The Distance Between Truth
966 Words
For three days after Agnes returned to Canada, Bob barely slept.
The confession replayed endlessly inside his head like a nightmare he could not escape.
I’m in love with Alicia.
Every time he remembered the words, something twisted violently inside his chest.
His own mother.
His wife.
Together.
It sounded impossible even now.
Yet the pain felt real enough to suffocate him.
Bob stopped answering calls from friends.
Stopped working.
Stopped eating properly.
Most nights he simply sat alone in darkness inside his apartment in Lagos, staring blankly at old photos on his phone.
Pictures from their wedding.
Airport goodbye selfies.
Late-night screenshots from video calls.
Memories that now felt poisoned.
Still…
One question tortured him more than everything else.
Did Alicia truly love Agnes?
Or was his mother manipulating her?
Bob desperately wanted to believe the second option.
Because the first one would destroy him completely.
On the fourth night, he finally called Alicia.
His hands trembled so badly he almost dropped the phone.
The call rang several times before she answered.
“Baby?”
Her voice sounded normal.
Too normal.
Bob closed his eyes painfully.
“How are you?” she asked softly.
He almost laughed.
How am I?
The woman he loved was sleeping with his mother, and she was asking how he was.
Bob swallowed hard.
“I need to ask you something.”
Alicia’s chest tightened immediately.
She already knew.
Somehow…
She knew.
“What is it?” she whispered carefully.
Bob’s voice became shaky.
“Did something happen between you and my mother?”
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Bob’s heartbeat pounded loudly inside his ears.
“Alicia?”
Still silence.
That silence answered him before her words ever could.
Tears filled his eyes immediately.
“No…” he whispered brokenly.
Alicia sat down slowly on the edge of the bed in Agnes’ apartment.
She couldn’t breathe properly anymore.
“Bob…”
“Tell me she lied.”
His voice cracked painfully.
“Please.”
Alicia closed her eyes tightly.
“I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
Bob covered his mouth as tears finally escaped.
So it was true.
Everything.
Every horrible word Agnes said.
True.
“How long?” he asked weakly.
Alicia couldn’t answer immediately.
Because there was no safe answer to that question.
Bob’s breathing became heavier.
“How long, Alicia?”
Her voice came out almost as a whisper.
“Months.”
Bob broke completely.
He bent forward in his chair, shaking violently while silent tears streamed down his face.
Months.
While he prayed for her.
Worked for her.
Sacrificed for her.
Trusted them both.
They were together.
“Say something,” Alicia begged softly.
Bob laughed painfully through tears.
“You destroyed me.”
“No—”
“You slept with my mother.”
Alicia began crying too.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“But it happened.”
“I was lonely.”
“And I wasn’t?”
The question shattered her.
“I tried fighting it.”
“You should’ve told me!”
“I was scared!”
Bob stood up suddenly and threw his phone against the wall.
The screen cracked instantly.
Alicia heard the impact through the call and started panicking.
“Bob!”
He picked the phone up again breathing heavily.
“Do you love her?”
Silence again.
And that silence hurt more than the affair itself.
Bob stared into empty space.
“Oh my God…”
“Bob…”
“Do you love her?”
Alicia’s tears fell harder.
“I don’t know.”
Wrong answer.
Terrible answer.
Bob nodded slowly despite her not seeing him.
Because deep down…
He already understood.
A part of Alicia belonged to Agnes now.
And maybe there was nothing he could do about it.
At that exact moment, Agnes entered the apartment quietly carrying shopping bags.
The second she saw Alicia crying, she immediately understood.
“He knows.”
Alicia looked up with wet eyes.
Agnes placed the bags down calmly.
Then held out her hand.
“Give me the phone.”
Alicia hesitated.
“Please don’t make this worse.”
But Agnes took the phone anyway.
“Bob.”
The moment he heard his mother’s voice, rage exploded inside him.
“You evil woman!”
Agnes remained calm.
“I told you the truth.”
“You stole my wife!”
“She chose me too.”
“You manipulated her!”
“No,” Agnes replied firmly. “I loved her.”
Bob screamed into the phone.
“She’s my wife!”
“And she loves me.”
Those words nearly drove him insane.
“You’re my mother!”
“And I’m still human.”
Bob’s breathing became dangerous now.
“You disgust me.”
For the first time, Agnes looked hurt.
But only briefly.
“You can hate me if you want,” she said quietly. “But what happened between us is real.”
Bob laughed bitterly.
“You ruined this family.”
“No,” Agnes replied softly.
“The distance ruined it first.”
The line went dead.
Bob had hung up.
That night, Alicia sat silently near the window while snow fell outside across Toronto.
Agnes approached slowly.
“He’ll never forgive us,” Alicia whispered.
Agnes wrapped a blanket gently around her shoulders.
“He doesn’t have to.”
Alicia looked up at her.
“But I still love him.”
Agnes said nothing.
Because that was the problem.
Alicia loved them both.
And eventually…
She would have to choose.
Far away in Lagos, Bob knelt beside his bed crying harder than he ever had in his adult life.
Not because another man stole his wife.
But because his own mother did.
And somehow…
That pain felt impossible to survive.
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