He Betrayed Me with His Secretary and Lived to Regret It

The day I joined the Geological Society, I teased Theo Chandler with a playful warning:

"If you ever betray me, I’ll vanish so completely that you’ll never find me."

He took my hand, kissed it tenderly, and vowed with all the sincerity in the world:

"I would never betray you. But if I ever lost you, I’d dig to the ends of the earth to bring you back."

Fate has a cruel sense of irony. One day, I walked into the master bedroom to find him entangled with his secretary, Celeste Radcliffe.

I didn’t scream or cry. Instead, I left quietly, my heart heavy but my dignity intact.