As the days passed, the distance between us only grew wider. He stopped calling me during the day after leaving for work. Sometimes he would even say he had too much work and wouldn't come home at night.
One day, my parents decided to visit us on one of the nights my husband said he wouldn't be coming home. The moment I heard they were on their way, panic rushed through me.
My mother came in and immediately started showering her granddaughter with affection, while my father quietly looked around the house before sitting down for tea. After a while, he finally asked,
"Where's Bayarkhuu?"
"He said he has too much work and will sleep at the construction site tonight," I answered softly.
"Why can't he come home and leave again in the morning?" my father asked.
I couldn't say a word.
My mother looked at me carefully before asking,
"Does he often stay away from home like this? Since when?"
"Not always… Lately he's been busy with a big construction project," I replied.
My father frowned.
"Have you ever gone to see his workplace yourself?"
"No."
My mother sighed.
"My daughter, you need to tell your husband something. He can't just leave his wife and child alone every night. Anything could happen at night. You should tell him that."
"Okay, Mom," I whispered.
But my father continued grumbling,
"Is this really a man who can be your life partner? What kind of husband ignores his wife and child like this?"
I distracted them with food and small conversations until we all finally went to sleep.
The next day, after my parents left, countless thoughts crowded my mind. Was my love really at work? Maybe he truly was busy… I kept trying to convince myself, but the doubts kept suffocating me until I finally decided to go and see for myself.
I placed my daughter into the baby carrier against my chest and headed toward his workplace.
After a long bus ride, I arrived at a newly developing apartment complex on the edge of the city. I asked the security guard about my husband.
But the guard answered,
"The supervisor hasn't come in yet. He left last night saying he was going home. Said he'd be late today."
At that moment, everything inside me went dark.
My daughter began crying. She was probably thirsty. Meanwhile, I just stood there frozen, unable to think or move. The heat outside was unbearable, so I sat in the shade near the fence, trying to calm myself down. I breastfed my daughter and rocked her to sleep on my lap.
I thought I'd leave once she woke up.
Then suddenly, I saw my husband's car approaching.
He stopped at the gate, showed his ID to the guard, and drove inside.
And there, sitting in the passenger seat beside him, was another woman.
Until that moment, I had never truly suspected him. But seeing another woman beside him made my heart collapse instantly.
Why was he lying to me like this?
What had I done wrong?
Tears streamed down my face as those thoughts consumed me. He didn't even notice me standing there. The car disappeared beyond the gate.
Still, I couldn't fully accept what I had seen. Maybe I was mistaken. So I decided to wait for him to come back out.
I stood near the guard booth when the security guard suddenly said,
"Should I tell the supervisor you came?"
"No, it's okay. I'll call him myself," I replied.
But when I tried to dial his number, my hands wouldn't move.
I waited.
And waited.
Three hours later, he finally came out.
The woman was still sitting beside him.
Quickly, I took a photo with my phone before stepping in front of the car.
The moment Bayarkhuu saw me, his eyes widened.
"Love… what are you two doing here?"
"Oh, our daughter seemed to miss you, so I came," I answered calmly. "Who is she?"
"She's our project manager," he replied, introducing her casually.
That was when I noticed the lipstick mark pressed against his neck.
A wave of sadness crashed over me.
"Get in. I'll take you home," he said.
The woman remained seated in the front passenger seat — my seat.
My chest burned with anger and humiliation, but I stayed silent the entire drive home.
After dropping my daughter and me off, he said he had to gather some documents with her and drove away again.
I pretended to believe him.
But deep down, my trust had already shattered completely.
As soon as I entered the house, I felt the same betrayal I once felt with Tushig. It was as if history had repeated itself. Without hesitation, I decided to leave him.
The love I had slowly grown into felt as though it had vanished in a single moment.
The more I thought about it, the more hurt I became. So I wrote him a long letter. I left it spread across the table, telling him I was leaving him forever. Then I packed my clothes and returned to my parents' house with my daughter.
Thinking about my child broke my heart, but at the time, it felt like the right decision.
The next day, he came to my parents' house to see me and our daughter.
I stood facing him and asked,
"You said you loved me. You said you'd give everything for me. So why are you lying to me like this?"
He lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, love. Things were hard for me too."
"Please," I said through trembling lips, "just disappear from my life."
He stared at me silently for a moment, then turned around and walked away.
He didn't defend himself.
He didn't explain the woman.
He didn't even try to stop me.
And in that silence, I realized something painful — perhaps he had already wanted this separation long before I did.
From this experience, I learned something heartbreaking:
A man who once chased after you desperately with gifts and promises can one day chase after someone else the exact same way.
Young couples will always face misunderstandings and hardships. But instead of letting silence grow between them, they need to talk honestly and compromise with one another.
I also realized that when parents become too involved in their children's marriage, it can slowly create distance between husband and wife.
And in the end, in this life that slowly drifted apart until it collapsed into divorce… the one who suffered the most was neither him nor me.
It was my daughter.
Please, girls, don't live a life like mine.
Choose your partner carefully.