I was doing laundry while my wife is out of town, and in putting away the family’s clothes I found my brother-in-law’s personal journal in my wife’s underwear drawer. (The journal’s size and color made it stand out in an otherwise tiny drawer. I was curious because it was not present the last time I did laundry. I read only enough to determine the owner.)
I’m trying to come up with a rational explanation for how my wife would have gained possession of this diary, and, in the event it was an “accident,” why it was not returned immediately. I have not yet asked my wife, and am trying to determine whether I should.
Some background: Our marriage is not well, nor is my sister’s (to whom the BIL is married). A key event in both marriages occurred a few years ago, when my sister saw my wife text an “I miss you” message to my BIL, and he respond “I miss you too.”
My wife said it was an innocent mistake and that she intended to text me. My BIL admitted to being attracted to my wife and “chasing” her.
I defended my wife to my sister and I accepted my wife’s version of the events. My sister did not, and accused my wife and BIL of an affair. While it was an ugly couple of months, no evidence of an affair was ever found, and we all eventually reached a point where we could stay together as couples and as a group. My wife, however, claimed that I did not get sufficiently mad at my sister for this accusation, and has remained bitter over that.
I assume it’s possible both of these events are chance coincidence, but if so, I’m trying to come up with an explanation for how another man’s diary ends up in my wife’s underwear drawer. Any advice is appreciated.
I personally would speculate that she’s concealing it on behalf of BiL, or she stole it from him. Neither of which is particularly comforting. And the reason for either scenario is concealed within the pages.
Baring some sorta weird explanation (like maybe she saw his journal’s cool leatherette cover and just had to buy you one, so she borrowed the book… ) I’m predicting more of the same.
See, this is what pisses me off. If it turns out she was having an affair, that means she got pissed at you for not defending her enough despite having been guilty. I hate people.
Before you expose I think you need to do some hardcore snooping. If they are having an affair they will lie, lie, lie about it. You’ll never get a straight answer from them.
Look at phone records, credit card statements, bank statements, etc. Is her computer at home? Look through email records, including the sent and deleted folders. How well can you account for her time? Where is your wife now? Is the BIL also out of town?
Read the diary. A lot of the answers you need will probably be in there.
There’s a 99% chance she’s been having an affair for some time. You need to find out as much truth about this before you let on. If you go to her now and ask, she’ll give you some flimsy excuse and take the affair farther underground.
Not making judgements or assumptions either way but if you regularly do the laundry and she knows you’re going to be in her drawer why would she choose that as a place to hide an incriminating piece of evidence like an accused lover’s diary?
I’m not saying it doesn’t mean anything, it just doesn’t make sense… unless she’s trying to get caught? Weird.
It looks like she does have “dirty laundry” in her underwear drawer, however.
(Side note: I’m kind of surprised that people still keep paper diaries. Maybe if you don’t have a home computer, or your computer isn’t secure and it’s a family-used unit, that’s your best option if you’re not tech-savvy.)
Read the diary. It’s not her property, so you are not doing anything “wrong” by reading it. Well, unless you think your BIL’s privacy should trump everything else. Personally, I would not give a toss for my BIL’s privacy if I found his diary in my wife’s underwear drawer. The diary is not in it’s proper place. It does not belong in your home. You are entitled to look at it.
The fact that there is a previous reason to be suspicious would just make me read it all the more.
As others have said, the diary will probably contain the answers you seek, and your wife likely left it there for you to find.
And yes… Is your BIL also out of town at this time? If so, they are currently making hot monkey love in a hotel.
I do the laundry often enough. I don’t normally put her clothes away, but she’s gone long enough on this trip that I didn’t want to see a stack of clothes sitting out for days on end.