Twenty-four-year-old Lieutenant Julius Smith was happy. After nine months, not expecting to be able to go home for at least another two, a sudden change of situation in the war made so that his unit was transferred back to the base in his home city, and allowed him an unexpected two months leave. Since it happened suddenly, he had barely had time to prepare his bags and jump on the cargo. When it landed, he left most of his things to be managed by the base personnel, and with just a travel bag containing a change of clothes, still in his camo, he took a cab and went home, to make a surprise to his fiancée of four years, twenty-four-year-old Anita Delaney, with whom he planned to marry at the end of the year, once his turn in the war ended.

When he arrived, he saw Anita’s (his own) car parked in the street, and an unknown car parked inside the garage through the open door. He was immediately alert and suspicious and quietly entered his home. He dropped the duffel bag just inside and heard moans and the typical small cries his fiancée made when in the throes of passion. He took his mobile out, and started filming, walking in the small house, and then opening the door of his bedroom. There, the woman was naked, riding ‘cowgirl’ another man. He got it all on video, making sure the act and the faces were clear, while the couple was too caught in the act and remained totally oblivious of his presence.

Once he got enough, he stepped back, slammed the door, and left, getting his bag, the keys to his car, and a couple of other items that were family heirlooms, then leaving his own copy of the keys to the house on the kitchen table. Meanwhile, startled by the slammed door, which should have been closed, Anita took a moment to recover from the surprise, then put on a bathrobe and left the bedroom, checking the house with her male companion, Armand. She didn’t immediately notice the keys on the table, but noticed and recognized the back of the man dressed in camo opening the car and throwing his duffel bag in. She ran out and called

“Julius! What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call me? I thought you wouldn’t be home for another two months! I was missing you so much, feeling so lonely! I didn’t expect you today!”

“That you didn’t expect me today was blatantly obvious. I see you found a way to feel less lonely. From what I saw, he’s even living here, so there is no place for me. Did you throw my things away?”

“What are you saying, Julius! It’s not what it seems!”

“No, eh? I guess you were playing My Little Mini Pony naked with him on our bed, then you slipped on his dick. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Meanwhile, Armand exited the house. Now, Julius could see him better, not hidden by Anita’s body or the sheets. The man was younger than him, quite thin but already with some paunch, with Rasta on his head and the attitude of the lazy bully. In fact, when he approached, he was immediately rude to both him and Anita. “Hey, what the fuck are you doing in my house? Scaring my bitch? Are you stealing the car?”

Julius retorted, “Your house? I’m the one who is paying the rent and the bills, so shut the fuck up!” and then to Anita, "Bitch? Wow… a big change, from the woman who didn’t like dirty talking during intercourse to being called ‘bitch’ openly in public. Oh, by the way, I’m not going to pay the rent and the utility bills anymore. Let your pimp here to pay for them!”

Anita tried to speak more with him, begged, and even cried some; she even screamed to Armand to shut the fuck up, that he was nothing for her, but Julius was done. The final blow was when her robe opened for a moment, and he noticed the bulge in her belly. “I see you even got pregnant by him, I suppose. How did you plan to convince me that you had been faithful? Some Archangel descending on you?”

At that, he put the car in gear and left. Anita was crying, the realization that her stupid selfishness ruined the relationship with the man she loved, hitting her in all its devastating force. In an hour, she had thrown Armand out, as during the short discussion with Julius, she realized that not only did she not care about her lover, but also that she was finding him annoying and bore his lack of respect only because she felt lonely. Now, she realized that no matter the man she would have in her own bed, without Julius, she would feel lonely forever.

Things weren’t getting good for her either. A call from the landlord, asking her if she wanted to keep the house and take over the rent, or if he would have to put it back in the market, at the end of the month, when the lease expired, and calls from the utilities’ companies to ask about the new contracts for the change of clients. It was more than enough, and she crumbled on the bed, crying her eyes out, realizing how deeply she had screwed up her life. Being ‘almost’ an army wife, and of an officer, she knew that once married, she could have aspired soon to a nice home in the base neighbourhood, no need to work, and friendly families and women who would support her to cope with the loneliness and to help in case of need. Since she’d been with Julius, he had paid for everything, regularly sending her money from his pay, allowing her a comfortable life and no need to work.

Two weeks later, a court officer delivered to the base a summon for Julius. Miss Delaney was suing him for abandonment of family and leaving her in poverty and with ‘their’ coming child to feed. The accusation was serious and he was called by the base officers for questioning.

He explained everything, and they were appalled about the delusion of the woman, to the point that they were having doubts about Julius’ version. A JAG lawyer was provided and started to examine the evidences Julius provided and all the documents, realizing soon that the story told by the lieutenant was completely true. The woman was so deluded that she didn’t even try to lie. One month later, the court hearing started. The Judge, a forty-year-old woman, was known for always siding with the women in the hearings, so Julius wasn’t confident about having justice.

Judge Alefiak heard the woman’s requests and then turned to Julius, already upset with him.

“Mr Smith, why did you leave your wife with nothing so suddenly, while she is even pregnant with your child?”

“Your honour, I wish to tell you the complete story of what happened, adding the missing part of her version.”

“I’m listening, but I warn you that it’s unjustifiable what you did!”

“You may change idea once you hear the truth, Your Honour.”

He told the story, and the judge's eyes widened, then her mouth gaped.

“And you have evidence of what you say?”

