Found Love Again After My Wife Passed Away, Then Caught My Best Friend and My New Girlfriend...

Found love again after my wife passed away, then caught my best friend and my new girlfriend having fun in my kitchen. So, I got him arrested while she was on vacation. My wife, Rachel, and I grew up in a largish town of close to 30,000 people.

We knew each other at an early age, roughly 6 or 7; can't specifically remember. We were practically inseparable. At 16, we started dating each other, and when we turned 18, we moved away for work in a city just a few hours' drive away.

By 20, we were married and had bought our first house. At 22, we discovered that she was pregnant with a boy. It was then disaster struck.

About 5 weeks before she was due to go on maternity leave, a large shelving unit collapsed and crushed her. I was told that both she and our child were killed instantly. Two of her colleagues had also been injured in the accident; one was left paralyzed, the other losing his leg after it had to be amputated.

The company she was working for, in a cost-cutting measure, decided to continue using old shelving that had been written off as unsafe instead of replacing it. I still haven't quite forgiven those executives and management personnel that made that decision because they cut short the love of my life as well as killing our unborn child. It wasn't long after I was told I had a choice on how to proceed with what her company called compensation, but I called it blood money.

They wanted to settle out of court to avoid a lawsuit; I, on the other hand, was out for their blood. Just to clarify here, this is not the revenge; this is still backstory. Fortunately, due to the coverage that it got and involving several politicians, the case was settled quickly in court—roughly 3 years—in which the payout for all parties was close to 10 times the amount that they had initially offered.

A lot of fines were given to them for breaches in work health and safety. Executives were sacked; others were jailed, etc. A story for another time, maybe when I feel comfortable sharing.

In this time, I was still working my job in telecommunications. My mother, bless her soul, had moved in while all this was happening to help me. I think I would have fallen apart if she hadn't been as involved as she was.

It was around this time I was offered a promotion, but it involved a lot of travel around the state. I made a request to have an office in my hometown's branch, as I wanted to not only take care of businesses in the state but in my hometown also, as there was no business representative located there, to which they agreed. After a few months, we settled into a routine of 1 to 2 weeks in the city office, one week in my hometown, and one to 2 weeks visiting the rest of the state.

After a year, I decided to buy a house in my hometown so I wasn't having to stay at my parents' place every week or so. That was home, and that I could come and go as I pleased; this is important for later in the story. It is about 4 years later that our story begins.

Sorry if the backstory was a bit long. I had just returned from one of my trips on Friday and was checking in some stuff at my office when Harry, the branch's managing director, walked in. We had grown up together, but had gone to different schools.

Since coming back, we had developed a very close friendship. He asked how things were and then asked me if I wanted to come to a house party that he was having that evening. Short notice and all, but I said yes.

I felt like a few drinks with friends were in order. It was there that Harry introduced me to Catherine. She was a new hire at the branch where my hometown's office was located and was getting to know everyone being new in town.

We hit it off immediately. As much of a cliché as it sounds, it was almost as if Rachel was in front of me instead of Catherine. I won't bore you too much with the details, but after 2 years of dating, we decided to take the next step and she moved into my hometown's house.

Everything up to this point had been going really well. Catherine and my parents got along, and Rachel's parents also approved and were happy that someone could make me just as happy as Rachel had done. All was going well for close to a year when things began to change.

Skype sessions were cut short, suddenly neighbors would tell me about how a car described to me like it was Harry's was always seen parked in the back alley near my house whenever I was away. Some clothes that weren't mine were in my wardrobe. All signs pointed to her cheating, but she said that nothing was happening.

She said that Harry would come over occasionally to discuss business, etc. , but never stayed the night. I chalked it up to me being paranoid and continued on as if nothing was wrong, but there was always this feeling that something wasn't right.

It was close to 6 months after that I discovered that she had been lying to me. I had just finished closing a rather large contract with a new company, and negotiations had wrapped up earlier than I had anticipated. So, instead of sticking around for the next few days, I decided to pay for an early flight home and surprise everyone.

Fast forward a few hours, and I drive into my hometown and down the alley behind my house so that I could get into the house without being seen and surprise. . .

Catherine, some part of me was curious; however, as to whether this mystery car was there, sure enough, there was a car that was blocking the back entrance gate. I was confused for a moment, wondering if it had just been a neglectful neighbor parking, only to realize that it was indeed Harry's car. If it hadn't been for the high hedge line that I had put in a few years back for privacy, I may as well have driven past my own place.

Pulling up behind his car, I got out and thought it was strange that he was there so late, as she claimed that he always left by now. Now, as I approached the back of the house, I saw something that made my stomach drop: in my kitchen, Catherine and Harry were going at it hammer and tongs. I froze; time stopped.

