Part 1The Cheater's Burn: Frugal Husband, Toxic Mistress

By the time I got home from the emergency room, it was already three in the morning.

My daughter was fast asleep.

Logan wasn’t in the bedroom.

Thinking back on everything that had just happened, the suspicion inside me only grew darker.

Throughout our ten years of marriage, Logan had always insisted that "pleasure wasn't a priority." Because of that, ever since our daughter was born, we had exclusively used the cheap, government-issued condoms handed out for free at the local clinic.

They were thick, rubbery, and smelled awful.

I had brought it up countless times. Buying a decent brand online during sales wasn't expensive at all, and our sex life wasn't even that frequent.

There was no need to pinch pennies over something like that.

Every single time, Logan would snap at me.

"I'm the one doing all the work, and I'm the one wearing that uncomfortable piece of crap! Why do you always have so many demands? No matter how cheap they are, they still cost money! We have free ones, but you just love throwing cash away, don't you?"

After arguing about it over and over, I grew exhausted.

I stopped bringing it up altogether.

Until tonight. Out of nowhere, Logan pulled an exquisite, already opened box from his jacket pocket.

He waved it in front of my face like a trophy, making sure I saw the Japanese writing printed across the packaging.

"Imported directly from Japan. You’re always whining about how the free ones smell bad. Let's try the expensive stuff tonight and see what the big deal is."

My heart fluttered. I actually thought he had gone out of his way to plan a sweet surprise for me.

Just as I leaned in, eager to take things to the next level, Logan’s hand twitched. The box slipped and fell right onto my bare chest.

Almost instantly, something felt terribly wrong.

First came the violent sneezing. Then, a crawling, unbearable itch spread across my skin, followed by fiery red welts and swelling.

Seeing my reaction, Logan’s mood instantly soured.

Looking utterly disgusted, he scrambled to his feet, pulling up his pants while sneering down at me.

"You really can't appreciate the good stuff, can you? That damn box cost six bucks apiece! I knew using it on you would be a complete waste. Freshly opened, and you turn into this pathetic mess. Total mood killer!"

Without giving a single damn about my worsening symptoms, he stormed off to the bathroom to take care of himself.

As my breathing grew ragged and my throat began to tighten, I forced myself to throw on a robe and call 911.

At the hospital, after the doctor hooked me up to an IV and stabilized my vitals, he walked in with a stern expression.

"You know you have a severe cat dander allergy. Why on earth were you handling a cat? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I shook my head on instinct. "We don't have a cat..."

Then, a sudden memory flashed through my mind. The exact moment that opened box of ultra-thin condoms touched my skin, my body had flared up.

The box was contaminated. There was cat hair on it.

Seeing me shake my head and zone out, the doctor checked my vitals once more to make sure I wasn't going into anaphylactic shock again.

He sighed and told me to get some rest.

And now, standing in our bedroom, I looked down and saw the discarded box sitting in the trash can.

Carefully putting on a mask and disposable gloves, I fished the box out. Sure enough, clinging to the corner were a few fine strands of white cat fur.

Pairing that with Logan’s offhand comment about them costing six dollars each, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he bought them himself.

It had been opened before he ever brought it home. It was covered in cat hair.

And for a stingy miser like him to suddenly buy high-end Japanese imports could only mean one thing.

He was cheating on me.