Learn English Through Story ✅ Level 1 Storytelling The Secret I Keep ✅

my name is Sarah I live with my husband John and our son Michael John and I have been married for 10 years we are happy or at least we were we have a nice life a house and a garden John works hard he is a good father and husband 6 months ago we hired Alex Alex works for us he helps clean the house and takes care of the garden he also helps with Michael he is nice and quiet he always smiles at first I did not think much about him he was just there to help

us but one evening I came home late from work John was not home he was still working Michael was asleep Alex was sitting in the kitchen he was reading a book I sat with him we talked he told me about his life he is from another city he came here for work he has no family here he lives alone we talked for a long time that night after that things started to change one night John had to go on a business trip he was away for 3 days it was just me Michael and Alex on

the first night we had dinner together after Michael went to bed I sat with Alex again we talked like before we laughed he made me feel good I liked talking to him then something happened I kissed him it was just a small kiss but it felt big I pulled away I told him it was a mistake he didn't say anything he just looked at me that night I couldn't sleep I felt so bad I kept thinking about John what had I done I loved JN I still do but something was different now I had kissed

Alex and I couldn't take it back I told myself it would never happen again I promised myself it was just one mistake but a few days later it happened again John was still away I was alone with Alex this time we kissed for a a long time it wasn't just a small kiss it was real and I didn't stop it now I didn't know what to do I was scared I had a secret and it was big I didn't want to tell John he would be so angry he would never forgive me but I didn't

know how to stop what was happening with Alex every time I saw him I felt something strong it was like a fire inside me I couldn't control it days passed and everything seemed normal John didn't know anything he came home from his trip and life went on as usual I cooked dinner we watched TV we played with Michael but inside I felt different I was keeping a secret and it was Heavy I couldn't tell anyone Alex still worked for us he was good with Michael he was always polite to John when we were all together

everything looked normal but when Jon wasn't around things were different Alex and I would look at each other we didn't talk about what what happened but we didn't need to we both knew I felt guilty all the time when I kissed John I thought about Alex when I was with Michael I thought about the secret it was always there in my mind and it was getting bigger every day I couldn't sleep at night I stayed awake thinking about my mistake I thought about telling John I wanted to tell him but I was scared what would

he say what would he do I didn't want to lose him I didn't want to hurt him but I had already Hur him even if he didn't know one night I was lying in bed next to John he was sleeping I looked at him and felt so sad he didn't know what I had done he trusted me he loved me and I had broken that trust I wanted to cry but I didn't I just lay there thinking about my mistake a few weeks later something changed I found out that JN was also hiding something from

me he had been seeing someone else I didn't know who she was but I knew he was meeting her in secret I saw messages on his phone they were from a woman at first I was angry how could he do this to me I was his wife but then I realized I had done the same thing I was no better than him we were both living a lie now everything was even more complicated we were both keeping secrets I didn't know what to do should I tell him about Alex should I ask him about the

woman or should we both keep quiet and pretend everything was fine one night I made a decision I couldn't live like this anymore I couldn't keep the secret it was too heavy I had to tell John the truth even if it hurt him even if it ended our marriage I couldn't lie anymore I sat down with him after dinner Michael was asleep Alex had gone home for the night I looked at John and took a deep breath John I need to tell you something I said my voice was shaking he looked at me confused what

is it he asked I I've been seeing someone I said I couldn't look him in the eye there was silence then he spoke who I told him everything I told him about Alex about the kiss about the nights when he was away I told him I was sorry I told him I loved him I cried and I waited for him to say something johon didn't say anything at first he just sat there looking at me I didn't know what he was thinking I was afraid he would leave I was afraid he would yell but he

didn't finally he spoke I've been seeing someone too he said now it was my turn to be silent I didn't know what to say it started a few months ago he said I didn't mean for it to happen but it did I'm sorry we both sat there not knowing what to do we had both made mistakes we had both hurt each other but now everything was out in the open there were no more secrets we decided to talk really talk we talked about our marriage about our mistakes and about what we wanted it wasn't easy

but we both agreed that we still loved each other we didn't want to end our marriage we wanted to try and fix it the next day we made some changes we let Alex go it wasn't easy but it was the right thing to do we also decided to go to marriage counseling we knew it would take time but we wanted to make things right months passed and things slowly got better John and I worked on our marriage we spent more time together we talked more we were honest with each other it wasn't perfect but it