There was my close friend having sex on my kitchen bench with my girlfriend. I didn't know what to do; so many questions were running through my head. Was this real, or was I dreaming?

Why were they having sex in my house? Feeling defeated, I turned and left without them seeing me. I sat in my car for what felt like an eternity.

I was crying hard, but the sadness quickly turned into anger—the same kind of anger I felt towards those that were responsible for Rachel's death. I wanted to hurt them badly. As a pacifist, I don't believe in violence, but it was then I knew I was going to punish them and destroy their lives.

What better time to start than now? I moved my car back up the alley, far enough away from my driveway that I could still see Harry's car, and then walked back to the gate where I could see into the house. I called her phone; they were still going at it when it rang.

They both looked at the caller ID and did a double take when my name came up. I could see that she was considering answering it, but they let it ring out. After a few moments, they were back into it again, and I dialed once again.

This time, she did answer, but as she was answering, I hung up and made my way back to my car. As soon as I did, she called me back. She asked why I was calling as late as I was, and I told her that I was about ten minutes from home and didn't want to scare her coming in.

She obviously was shocked and acted happy that I was coming, and the call ended very quickly after she said she was going to get up and get changed into something. I said goodbye and hung up. A few moments later, Harry came peeling through the gate, still half-naked, jumped into his car, and took off like a bat out of hell.

I smiled a little, knowing the fear that both of them would be feeling from being so close to being caught. I waited a few moments before turning my car into the same place Harry had been moments earlier. The night was fairly uneventful afterward, and it wasn't until after she was asleep that I got up and went to my office down the hall.

I couldn't sleep; I needed to plan, and plan I did. The revenge. My mother always taught me to be a pacifist and to allow cosmic karma to take its course, but on this occasion, I decided that karma could use a helping hand.

I decided to punish them separately but destroy both of them. I knew that Harry had a drug habit—nothing major—but he kept it very private. I only knew about it accidentally after seeing some coke left out in his place but pretended I hadn't seen it when he had made attempts to cover it up.

I began calling some of my more unsavory clientele and made a few discreet inquiries into obtaining some samples that they were willing to part with. A few days later, I had a decent enough stash for my plan to work. About a month later, I had friends, including Harry, around for a barbecue night.

After making sure that I sufficiently liquored up Harry, I told him to stay the night and sleep it off. In the early hours of that morning, I took the drugs and an assortment of my personal belongings and placed them at various places around his car, with the biggest stash in his tire well, confident that he wouldn't find them over the few months as the rest of my plan took effect. I locked the car up and went inside to sleep.

I also placed some more drugs and personal items in his house after driving him home because he was still too drunk to drive. A few days later, I staged a break-in by smashing the back pane of my back door into my kitchen and leaving it open before heading back to the city for a flight. I had several messages the moment I landed: one from my clearly panicked mom, who had found the back door smashed open and had called the police; one from Catherine in tears; and one from the local police asking me to call.

After returning all the calls, I informed the police I was away on business and that I would be back the following week to talk with them. While away, I got Catherine to stay with my parents until after I got back and asked my dad to organize one of the local security companies to install cameras and an alarm system after getting the go-ahead from the police, as to not ruin the scene of the crime. After getting home, I did the usual, "My God, I can't believe this has happened, and why would anyone do this?

" routine. After doing a thorough check of. .

. Everywhere, finding that the items I had taken were missing and filing a police report, I had the security company's rep talk. Catherine and I threw how the cameras and alarm system worked; then came the question I had been waiting for—the question of what happens if we are doing some business and don't want it recorded.

She acted a bit shy asking this question, but I knew exactly the reason she was asking. He assured us that this was a question he got asked a lot, and we were shown on the home computer if we wanted to be doing things without it being recorded—how to stop the recording for certain cameras so that we could protect her modesty. As I was walking him out, I asked him if, when cameras were turned off, a notification could be sent out just as a security precaution.

He came back in and helped me through how to set up email notifications and left shortly after. Fantastic! All I had to do was wait.

At this stage, I approached for some help in relation to coup's law in my country. I needed to make sure that my upcoming plan could legally be done and that I would not be forced to pay out any money or equity to Catherine, as I didn't know if we were classified as a de facto couple or not. Being the sole benefactor of Rachel's estate, I didn't want to be left with any nasty surprises where Catherine could take any of the estate away from me.

Shout out to those guys and gals there, as they helped me get in contact with a great lawyer who assured me that, although we had been dating for close to four years, we had not been living together long enough to be classified as de facto. He also noted that because I was paying all the utilities on the property she was living in and she didn't pay rent, it showed that she had no legal standing to make a financial claim against me. Just to be sure, though, he drew up what I felt was a pretty ironclad document just in case there was any legal trouble.

