After discovering her husband with her boss’s wife, Denise’s world falls apart. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, Denise confronts her husband only to be kicked out of her own home. The following day, her boss presents her with a startling proposition. How will Denise respond?

The night we entered my boss Richard’s elegant mansion, I sensed something was amiss. I felt out of place in my modest black dress, while my husband Eric appeared unnaturally comfortable. In hindsight, it all makes sense.

“Stay with me tonight, all right?” I asked Eric, holding onto his arm as we navigated through the crowd.

He nodded, but his eyes were already scanning the room, seemingly on the lookout for something—or someone—that I couldn’t see.

Hours melted into a blur of polite conversation and bubbling champagne. At some point, I lost track of Eric, assuming he was grabbing another drink or mingling. Yet, as time passed, a heavy unease settled in.

And then Richard approached.

“Denise, have you seen Vanessa?” His voice seemed calm, but his eyes betrayed tension. Vanessa was Richard’s wife, a woman of grace and self-assurance.

I shook my head, feeling the knot in my stomach tighten. “No, I haven’t. Have you seen Eric?”

Our eyes met, both of us understanding something was wrong without needing words. Together, we began searching.

Room after room, hallway after hallway, the sound of my thudding heart eclipsing everything else. Approaching the attic, intuition hinted what awaited.

The door creaked open to reveal them—Eric and Vanessa—entwined as if nothing could pull them apart. They noticed us only when I let out a gasp.

Eric resembled a startled deer, ready to spew out excuses that never came. Vanessa’s expression was one of sheer disinterest, as though she was inconvenienced rather than caught.

I couldn’t endure their presence. I turned away, feeling each step heavier as my world collapsed.

Returning home, I braced for emotional collapse but found only numbness from betrayal. Soon, Eric returned, and I awaited explanations that might somehow reframe what I’d witnessed.

“Why, Eric?” I managed in a strained whisper. “Why her? Why now?”

For a moment, he looked pained, then his cold eyes set on me. “Does it matter? It’s over, Denise. You need to leave.”

“Leave? This is our home,” I protested weakly.

“No,” he replied bluntly. “It’s my grandmother’s house. You’ve no claim. Vanessa will be over soon.”

His detached words knocked the breath out of me, concluding a night filled with blows.

I stuffed essentials into a suitcase, retreating to a bare motel on town’s edge. The bed was hard, the walls so thin I heard every sound, and the lights flickered unpredictably.

Holding onto sanity was an overwhelming task, and then came the knock—past midnight, insistent.

“Denise, it’s me,” a voice called from the other side.

It was Richard. Why was he here?

Opening the door, there he stood, looking like he’d just walked off a movie set. Yet it was the gleam in his eyes, a mix of fatigue and something more—perhaps mischief—that sent a chill through me.

“Richard, what—” I began, but he interrupted by squeezing past into the room.

“Denise, you look awful,” he remarked, dropping a bag on the bed, assessing my despair. “Understandably so.”

I sighed, shutting the door. “What are you here for? It’s late, and seriously, what’s in the bag?”

Ignoring my question, he surveyed the room critically. “This place is a dump. You can’t stay here indefinitely.”

“As if I have other options,” I replied defensively.

Richard’s tone softened. “Denise, I didn’t come to upset you further. Actually, I’m here to offer you a chance of feeling… better.”

Curiosity piqued; I watched him unzip the bag. Its contents made me gasp.

Rats. A horde in cages. Instinctively, I stepped back, but Richard chuckled like it was nothing peculiar.

“Richard, what are you planning with these?”

He looked up, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “We can’t reverse what Eric and Vanessa have done. But we can at least indulge in a bit of fun, can’t we?”

The word “fun” was utterly foreign now. As his intent emerged, I struggled between shock and laughter.

“You want revenge,” I replied, each syllable heavy.

Richard shrugged, a sly grin visible. “Revenge, call it justice if you prefer. They deserve complaints, and you need your power back.”

The drive back to the house was silent, Richard serious, his eyes firmly on the road. I thought about how a single night could upheave life in unimaginable ways.

Approaching the house brought hesitation.

But Richard, out of the car already, urged me to unlock the door. My hands quivered, but I finally opened it, stepping into a once-familiar world piecing back together painful memories.

“Upstairs,” Richard whispered. “They’re likely asleep.”

Carefully ascending the stairs, each creak echoed my churning emotions. Outside the bedroom door, breathing could be heard. Oblivious serenity reigned inside, igniting a boiling fury.

“Do it,” Richard instructed, handing over the bag. His aura was now resolutely serious.

I opened the bag, my shaking fingers releasing the rats. They scurried off, disappearing into the shadows of the room.

Clutching my arm, Richard pulled us swiftly out, down and into the car. We sat there in spellbound silence. And then came the faint, distant scream.

Vanessa’s voice, edged with panic, broke the night air. Following were Eric’s angry cries, confusion evident. Richard burst into laughter, contagious and liberating.

Once laughter subsided, Richard suggested, “There’s a diner open all night nearby. Want to grab breakfast?”

“Breakfast?” I replied, incredulous but oddly grounded by the normalcy it promised.

“Yes,” I confirmed, voice strong, surprisingly steady. “And Richard… two days from now, let’s go on a real date. No more rats.”

His face broke into a genuine smile. “It’s a date.”

This tale is sparked by true events and real people, though it is fictionalized for creativity. Names, characters, and details are altered to maintain privacy and narrate compellingly. Any resemblance is unintentional and coincidental.