Husband Forgets Phone at Home, Wife Hears His Voice Mail where Boy Says 'Hi Dad' – Story of the Day

"Hello? Hi, Dad! I know you must be on your way already...I'm waiting for you!" Alex accidentally forgets his phone at home as he leaves for work, and his wife, Amanda, ends up hearing a voicemail from a strange boy. She doesn't understand what's going on and phones Alex's office, only to learn from his assistant that Alex won't be coming to the office that day.

"Alex, you're forgetting something!" Amanda called out to her husband and waited with his wallet as she saw him head to the front door.

"Oh, god. Thanks, babe. What would I do without you?" He kissed her on the cheek and took the wallet from her hands.

"Again, I'm so sorry I've got to rush like this, baby. If I don't make it on time right now, Richard will kill me. But I'll try to wrap things up early so we can spend some quality time together later…" he smiled, stuffing the wallet in his back pocket.

"That sounds like a plan, but don't rush too much." She smiled gently, returning his kiss. "I'll see you later tonight. Don't be late."

Alex gave her a quick hug and walked out the front door...

Amanda walked to the living room window and saw his car disappear down the street. She returned to the kitchen to finish some chores and thought of doing the laundry after that. But she was too tired after doing the dishes, so she slumped on the sofa and turned on the TV.

As she was switching channels, Amanda heard what she thought was Alex's ringtone.

"Alex?" She wondered if he had forgotten something else and was home again, but when she looked around, she didn't see anyone and the front door was locked.

The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere close, and as Amanda lifted the sofa cushion, she found Alex's phone under it. She thought he must have forgotten it in a hurry and was about to answer the ring when the call went to voicemail, and a little boy's voice came through the device:

"Hello? Hi, Dad! I know you must be on your way already, but I wanted to say I'm waiting for you! Please come soon!"

A chill ran down Amanda's spine. "Dad?" she repeated the word and blinked twice, staring at her husband's phone in her hands. The call was from an unknown number; she had seen that. But what worried her more was that a child had called Alex from this contact that she didn't even recognize and addressed him as 'Dad.'

Amanda wished she could call the number and ask who this boy was who was referring to her husband as 'Dad.' But Alex's phone was locked, and she didn't know the password. However, she still tried a few different combinations, but none of them worked.

Amanda's heart sank, and weird thoughts plagued her mind. She had no idea what was going on. As a last resort, she decided to call Alex's assistant, Jerry, and ask if Alex had already arrived at work. That would ease the worries in her heart and mind.

Jerry answered after a few rings.

"Hello, Jerry. Morning," she said. "This is Amanda. Can you please tell me if Mr. Gibbs has arrived? If so, just tell him I need to talk to him."

Amanda was hoping for Jerry's answer to be a yes. Maybe it was just a prank call on Alex's phone. But unfortunately, Jerry's reply shattered all her hopes.

"Good day, Mrs. Gibbs. I'm sorry, but I think there's some misunderstanding here. Mr. Gibbs said he wouldn't be here today and asked me to fill in for him at the meetings."

Amanda's heart dropped, but she maintained her composure. "Oh…yes, yes. I'm sorry; it just slipped my mind. He's not in the office today. Right. I forgot. Thank you, Jerry. Have a good day."

As the call ended, Amanda sank onto the sofa, her face buried in her palms. Her mind was now going to weird places, wondering if her husband had cheated on her and had a second family and if she had been a fool to believe he was madly in love with her.

Amanda loved Alex, and she wanted to trust him, but she didn't know what to think of him after this unexpected call from a boy calling him Dad.

Suddenly, Amanda heard the sound of car tires on the gravel outside the house, and the front door clicked open.

"Hey, honey, I guess I forgot my phone at home! Did you see it anywhere?" Alex said, marching inside.

Amanda's blood was boiling. She wanted to confront him right then and there, but she knew he would just come up with a quick lie and get alert if he was really cheating on her. So she calmly rose from the sofa and turned around to look at him with a smile, hiding the phone from him.

"Hey, babe," she said. "Oh, did you? Any idea where you left it? Sorry, I was watching TV; I didn't hear you coming."

"No idea," he replied, frantically checking the living room shelves. "I never leave my phone unattended. Gosh, where did I keep it?"

"I'll check the bedroom!" Amanda said and quickly disappeared to their bedroom with his phone. She came out seconds later and pretended that she had found it there.

"Oh, it was inside. It was lying on the bed, Alex. Is everything fine at work, babe? You look tense," she said.