The following week, my work approached me and offered me a promotion to move back to the city and run the team that I was a part of, meaning I wouldn't need to travel as often and be in one location. Due to the success of being located in my hometown, they were considering having three to five representatives spend one to two weeks in the larger surrounding towns, including my hometown, as a part of my team. I said yes and began the process of beginning my transfer, which would take about six weeks—perfect!

More than enough time to gather all my evidence. Upon getting back to my hometown the following week, I began to set in motion the rest of my plan. I asked Harry to approve one week's worth of vacation for Catherine for two weeks’ time.

I wanted to send her and a friend or two away on a retreat before I made the biggest decision of my life for a second time. He jumped up and gave me a huge hug, congratulating me on being prepared to take the leap again. I hugged him back tight, but not the way I think he imagined it at the time.

He agreed and blocked out the week for me. I asked him not to say anything to anyone, as I wanted to make it as big a surprise as I could. I knew that it would spread like wildfire around the office regardless, but that was my plan.

That night, I told Catherine that I had booked her and two friends to go to a tropical spa resort—all expenses paid—for a week, no questions asked. "Pick two friends and come back to the biggest surprise of your life! " She screamed like a kid who had just been told that all the candy in the shop was hers to have.

I then told her that the following week I was going to spend it in the city preparing for a large client who was one of my biggest accounts, and I needed some people on my team to help before flying out the following week. I wouldn't be home until the Monday that she was leaving, so I wouldn't be able to see her, which seemed to disappoint her, but I told her it would be worth it when she returned. What I failed to tell her was that I had decided to take two weeks’ vacation on the other side of the country, mentally preparing myself for the [__] storm that was about to erupt the moment she stepped foot on the plane, as well as enjoying my first stage of freedom.

On Sunday, two weeks later, I flew back and began driving home. Once getting there, I did a quick pass by my house, and sure enough, Harry's car was there, just like the first night I had caught them. I parked a little ways back and checked the cameras—fast asleep in my bed.

No surprise, honestly, as I had recorded them constantly doing this over the two weeks I had been away. I then made my first call to the police, blocking my caller ID. I told them that I was one of my neighbors and saw someone hanging around in their car in the alley behind my house and occasionally passing something through windows to passing cars while also looking into my yard.

I was concerned that they were dealing drugs and were going to break into someone's property. I gave them his license plate and description. They said they would have someone there in a few minutes, so I thanked them and hung up.

I then called Catherine and told her I was about ten minutes away. From home, I knew she was flying out tomorrow but desperately wanted to surprise her. Looking back at the footage now, I laugh at the commotion that I am surprised I didn't hear.

In a few short seconds, Harry was half dressed and flying out the back door to his car. At that point, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect scene; as Harry was peeling away, one of the police cars rounded the corner behind me, saw Harry driving away fast, and gave chase. After pulling in, greeting an excited Catherine, and doing all the couple things, she fell asleep.

I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep a wink. The next day, she and her friends were bundled into a car, and after they drove away, I had to wait a few hours. But I began to execute my plan.

I called my friend, who was a removalist, and apologized for the late notice but explained that I needed my place packed and moved on Friday. After agreeing on a time, I told him that he would need to take certain boxes to a storage facility, which he said wasn't an issue. Then I began packing Catherine's belongings.

Later that day, I got a call from the police asking me to come and identify some property they had apprehended from a suspect the previous night that fit the description of property I had reported stolen. I grinned to myself, happy that my plan for Harry had come to fruition, and replied that I would be there shortly to collect it. Of course, when I got there, some of the items were still unaccounted for due to the fact that they must have still been in his house, and they hadn't searched there yet.

By this stage, the town was buzzing with news; events in my hometown don't stay secret for long. Harry was disgraced and promptly fired for his possession of drugs and stolen property, and our respective bosses, on behalf of the company, had extended a formal apology toward me during the week. That night, I went to my parents' house and told both mine and Rachel's parents what had happened, omitting certain details and explaining that I was moving back to the city after being promoted.

I clarified that Katherine wouldn't be a part of it. They were pretty upset initially that I hadn't let them know what was going on, but they were happy that I was handling everything maturely and hadn't sunk to their level, though they didn't agree with ghosting Catherine. After some drinks, laughs, and tears, I went home on Friday afternoon.

After a busy week of organizing cleaners for the following week, the real estate agency to put my house on the rental market, and various other tasks at my hometown's office, I packed some things into my car and drove to my parents' place to say goodbye before the drive. Before leaving, I went to Becky's house. Becky had been one of Rachel's closest friends growing up; she was the only other person who knew what was happening, minus the details about Harry.