was better after Alex left it felt strange at home the house felt quiet almost too quiet Michael missed him he asked where Alex had gone and I told him Alex had found another job it wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't the whole truth either that was the hardest part of all this trying to keep the truth from my son John and I went to counseling once a week at first it was hard we had to talk about our mistakes our feelings and why we both did what we did the counselor asked us questions that

made me think about things I didn't want to think about why did you kiss Alex the counselor asked me I didn't know how to answer I loved John but I still kissed Alex why did I do it I told the counselor that I felt alone John was always working he was always busy I felt like we were living Separate Lives Alex made me feel seen he made me feel special John looked hurt when I said that but it was the truth we both needed to hear the truth trust is a hard thing to rebuild after

I told John about Alex he didn't trust me the same way he didn't say it out loud but I could feel it if I came home late he would ask where I had been if I was on my phone he would look at me differently I couldn't blame him I didn't trust him completely either not after learning about the other woman the counselor told us that trust takes time she told us we had to be patient I wanted things to go back to normal but I knew it would take time every day I worked hard

to show Jon that I was sorry that I loved him and that I wanted to make things right John did the same he started coming home earlier from work we had dinner together as a family more often we spent weekends doing things together like going to the park with Michael or watching movies at home it wasn't easy but we were trying one day I asked John about the woman he had been seeing I hadn't asked before because I was afraid of what he might say but now I needed to know who was she I asked

him one night after Michael went to bed JN looked uncomfortable he didn't want to talk about it but I needed to hear the truth her name is Lisa he said she works at my office I felt a pain in my chest when he said her name I didn't want to know anymore but I had to ask do you still see her no John said quickly it ended before you told me about Alex that made me feel a little better but it still hurt JN had been seeing someone else while I was at home taking care

of Michael thinking everything was fine it wasn't fair but then again I had done the same thing we sat in silence for a while then JN spoke again I'm sorry Sarah I made a mistake I love you I don't want to lose you I love you too I said and I meant it we both had made mistakes but but we both wanted to fix things months passed and things slowly improved John and I started to trust each other again we talked more spent more time together and made sure we didn't hide anything we also made

new rules for our relationship if something was bothering us we had to talk about it right away no more secrets no more hiding it was hard at first but it made things better Michael was happier too he didn't ask about Alex anymore he was just happy to have both of his parents spending time with him we played games went to the zoo and had fun together as a family it felt good to be together again but there were still hard days some days I would think about Alex and feel guilty some days I would wonder

if Jon thought about Lisa but we didn't let those thoughts stay for long we pushed them away and focused on the future one year after everything happened John and and I took a trip together just the two of us Michael stayed with my sister and John and I went to a small Beach town for a weekend it was the first time we had been alone together in a long time the trip was good for us we walked on the beach had dinner at nice restaurants and talked about our future we both agreed read that we

wanted to stay together we wanted to make our marriage work on the last night of the trip John surprised me with something he pulled out a small box from his pocket inside was a new wedding ring I want us to start fresh he said a new ring for a new start tears filled my eyes I didn't expect this I thought about everything we had been through all the mistakes all the pain but now we had a chance to start over I love you John I said I love you too Sarah he replied we put the

past behind us and focused on the future it wasn't easy but it was worth it now John and I are closer than ever we learned from our mistakes and we became stronger because of them our marriage isn't perfect but it's real we trust each other we talk to each other and we never keep secrets Anymore Michael is growing up fast he's happy and he loves spending time with us he doesn't remember much about Alex and I'm glad I want him to grow up in a home full of love and honesty sometimes I think about the

past about the mistakes we both made but I don't let those thoughts stay for long we have a new life now a better life and I'm grateful for that John and I still go to counseling sometimes just to keep things strong we've learned that marriage is something you have to work on every day it's not always easy but it's always worth it looking back I realize how close we came to losing everything our marriage could have ended because of the secrets we kept but instead instead we found a way to fix it we found a

way to move forward I'm not proud of what I did with Alex and I know John isn't proud of what he did with Lisa but we learned from our mistakes and we became stronger because of them life is full of challenges and marriage is one of the biggest challenges of all but if you love someone if you really love them you can get through anything John and I are proof of that now I feel happy and at peace our home is full of love and laughter and that's all I ever wanted we're not perfect but

we're real and that's what matters if you enjoy the story please like subscribe and share