Emily looked around at the scene before her, taking it all in. All the people surrounding her, dressed in black, some of them crying, some of them standing solemnly, probably unsure of what to say. A casket directly in front her, inside it the body of her husband. The preacher standing before them all, going on about what a good man her husband had been. Emily had to look away, her eyes fell on the blonde standing across from her, set apart from everyone else just slightly. She should hate the woman, she should be angry with her, but truth was, she wasn't. More than anything, she was thankful for the woman. She didn't know much about the woman who called herself JJ, but she knew enough.

She caught JJ glancing her way, so Emily quickly turned her gaze beyond JJ, to the two black Cadillacs sitting off into the distance, one she'd ridden in, and one JJ had ridden in for the burial. Emily had never met JJ before, not in person, so she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. As her husband's brother read a eulogy, describing how his brother had been his best friend for his whole life, Emily thought back to two months ago. The day that possibly lead everyone to the funeral service on this particularly cloudy May morning.

Two Months Earlier

Emily knew it, she knew he was cheating on her. She had suspected it for awhile now. He had been away more nights than he'd been home for almost a month now, which wasn't normal. He blamed it on work, but something still didn't sit right with Emily. However, she had decided to go with the 'ignorance is bliss' mentality. If she didn't know about it, she could put it in the back of her mind and not think about it. She could at least pretend she was happy if she didn't have a definite answer. At least, that's what she thought. Emily had been wrong. She wasn't happy, and everyone around her seemed to notice. Everyone was always asking her what was wrong, asking her if she was okay, and Emily was getting sick of it. She wanted to be happy again, she wanted to know the truth. So, when her husband was taking a leisurely nap on the couch, Emily took matters into her own hands.

She crept up to their bedroom, which had only been occupied by Emily for many nights lately. She went into the closet, fishing out his phone from his pants pocket, a bad habit he never seemed to break despite Emily's many attempts to rid him of it. She turned it on, waiting impatiently for the screen to load. She unlocked it with ease, remembering watching him unlock it just a few days ago before he turned away from her.

She took a breath and bit her lip before continuing, this was really it, she thought. She opened the call history, and sure enough, a strange number appeared several times on the call list. No name, just the number. Emily remembered seeing it pop up before, her husband claiming it was a business call. Judging by the mount of times the same number appeared, Emily already knew it wasn't just a business call. With shaky hands, she exited the call history and went to his text messages, assuming since he wasn't smart enough to delete his call history, he probably hadn't deleted any texts either.

She had been right, there were texts from the number. Emily's heart beat increased with each messaged she scrolled by. Various "I miss you," "I wish you were here," "I'm stuck at work," "I'll come see you tonight," text messages. Messages he sent when he was home with Emily, sitting in the living room with her. Emily felt tears pool in her eyes. She wanted to hate the woman, whoever she was. She wanted to be angry, she wished she had the desire to run down the stairs and wake her husband up, and interrogate him about the messages until he told her everything. But she didn't. She hadn't been happy for awhile now, and maybe in some sick, twisted way, this was fate's way of telling her she didn't have to be unhappy anymore.

Emily took a few deep breaths, calming herself before she went back to the call history, clicking the strange number. She pressed the phone to her hear, waiting for the mystery woman to pick up.

"Hello?" she heard the woman say. Emily didn't say anything for a moment, her mouth hung open but no sound would come out.

"Uh-hi," Emily said awkwardly. "Who- who is this?" she asked timidly, angry at herself for sounding so fragile- something she certainly wasn't.

"JJ," the woman said skeptically. "Jennifer- actually, but everyone calls me JJ,"

"This is Emily," Emily said. "This is awkward, but... can I ask you how you know my husband?" Emily questioned. All the proof was there, her husband was cheating on her. But she needed to hear it from somebody else to make it seem like the honest to God truth.

"Your husband?" JJ sounded horrified, genuinely confused, and maybe a bit hurt.

"Yeah," Emily said, her voice cracking. She wished it wasn't. She knew this was happening, but now that she'd gotten herself into this situation, she wished she hadn't.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God," JJ said, Emily guessed the woman was pacing.

"It's okay," Emily said, though it wasn't really okay, not completely. "I suspected for awhile... and he's asleep right now, so I- I- well, I found out the truth,"

"I'm so sorry," JJ said, sounding like maybe she was crying. "I had no idea he was married. Oh my God, I'm that woman! I never meant to- I'm so sorry," she said again.

"It's alright," Emily reassured the woman. "At least now I know, you know?"

"Oh my God," JJ said again, frustrated. "I can't believe him!"

I can. Emily thought. Their marriage had never been the happiest. Sure, at some point in their lives, they'd truly fallen in love. Somehow, over the years, he must have fallen out of love. It wasn't that Emily stopped loving him, she still did. She probably always would, but she'd known he didn't love her anymore. At least, not like he had. Knowing all of this didn't make it any easier, didn't make it sting any less. Emily felt like she'd been stabbed in the gut.

"Yeah," Emily settled on saying.

"I won't see him anymore. I swear. I'll end it right now," JJ said quickly. "He won't get away with this!"

"I have a better idea..." Emily said lowly, completely agreeing with JJ on her last statement.

After a few more minutes of discussion, the conversation was over. The decision had been made. Emily knew what to do next, and she wouldn't rest until she pulled it off.

Present day

Emily was brought back from her thoughts when she realized her former brother-in-law had stopped talking. The 23rd Psalm was being said by everyone in attendance. Emily mouthed the words, not really into it. She knew it by heart, but she didn't think he deserved to have it said at his burial. She hoped people would just assume she was too upset, even though she hadn't shed a single tear all day.

The final prayer was said, and the preacher motioned for everyone to place their roses on the casket. Emily stood on one side, JJ on the other. They each laid down a rose, looking up to meet each other's eye for the first time. They kept their eye contact as they each tossed a handful of dirt into the grave. Emily noticed JJ hadn't been crying either. That, for some reason, made her feel a little bit better. She also noticed the woman was wearing a black veil much like Emily's own. She hadn't been able to see it before, or maybe she just wasn't paying attention as she studied the woman now. Long, curly, blonde hair, striking blue eyes, the complete opposite of Emily's own brown hair and brown eyes. JJ was a bit younger than Emily, Emily guessed. Emily knew she shouldn't be so concerned with the woman standing on the other side of the casket, she should be mourning her dead husband, but she wasn't.

Before they parted ways, they sent each other a smile. Not a big one, just a small one only the other would catch. Emily turned back to her spot, and JJ walked away back to hers. Emily didn't see her again after that. She didn't know where JJ went, she'd only spoken to the woman once. But somehow, she trusted her. She knew JJ would never speak of the affair, never mention Emily to anyone.

It was secret they left at the grave of the man they had both loved, loved in different ways at different times, but loved all the same. It was bittersweet, Emily thought, but as she walked away from the grave site, back to the Cadillac that would return her to the funeral home where her car was parked, she realized she finally felt free for the first time in years.