Without her help, I wouldn't have been able to organize everything as quickly as I had. I gave Becky a large manila folder with my gathered evidence of her cheating, as well as the letter and a few other legal documents from my attorney stating that she was ordered not to contact me and the details of how to access her belongings located at the storage unit I had rented out. After a quick goodbye, I left and drove back to the city.

On Sunday, I woke up to several missed calls, voice messages, and text messages. It turns out Catherine had come home early, alerted to something being afoot in town, only to find an empty house and a "For Rent" sign out front. Freaking out, she had gone to my parents, who closed the door on her the moment they answered, forcing her to call everyone until she managed to somehow contact Becky, who told her that she had a package for her.

I was told that she didn't take too well to that, as I fully knew at that point from the numerous angry texts and voice messages from her accusing me of setting up Harry, of being deceitful, etc. I was worried that she might show up at my front door, but nothing ever happened. Five weeks later, after leaving and being promoted, I write this out for you, dear reader.

Granted, it's long, and it took a few rewrites to shorten it down from my initial fourteen pages—double what this story is now—but I feel that most of what I said was important enough for the story. Edit 1: Obligatory thank you, and holy cow, this blew up! Thanks for gilding this account, even though it is a throwaway account that I have no intention of using in the future.

I am still at work at the moment and will, after I finish, answer as many questions as I can and provide any other updates that come my way. Edit 2: So I'm home now, and with the number of questions that are here, as well as other comments and messages I have received, I decided to take the time to answer questions and provide some clarity here, saving me from responding to everyone individually. One of the questions I keep getting asked is: what happened to Harry, why I was so hard coming down on him, and why I would incriminate myself, especially on the internet?

After making some inquiries back home to some friends, the short answer is Harry is looking at a few months in prison as it's his first offense but will be out sooner. I felt that it was necessary to the story; no one other than myself knew what I had planned to do with Harry, which is why I. .

. Admitted, quite a few crucial details had the potential to truly identify me, as well as change up some of the descriptive language about locations to potentially put this story anywhere in the world. Just for clarification, there was already more than enough evidence in his own home; I just provided the means for the police to further investigate his activity in his home.

That being said, I don't regret doing what I did to him, as he knew both Rachel and I growing up and knew how hard it was for me to pick up my life after she died. For those also asking if I am worried about Harry finding out and pointing the authorities in my direction: I know that he doesn't use Reddit. I know Catherine has an account, but I haven't seen any recent activity to state that she has been on in some time.

As for other Reddit users, who knows? Most of the people I am friends with on my main account may recognize this story if they come across it, but as for their browsing preferences outside the subreddits that we frequent, I can't say. As for Catherine, people have questioned why I didn't do more to her or why I stuck around for as long as I did.

Honestly, I almost did kick her out after a few days, but I wanted to gather evidence and show proof of her cheating so that everyone she knew would know what she had done. She is a major socialite, her words, and I knew by exposing her it would kill her reputation. As for what happened to her, I've been told that she moved to another state just recently after being transferred.

From the people I have spoken to today, she was put mainly on administrative duties before her transfer, as there was quite a bit of backlash after the rumor mill made its way around town. People have questioned the legality of what I did to her: moving all her stuff out, sending her and some friends away, spending a good amount on the trip, etc. Morally, I can see that it's a pretty dick move to build up her expectations of what she thought was going to happen.

This, combined with killing her status around town, was my ultimate goal—to have her experience what it was like to have everything fall around you. But from a legal standpoint, I had every right. In the time she had been living with me, she had never updated any of her personal information (driver's license, voting registration, etc.

) to reflect that she had moved into my house. I found out this information during the course of my preparation with my lawyer after I spoke to her legally. With no concrete proof on paper to show that she was residing there, and because we hadn't met the de facto status, I was able to do what I did with no threat of backlash.

Finally, for those of you saying how my story is fake, that I am a Karma [ __ ], a sociopath: in this day and age, who doesn't have some sociopathic tendencies? Pointing to my malicious compliance story also as proof, I will be honest and let you know that I will not try to change your minds on this. Everyone is entitled to their opinions on stories shared all over Reddit and opinions on those who share them.

The story on the other subreddit, however, was to build Karma, as my original post required me to build up enough before they would allow me to post, as they thought that I might have been a bot. That story, which I only edited in the basics of the conversation because I can't remember all of it, did in fact take place and made national news coverage shortly after. If I find the article, I will link it, as it was, or was at the time, close to one of the largest roaming bills our company had ever passed on to a customer.