My husband barely talked about his ex-wife. I knew her name, had seen a couple of photos, but that was it. She never seemed relevant—until the day I found myself sitting next to her on a flight back home.
I mean, what are the odds?
She recognized me instantly from Facebook, thanks to our wedding pictures. It was awkward at first—how could it not be? What are you even supposed to say in a situation like that?
But then… we started talking. And surprisingly, she was really nice. Warm, even. We laughed. Shared a few light stories. I was just beginning to feel comfortable when she dropped a bomb:
“WAIT—OSCAR NEVER TOLD YOU?!”
And after she explained, I just sat there, stunned.
Because no matter what happens from here, one thing’s for sure—I can never forgive my husband for what I learned that day.
It all started innocently enough.
I was flying home from visiting my mom in Phoenix. Oscar had offered to pick me up in Seattle. I was in seat 14B. The woman next to me gave me a quick glance—and then a second, longer one.
“Wait… are you Lily?”
I nodded, slightly confused. “Yeah…?”
“I’m Mara.”
It took a moment for the name to register.
Mara. That Mara. His ex-wife.
I must’ve gone pale, because she gave a little laugh and said, “Small world, huh?”
I forced a smile and nodded, my brain going into overdrive. Should I change seats? Fake sleep?
But Mara was… surprisingly pleasant. She complimented my earrings. We joked about how ridiculous airport food prices were. She told me about the rescue dog she’d just adopted and showed me a photo. It felt oddly… normal.
Until she leaned back and casually said:
“I’m flying back from visiting my son.”
I turned to her. “You have a son?”
“Yeah,” she said. “He’s nine.”
That was the moment everything changed.
I stared at her. “Oscar never told me you had a child.”
Her eyes widened. “Wait… you didn’t know?”
“No.”
She hesitated, visibly uncomfortable. “I assumed you knew. Marcus is his son too.”
It felt like the air got sucked out of the plane.
“I’m sorry—what?”
She met my eyes. “Oscar and I had Marcus a year before our divorce. He used to visit sometimes, but once I moved to Oregon, he stopped. Said it was too far and he needed a clean slate.”
My stomach churned.
Oscar and I had been married for two years. Together for four. And in all that time, he never once mentioned having a child.
I just sat there, silent, unable to breathe.
Everything I thought I knew about my husband unraveled at 30,000 feet.