Cuckold -5- May 2026

He closed his eyes and thought: Tomorrow, I will learn to like the marmalade. End of piece.

The number was a whisper, not a verdict.

Not “Mark says.” Not “Mark told me.” But thinks . As though Mark’s opinions had migrated into the architecture of their breakfast. As though Mark had been there, in the kitchen, last night, while he slept upstairs. Cuckold -5-

“Mark thinks you should try the bitter marmalade.”

Outside, a car passed. Maybe Mark’s. Maybe not. He closed his eyes and thought: Tomorrow, I

Because the sixth, he told himself, would be different.

He wanted to say: I have become the furniture of your betrayal. I am the chair you sit on while thinking of him. I am the mirror that watches you dress for him. I am the fifth in a series of humiliations that now have their own gravity. Not “Mark says

He looked at the marmalade. Orange, glistening, cruel.