Man Bursts into His Boss’s Office after Learning He Spreads Rumors about His Wife – Story of the Day

Jared was enraged when he found out his colleagues were gossiping about his wife after his boss spread nasty rumors about her. He rushed home to confront his wife and learn the truth, but never had he imagined he would find her missing.

Jared's shift was almost over. He headed to his desk after collecting the stack of copies from the printer when he heard whispers from the office cafeteria and stopped in his tracks.

Jared would've usually not paid attention to the gossip, but he heard his wife's mention and couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"Are you serious? Mr. Craft said that?" one of the guys asked.

"Yep! 'I spent the night with her!' That's what he was boasting about. Poor Jared. Does he even know his wife is cheating on him with his boss?" the other dude chuckled…

The stack of papers slipped from Jared's grasp as his gaze met the guys coming out of the cafeteria.

"J—J—Jared! We were just—" One of them said something, but Jared couldn't react. Fuming in rage, he burst into his boss's office.

"What the hell are you going and telling others about my wife?" he yelled at his boss, his fists clenched tightly. "That you're sleeping with her?"

"I'm sorry, I'll call you back," Mr. Craft ended the call and looked up, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, Jared, I'm sorry you found the truth like this, but you may want to watch out for your tone."

"Really? That's all you got to say?" Jared screamed. "Stop spreading rumors about my wife, Mr. Craft! You're my boss, and l don't want you to go around cooking stories about my personal life."

Mr. Craft sighed. "I can't make you believe in something you don't want to, Jared," he said. "And yes, your wife did tell me she doesn't love you and all of that. That your marriage is crumbling or something...She is tired of a poor man like you. She even asked me to promote you. Said she wanted to help you because she felt bad about cheating on you. Aren't you guys saving up for that big house?"

Jared's knees buckled, and he had to grab the door's handle to maintain his balance. Amanda had told Mr. Craft about the house?

"I still don't believe what you said," he managed to say. "Not until Amanda tells me what's going on!"

Jared stormed out of his boss's office, collected his things, and drove home. During the drive, he couldn't take Mr. Craft's words off his mind.

Jared had met Amanda at a bar in California a year ago. It was love at first sight for them, and they only dated for six months before Jared popped the question to her. She happily said yes and moved to Florida, where Jared's entire life was—his work, friends, everything.

Amanda shared very little about her past because her life had been tragic. She didn't have any siblings, and her parents died when she was young, so she was raised in the foster system. She always told Jared that meeting him was one of the best things that happened in her life.

"Did you really cheat on me?" Jared angrily thought as he pulled into the driveway. He took a moment and composed himself before marching inside the house. The entire place was engulfed in darkness, and he sniffled as he looked around after turning on the lights.

The stove was cold, and Amanda was not in the kitchen. There was no sign of dinner preparation. Usually, she would be making dinner by now.

"Amanda?" Jared called out, climbing the stairs to their bedroom, but she was not there either.

Jared's heart skipped a beat as he checked the bathroom and backyard and didn't find her. He then called Amanda, but her phone was unreachable. Jared sensed something was wrong. There was no post-it note on the fridge, no note on the dinner table. She would usually leave him a message, a letter, a something if she was going out.

Jared called all her friends and asked their neighbors if anyone had seen Amanda. But nothing came out of it. It was then Jared rushed upstairs to their room again, looking for anything that would explain where Amanda was. But there were no notes in their bedroom either.

Jared sank onto their bed, his hands cupping his mouth, when he noticed something strange. The closet door was not locked properly. Jared gasped as he opened it and found their mini-safe empty. The money and gold were gone.

"Oh god…What…what happened?" Jared stepped back and reached for his phone on the bed. His hands were trembling as he dialed 911.

"Look, Mr. Sutton. We can't file a missing complaint because it hasn't been 48 hours since your wife's disappearance," an officer told him after checking the entire house.

"But can't you see there's stuff missing from my house? What if she was kidnapped, and the kidnappers took that gold and money? She hasn't left me a note. And let me tell you that she never forgets to leave me a note or a message. There's nothing now. No voicemails either. And her phone isn't reachable."

"I understand, Mr. Sutton, but we'll have to wait," the officer exchanged a glance with his partner. "Well, you said you last saw her in the morning, right? To us, it looks like she planned this. What if this was a premeditated disappearance? If there was a kidnapping, the perpetrators would contact you, sir. Look, what I am suggesting right now is we wait, alright?"

As the cops left the house, Jared sank onto the couch, unable to process anything. He pulled out his phone and thought of calling Mr. Craft and asking if he knew something. But he quickly chucked the idea. A part of him feared that she was with him. He hadn't told the cops about Amanda's possible affair.

Jared closed his eyes and buried his face in his palms. "I need to ask him," he told himself. "I need to find Amanda, and I need to ask him."

Seconds later, Jared called Mr. Craft and told him everything, but his boss was equally shocked. "She's missing?" he gasped.

"Yes. And not just that, but someone took the money from our safe. The lock was broken. So it couldn't be her. She knew the password."

"Well, Jared, you do know I have nothing to do with this, right? Look, this is madness, okay? If Amanda did this…Well, I hope you find her soon."

"Yes. Just…I mean, if she comes there…just let me know. I don't know what to expect now. But yeah."

"Absolutely, Jared. Absolutely. I would've never guessed something of this sort would've happened. Please take care."

"Yes. I know. Thanks."

