TC 9

EP9. ◇ Unable to Cut the Relationship I Should Have Ended

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I told Erika honestly:

> “My wife discovered us through carelessly left messages on my phone.”
> “She asked me to break up with you.”
> “But I have no intention of simply ending things with you at her command.”

Erika, too, said that I had become her emotional support, someone she needed. She wanted to continue our relationship just as it was.

The time I spent with Erika healed the wounds inside me—wounds quietly inflicted over time by the cold treatment I’d received from my wife.

So I decided we would continue carefully, making sure not to be discovered.
Contact would always be initiated by me.

And as much as possible, I avoided using my smartphone or computer.

> “I chose to use public telephones.”

I arranged for Erika to have a new phone, one to be used only in emergencies.
So far, there had been no emergencies, and all our meetings were arranged through my calls alone.

It seemed unlikely that we had been found out.

And yet—

> “Even though my wife had asked for reconciliation with all her heart… that scene I witnessed of her with a younger man keeps tugging at me.”

Maybe I was just overthinking things.
Still—

> “Perhaps I should look into it, just in case…”