"Oh, thank you, honey," he sighed with relief after having his phone back. "Yes, yes. Everything's good…it's just that things have been a little hard these days," he said as he looked at his wristwatch. "Oh, God! Gotta leave! Got a lot of meetings today, and I'm already running late. See you."

As Alex left, Amanda accompanied him, pretending to walk him to his car, and when he rounded the vehicle to get into the driver's seat, she sneakily dropped her fitness band with activated GPS into the car door pocket.

"Take care, babe," she smiled at him and waved goodbye as he drove away.

Amanda waited until Alex's car was out of sight, and as she thought the moment was right, she grabbed her car keys and left the house, deciding to follow him.

She turned on the GPS tracking app on her phone to locate Alex's whereabouts, but unlike what she had expected, he seemed to be taking the route of his office, and at one point, Amanda felt awful that she had doubted him.

"Maybe there was a misunderstanding somewhere," she reasoned as she clutched the steering wheel tightly, still following his car.

"Perhaps Alex was planning to take a break, as he had told Jerry, but he had been called in on short notice, and Jerry had not been informed. And it was possible that the call on Alex's phone was a prank call."

"I hope I'm just overthinking," Amanda whispered to herself at one point as her eyes darted between the road and the GPS.

The moment that caused her heart to drop arrived when she noticed that instead of taking the turn that would take him to his office, Alex suddenly turned in the opposite direction. He was taking a completely different route now, and Amanda realized he had lied to her about those work meetings.

"Oh god, I can't believe you'd do something like this, Alex," Amanda swallowed the tears rising to her eyes.

Alex made a few more unexpected turns, and he was heading to the western part of the town.

After following him for about twenty minutes, Amanda realized they were in another town fifteen miles from where they lived. The tracker on the app stopped moving moments later. Alex had parked his car outside a modest home with freshly painted picket fences.

Amanda pulled over at a safe distance from his car to avoid being noticed and sat alone in her vehicle, observing.

Alex got out of the car and went to the trunk to fetch something. As he closed the trunk, she saw he was carrying something that seemed like a gift box. He locked the car door and marched inside the house's compound.

Amanda's eyes bulged in horror when Alex returned with a little boy in his arms, who was now holding the gift box. Alex then marched to the neighboring house.

With her hand held to her chest in confusion, Amanda unstrapped the seatbelt and got out of her car, deciding to follow him on foot. She peered inside the compound and saw him standing on the house's front porch while he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket.

"What in the world are you upto, Alex?" she wondered as she saw him unlock the front door and head inside with the boy.

Amanda sneaked into the house's compound, but she stopped dead when her gaze landed on the living room windows.

A sound of laughter and chatter emanated from inside the house. Alex scooped the little boy in his arms again, who was too thrilled to receive a gift from him; then Alex kissed the boy on his cheek.

Amanda couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach as she watched Alex interact with this young boy. Demanding answers, she stormed into the house, ready to confront her husband and find the truth.

"What the hell is going on, Alex? Who is this child?" she yelled as she barged into the house, causing Alex's eyes to widen in shock.

"Aa…Amanda? Wha…what are you doing here?" he stuttered, realizing he was stuck now.

"Daddy, who is she?" Little Caleb asked.

"Seriously?? That's what you are worried about…what am I doing here?" She glared at them. "Who is this boy, Alex?! Why is he calling you Daddy, and why are you showering him with gifts and kisses? What the hell is going on here?! I saw everything, so you better not lie through your teeth!"

Alex knew there was no point in hiding the truth, so he decided to come clean.

"Caleb, honey, will you please go inside for a moment? Daddy will be right back," he told the boy, putting him down.

As Caleb went inside, Alex prepared himself to face Amanda. "He is my son, Amanda," Alex admitted, looking her in the eye. "I should have told you before, but...I was scared. I have a second family, Amanda."

Alex's words came as a shock to Amanda, leaving her speechless. While she had expected the worst, a part of her still wished her suspicions were wrong.

"Where is she?" Amanda demanded angrily.

"She's not home. She's finishing her shift. Caleb was with a neighbor while she was at work," Alex replied, which only infuriated Amanda.

"Wow…" she said after a brief pause, trying not to choke on her tears. "So this is the important meeting you were talking about? How long has it been going on for, Alex? For months? Years? The boy looked old so…"

"Four years," he confessed before she could even finish.

"I'm sorry, Amanda," he continued. "I never wanted to hurt you, but...look, I know what I've done is wrong. I don't have an explanation. You can divorce me, and...if you're worried about the money, I…I'm totally fine with giving you half the property and everything if we part ways. We can still be on good terms."