Jared ended the call and sighed. Amanda's things, including her passport, were at home. "Where are you, Amanda?" he sighed disappointedly. Jared knew there was nothing he could do now but wait. Either for Amanda's return or…for 48 hours to get over so he could file a missing complaint.

Jared could feel all eyes were on him as he returned to work a week later. Mr. Craft had been a jerk to confess he was sleeping with Amanda, but he was also very understanding when he learned about the whole disappearance thing and allowed Jared to take some time off from work.

Jared got to his work, ignoring everyone else. But he knew what his colleagues were discussing in groups across from his cubicle.

There was no sign of Amanda, and everyone thought Jared was the man behind Amanda's disappearance. They always suspect the husband, don't they?

"An angry, poor husband must've killed his wife after learning about her infidelity."

"Are we not working today?" Mr. Craft's voice boomed, and the employees rushed to their desks. Jared didn't even look up as the boss approached his desk.

"Has there been any progress, Jared?" Mr. Craft sympathetically asked.

"Not yet," Jared replied in the coldest tone, furiously typing on his computer.

"Don't lose hope, young man," Mr. Craft patted his back and walked away. Jared looked up only to meet several eyes staring at him again. "A poor husband is now being comforted by the man his wife slept with. That's what they bloody think!" he muttered under his breath.

Three months passed. There was still no update about Amanda, and the city seemed to have forgotten she was even missing. The reporters who didn't leave Jared's driveway earlier vanished into thin air. The catchy headlines that mentioned Jared as the mastermind behind his wife's disappearance no longer appeared on the front pages.

And while the news about Amanda's possible affair didn't reach the media, there were several other theories in the papers every other day about how Jared would've been such a terrible, psychopathic, and torturous husband that she had to flee from his clutches. But now, none of those things appeared in the newspapers. There was just a small ad in one corner that said she was missing.

But Jared was still hopeful. He had stuck pamphlets all over the city walls so that someone would call him someday and tell him they had seen his wife. And maybe he would even forgive Amanda for cheating on him if she was.

Another year passed, and Jared's life was no longer the same. The only thing that remained the same was that Amanda was still missing. No news. No calls. No sign of her.

Jared had stopped leaving the house except for work. Everyone around him stared at him with a pitying gaze that he hated. He didn't know what he wanted anymore, but it was definitely not their pity.

One morning, Jared had just arrived at work when Mr. Craft made an announcement. "Everyone in the meeting room now!"

"So guys, I have to discuss something significant today," he began, looking at Jared. "I am stepping down from my position as my partner will be your new boss."

A gasp and whispers ran out in the room, and Mr. Craft shifted his gaze from Jared to look at others. "I know this is a huge surprise for you all, but Andy is equally amazing! And yes, I've decided to expand our offices, so I'll relocate to a new town. You guys are the best team, and I hope you do amazing things under Andy's guidance."

Then Mr. Craft asked everyone to join him for dinner that night, after which he left for the airport. Jared sensed something was off. Mr. Craft repeatedly looked at him during the meeting and even dinner.

Jared left dinner early but waited in his car. As he saw Mr. Craft leave the restaurant, he decided to follow him. He kept his distance from the man's cab to avoid getting caught.

A couple of minutes later, they pulled over at the airport terminal. Mr. Craft unloaded his things from the taxi but didn't head inside. He repeatedly looked at his wristwatch as if he was waiting for someone.

The next moment, Jared saw Mr. Craft hugging a woman. Jared's eyes widened in horror as the woman pulled away from Mr. Craft.

"Amanda?" he gasped, his hands held to his mouth in shock.

Jared wanted to rush over to them and confront them, but no. He had overheard Mr. Craft's flight was delayed by an hour, so Jared decided to call the police. He clicked a snap of Mr. Craft and Amanda and sent it to the detective in charge of Amanda's case.

"Yes, sir, I'm sure it's her. I know the picture isn't clear, but they're at the airport! And she's with my boss! I think they were in this together," Jared told the detective on the phone.

"Mr. Sutton, please stay there. We're heading there in a minute," the detective said and hung up.

Jared got down from his car and followed them inside the airport. He even bought a ticket and sat right behind them in the waiting lounge.

As Detective Rudolf arrived, he signaled to the detective where Amanda and Mr. Craft were seated.

"How does it feel leaving me for my boss, Amanda?" Jared asked, and Amanda's and Mr. Craft's faces turned pale as they turned to look at him.

"Jared?" Amanda cried. "What…what are you—" She didn't get to finish as two cops cuffed her and Mr. Craft.

"Why did you both do it?" Jared screamed.

"Look, Jared, I initially didn't know she had planned her disappearance. Then she contacted me and told me she felt bad about cheating on you, and—" Before Mr. Craft would finish, the detective cut him off.

"Mr. Sutton, relax. And sir," Detective Rudolf told Mr. Craft. "You might want to thank Mr. Sutton. This woman…she is not who she claims to be. She isn't really your wife, Mr. Sutton. She is an Italian fugitive who's been escaping the police for years. My new partner happened to recognize her from a case he was handling. Both of you were her victims. She trapped you both in her plan."

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't trust anyone blindly. Jared and Mr. Craft trusted Amanda blindly, not realizing she was trapping them.
• Sometimes there's more to things than what your eyes can see. Jared fell in love with Amanda and never bothered to investigate her past. If he had, he would've probably saved himself from the heartbreak.

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