’s lives.
· If you come clean to your family and friends, you might regain control — but you also risk losing everything you’ve built.
What do you do?
This… Is the burden of Choice.