"Wow, you've really thought this through, huh, Alex?" Amanda hissed. "We've been married for years! How could you do this to us? To me? Did you even think how I would feel once I found out? You clearly didn't! I love you!"

Alex hung his head. "No you don't, Amanda. You have to believe me. This...what our relationship has come to...is just dependency. It's been killing me, and you. If there was anything else that I could do to fix this, I would have, Amanda. But right now, I can't do anything but provide you with a way out of this mess. A divorce. You can carry on with your life without me. Without having to live under the same roof as me. That's all I can do."

"Oh god, Alex!" she scoffed in disgust. "Wow! I should divorce you so you could have a happily ever after with your new family? No woman can accept her husband's infidelity and move on calmly! Mark my words. You won't get away with this! I'm sure you don't realize how much pain you've caused me, but I'll make sure you will be reminded of this pain time and again!" Amanda remarked angrily as she stormed out of his mistress's house.

As she drove home, Amanda was in tears. She felt betrayed and hurt, but she couldn't recall where all of it had gone wrong. She never found a lipstick mark on Alex's shirt or got the whiff of a female's perfume when he got home. There were no signs he was cheating on her.

But then, she also never questioned him when he returned from work in the wee hours of the morning and told her he was working on a new project or when he went on those long business trips suddenly. Those had been the points where she should have had doubts. Those were the incidents that had caused her marriage to fall apart.

As she arrived home, Amanda grabbed a wine bottle from the kitchen rack and slammed her bedroom shut. She tossed away the cork and chugged the wine, thinking about how to get her husband back. She would not let Alex slide after what he had done.

"Mom? You okay?" The bedroom door creaked open, and as Amanda looked up, she saw her teenage son, Dylan, in the doorway, giving her a worried look.

"I—I'm okay," she sniffled, wiping her tears. "Did you need something?"

He came inside and sat beside her. "I know what's bothering you, Mom. It's Dad, right?" he asked her, staring into his lap.

"Well, adults fight sometimes. It's just that this time your Dad crossed the line, Dylan. He cheated on me. But I can handle it," she said as she chugged the liquor.

"I should have told you about it before, Mom. Sorry," Dylan confessed, and Amanda almost choked on the wine and began coughing profusely, causing Dylan to pat her back. "Oh god, Mom! Slow down! Are you okay?"

"Told me before?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock. "What are you talking about? What are you hiding from me, Dylan?"

"Dad…he has another family, right? I knew about it, but I couldn't do anything, Mom," he confessed, returning to his original position beside her, but Amanda was not prepared for another shock.

"I was kinda surprised too when he told me everything, Mom. Not like you, but it felt awful. Like, really awful. And I had asked him to tell you the truth. I even told him that I would tell you everything if he didn't. But we decided not to because we were worried you wouldn't take it well."

"You should have told me, Dylan!" Amanda lashed out, unable to believe her son knew everything. "You should have trusted me to handle the truth! Instead, you kept me in the dark, and I feel so betrayed right now!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I thought I was protecting you. I didn't want you to go through this pain. I promise I'll never leave you, Mom. I'm not like Dad. I love you, and I'm going to support you. I will keep you happy, Mom. Trust me!" he said, placing his hand on hers, but Amanda shoved it away.

"Protect me?" she asked angrily. "What made you think that helping your Dad cover an ugly truth and keeping me in the dark would protect me, Dylan? My entire life is shattered now. All of you are bloody traitors! You chose to hide the truth even though you knew what your Dad had done was disgusting! I don't think I want you here anymore."

"Mom, I was just—"

"Just get out, Dylan!"

Dylan was just trying to comfort Amanda, so her words stung him deeply.

"Fine, Mom. Maybe you are right," he said as he rose to his feet. "I need some space now, too. As you wish, you won't see me around you!"

Dylan stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him and leaving Amanda alone. Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her hair, but she didn't even bother to go after her son. All Amanda was thinking now was how to make Alex crawl back to her, and an idea came to her mind soon.

Amanda grabbed the car keys from the living room table and drove to Alex's office.

"Mrs. Gibbs?" Jerry met her in the corridor. "What brings you here?"

"Uh, I'm—Actually, Alex asked me to get some personal documents urgently," she replied, coming up with a quick excuse. "His office is that way, right? So stupid of him. How can he just forget his personal things here?"

"Do you need any help? I could come with you," he said, but she stopped him.

"No, thank you. I—I appreciate your help, but I'll manage. I should get going."

Amanda hurried to Alex's office and shut the door. She looked through the files on his table and searched his drawers frantically, but she didn't find the papers she was looking for.