“One evidence above everything is her pregnancy. I’ve been nine months in mission abroad, now I’m back since two, and she’s over five months pregnant. If anyone can explain to me how I could…”

He left the question sink, and the stares that were hard on him before turned against Anita.

“As further evidence, I have a video. When I arrived to MY house, where I was paying the bills in MY name, of which I can provide evidence, plus giving her money monthly – I have here the bank statements – so she could take care of the house and study, as she claimed to have a passion for cooking and wanted to be a chef, I saw MY car parked on the street, and an unknown car parked in MY garage. I used MY copy of the keys of MY house, entered, and heard the noises she usually makes when having intercourse. I’m trained not to lose my head, so I grabbed my smartphone and started recording a video, then opened the door of MY bedroom, and found her riding another man. For privacy reasons, I never showed the video to anyone, save my lawyer, who is bound to secrecy. I can show it to you. I kept recording until I left in MY car, so you can also see the evidence that the man was living there and even claimed that it was HIS house.”

The judge asked for the video, watched it, returned the smartphone, and then turned to Anita.

“Miss Delaney, I took your words as sincere. Now we have evidence that, where you didn’t blatantly lie, you omitted a lot of information to make your ex-fiancée look bad. Your lawyer's work, if not blatantly biased, had been at least sloppy. How did you think to justify to your ex-fiancée your pregnancy, considering he would have been back around now, and you are bulging?”

“Your Honour, we were engaged, so the baby is his also! And if he doesn’t want to take care of it, he should at least help financially!”

“Why aren’t you asking the real father of the baby to help you?”

“He said that since I was engaged, then the baby was of my fiancée…”

“Miss Delaney, I am shocked at you. I don’t know if you are pretending or if you are truly so stupid and entitled. I hereby sentence that Mr Smith owes you nothing; the opposite, if he wants to pursue you for defamation and the relative damages and compensation, he has the title to do it. The child is yours, and of the man who put it there with your active and willing participation, and Mr Smith has no obligations toward you or your baby. This hearing should never have taken place, so I also sentence you to pay the legal expenses, yours and those of Mr Smith. To make sure that you understand the ridiculousness of your claims, I also sentence you to therapy, with a specialist, of no less than twenty visits, in the course of the next four months, at your own expense. That I decided, the case is closed.” And the hit of the gavel closed the proceeding.

Julius, happy, left the court without even looking toward Anita and returned to the base. The sentence cleared him completely, as you can’t control or be blamed if other people are stupid and accuse you without reason.

****Ten years later****

Colonel Julius Smith and his fiancée Corinne Blanchard entered the known restaurant and sat. Julius' career went well, and he was now in charge of a base that was the training centre for the teams of special forces that would be directed to particularly delicate missions. It was now five years since he was dating Corinne, and they were making a lot of plans for the future. He just asked her to marry a week before and they were planning the wedding ceremony.

They sat at a table, and the waitress welcomed them, giving them the menu. They were browsing the list when Julius swore.

“What’s that, honey?”

“Anita. She’s here. Working, I think. I hope she won’t cause a scene.”

“We can leave if you want.”

“No, would give her more importance. Let’s just pretend I didn’t see her, and hope she won’t see me.”

But it didn’t happen.

Less than a couple of minutes later, Anita appeared next to their table.

“Julius, what a surprise to see you there!”

“Anita. She’s Corinne. I find you well. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I see you are well, too. You don’t have to worry anymore about me… in fact… can I ask you to speak alone for just five minutes? I promise I won’t cause drama, but I need to clear once and for all things with you. And I need to apologize.”

Corinne wanted to stay, but she trusted Julius and knew he’d repeat every single word to her later, probably he was even already recording every word. So, she excused herself to the ladies’.

“Julius, first, I want to tell you that you had every right to treat me like you did. I deserved much worse and I was completely at fault. My attempt in court was ridiculous and stupid. After that… well, maybe you don’t care, but I lost the baby. Not your fault at all, I was again the only one to blame. I was selfish, stupid, and felt entitled to everything. But I put myself in that situation. Slowly, I realized the truth about myself, and then started to work to be a better person. I knew that you were the best thing that could happen in my life… no, let me finish… and I knew back then that I lost you forever. I’m not so deluded in thinking or even hope that things could magically change. So, I put myself in my passion, that my stupidity made me neglect. I worked to pay for debts and for my studies, became a chef, started working around, and ended up here. In time, I managed to buy the place. I seldom cook anymore, but I am proud of the place and put my whole focus and love into this restaurant. In the end, I have to thank you for what you did, because you allowed me to drop my shallow self and become a successful woman. I wish you the best, Julius, because you are a wonderful man and an exceptional lover. Corinne… right? She’s the luckiest woman in the world to have you. Ok, I finished. Don’t speak, you don’t need to. This was the last step to complete my healing process. Please, allow me to suggest a menu you’ll both love, and it’s all on me. A little gift as an apology and a good wish.”

Then she left the table, met Corinne, who was returning from the ladies’, quietly told her that she was the luckiest woman in the world, and to not make her same mistake and lose him, and never bothered them again. The service was impeccable, the dishes amazing, and it was all on the house. They thanked politely and left. They wouldn’t return there, and Anita knew it. It was better like that, it was better to leave the past to the past, as she knew that further meetings between them, despite her words, could eventually cause issues, because she was still totally in love with Julius, and she knew she would forever be.

Anita never married, and once too old, left he restaurant to her most loyal and capable employees.

Julius and Corinne married three months after the dinner, in time they had three children, and lived long, happy years.