A woman writes a fun message on her husband when she sends him on his way to his Christmas party, but when he gets home, intoxicated, she finds a reply. Who wrote it, and what does it mean?

I’m Micaela. Working remotely means I miss the office Christmas parties where everyone has a little too much to drink and spills their secrets. To be honest, I’m not too upset about it. But my husband, Travis, still had to attend his work party. So, I decided to send him off with a little inside joke written on his chest.

Don’t judge me — Travis has always been a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.

We’ve been married for five years, and trusting Travis is second nature to me. The whole thing started as a joke because I happened to have a marker in my hand while he was getting dressed.

This is my husband — touch him, and you’ll pay – M, I wrote.

“Micaela,” he said with a laugh, “I’m just going for a few drinks. I’ll be back early.”

Once Travis left, I decided to get into the Christmas spirit by putting up the tree and decorating our living room. As I was hanging the stockings, Travis stumbled back home.

It was clear he had a bit too much to drink. I helped him to our bedroom, ready to get him undressed and into bed. But when I started to take off his shirt, I noticed a response had been written on his smudged chest. It read: Keep the change.

I laughed at it at first, not thinking much of it. But as the night went on and I sat up watching old Christmas movies, the phrase kept replaying in my mind.

The next morning, I asked Travis about the party. He said they had started at his office, moved to a bar for karaoke, and then ended up at a club. When I mentioned the message, he looked puzzled.

“Probably one of the guys wrote it,” he said. “We had a lot to drink, and you know how the guys get.”

But it continued to bother me. I ended up going to my mom for advice, sharing my concerns about the unsettling feeling in my marriage — something I had never felt in the past five years.

Mom suggested that I use a GPS tracker to monitor Travis’s car. I wasn’t one to snoop, but I needed to ease my mind. So, I agreed. I knew if Travis ever found the tracker, it would feel like a betrayal to him, but I had to find some peace of mind.

During the last week before Christmas break, I carefully tracked his routines. Everything seemed normal until one evening when he called to say he needed to work late before signing off for the holidays.

I believed him since I also had deadlines. But out of curiosity, I opened the tracking app on my laptop. To my surprise, his car wasn’t heading home but was instead on a route toward a posh neighborhood.

I hopped into my car and followed along, having downloaded the tracking app on my phone for convenience. My heart raced as I parked across the street from a beautiful house where his car was parked.

I texted my mom to update her about my unexpected Friday-night activity. About two hours later, Travis walked out of the house, smiling from ear to ear. I strained to get a clearer view. To my shock, a woman followed closely behind him, reaching out to hold his arm. She then kissed him on the lips. My heart felt like it crumbled into pieces as reality set in.

I felt like my world had shattered. In a moment of panic, I snapped photos of them together, capturing the undeniable evidence of the betrayal.

I reviewed the photos on my phone, realizing that simply watching wouldn’t solve anything.

I walked up to them. Travis saw me first, and he was stunned into silence.

“So, you’re the one who responded to my message on his chest?” I asked the woman.

To my surprise, she didn’t deny anything. Instead, she looked at me and said, “You deserve better.”

“Husbands like this deserve to be treated like spare change,” she added, with a glance at Travis.

Travis, red-faced with embarrassment and anger, snapped, “How dare you?”

But her retort was unimportant. She had closed the door, leaving Travis and me standing there. Angrily, I turned and headed back to my car, ignoring his pleas. When I checked my phone, there was a text from my mom with the number for a divorce lawyer.

It was a heartbreaking Christmas present I didn’t expect but needed. Instead of the festive celebration I had hoped for, I was left facing a new beginning — a New Year focused on rebuilding, rediscovery, and pursuing happiness on my own terms.

Life truly is unpredictable, especially five years into a marriage.

If it were you, what would you have done?