I was using my husband’s laptop when I noticed he was on a dating site, messaging women. My stomach dropped. I made a fake profile and flirted with him to confirm it. That’s when he wrote, “My wife is dead. I’m looking for love.” After nine years of marriage, I thought my life was collapsing. I quietly contacted a lawyer and began planning a divorce. I didn’t confront him — I just grew distant and cold.

A few days later, he came home with a guest — a coworker named Greg. He smiled proudly and said, “You’re going to love him!” I was confused, but the truth soon hit me. Greg had lost his wife two years ago and didn’t know how to start dating again. He’d asked my husband for help navigating online dating, and the profile wasn’t my husband’s — it was Greg’s.

I stood there stunned. My husband wasn’t cheating — he was helping a grieving friend. I had been preparing to end my marriage over a misunderstanding. The guilt washed over me as I realized how close I came to destroying everything without talking to him first.

I still haven’t told him what I thought or what I did. Part of me is relieved things are okay, but another part is shaken by how quickly I assumed the worst. Now I know — sometimes the most dangerous thing in a marriage isn’t betrayal, but doubt.