The Receipt That Broke Me

I found a receipt in my wife’s pocket… and it broke me. It was from a jewelry store.

Expensive. And I knew it wasn’t for me. That same week, she started acting

distant. Leaving the house early. Coming back exhausted. I stopped sleeping.

I replayed every moment of the past year, looking for signs. One night,

I finally asked her the truth. She went silent. Then she sat down… and told me everything.

The jewelry wasn’t for another man. It was for her mother. She’d sold her own things.

Skipped lunches. Worked overtime in secret. Her mom was sick. And she didn’t want

to scare me until she was sure. I thought I was being replaced. She was carrying