"Where could he have kept it? I didn't find them at home, so it has to be somewhere here," Amanda paused and looked about the room when her attention was drawn to the safe beside the artificial Pico tree in the corner. She knelt in front of it, but it was password protected.

Amanda quickly entered Alex's birthday, but that didn't work. "Of course, it won't be my birthday or our wedding date!" She thought as she entered the digits and realized she was right.

Amanda ran her fingers through her hair and looked around the room, wondering what else he could have used for the password, when her gaze landed on the photo frame on Alex's table. She tried Dylan's birth date this time, and the safe opened!

There was some cash inside, but Amanda wasn't interested in that. She took out the files, which contained business documents proving Alex had evaded taxes, and went home.

"I want to meet you, Alex," she told him on the phone as she hid the original documents in her home closet. "And yes…if your answer is no, just know that you will go to jail very soon!"

"Amanda, wait…what are you talking about? I can't come right now."

"An hour. That's all I'll give you. If you don't show up, I'm going straight to the police. I went through the safe in your office, is all I can tell you for now," Amanda added and hung up.

Amanda now waited. She was sure Alex would come running after what she had told him, and she was right. He was there within 30 minutes.

"What the hell are you planning, Amanda?" he yelled as he stormed into the house.

She tossed a copy of the documents before him. "I'm planning to fight and win you back. If you don't leave your other family and return to me, I'm taking these to the cops. I'll make sure you serve, Alex!"

Alex bent down to pick up the papers, and he was shocked.

"Jesus!" he cried as he ran his eyes across the papers, and a rage took over him.

"I can't believe this…You know what I did was for our family, YOU KNOW THIS!" he shouted. "If I hadn't done this, we wouldn't have been able to pay for Dylan's surgery, Amanda. And now you are using that against me??"

"What you did was unlawful, and that's all I know, Alex! Those cops won't care if you did it for our son or whatever…Leave your second family or be ready to rot in prison!" she threatened him.

"I can't believe you are doing this…" Alex sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER, MOM!"

Alex and Amanda turned to look at the doorway where Dylan stood. He had come home to apologize to Amanda and to tell her that he would support her no matter what, but instead, he had heard how his mother was blackmailing his father.

"Dylan, wait…" Amanda realized the horror of what she had done when she saw her son's pale face, but he stepped away from her.

"Don't come close to me, Mom. I can't believe what you just said! Thanks to Dad, I got that surgery, and I'm alive today. I don't want to know you anymore! I can't believe you would go to such an extent. And yes, I don't want to live with you!" Dylan spun around and dashed out of the house.

"Are you happy now?" Alex scowled at her. "You know what, do whatever the hell you want, Amanda. If I have to go to jail for such a 'crime' as saving my son's life, so be it! But I'm definitely not going to be with someone like you!" Alex snapped as he left the house.

Amanda cried all night, feeling isolated and unsure of what to do next. Even her own son hated her now. And it was all because of Alex. He wanted to enjoy his life with his second family, but Amanda would never let that happen. He had betrayed her and broken their family, and he didn't deserve to live his life peacefully.

As time ticked by, Amanda was no longer crying, and a wicked plan came to her mind. The next day, Amanda pulled her car outside a building with a bright neon sign that read, "Nova Star Casino."

Amanda had worked there as a croupier years ago, and she had never thought she would return to this place, especially after she fell in love with Alex, who had promised to be the best husband to her. But Amanda's current circumstances didn't leave her with a choice.

The recollections of the place flooded Amanda's mind as she walked through the casino's doors again. The sights and sounds brought back memories of the adrenaline rush she used to feel when the players placed their bets, hoping for big wins. The excitement of the games and the laughter of happy customers seemed to fill the air.

But there were hidden businesses taking place behind all the glitz and glamor, things that only a few staff members and people close to Mr. Rodriguez were aware of. He was a good boss but also someone who didn't mind getting his hands dirty as long as he saw a financial gain.

"I want to meet Mr. Rodriguez; tell him Amanda, his golden girl, is here," she informed the black-suited man outside her ex-boss' office. She waited outside for a couple of minutes, after which the security guard returned, opening the door of Mr. Rodriguez's office wider for her to enter.

"Oh, look who it is! Amanda, darling! Welcome! Welcome!" the man rose from his chair, beaming, as he held her hand and kissed it. "How may I help you, darling? Never expected to see you here again. Is everything okay? Have a seat. Have a seat."

"It's nice to see you again, too, Mr. Rodriguez," she smiled, sitting across from him. "I know…I had never thought I would be returning here like this, either, but…I want you to contact some of your...'people'...for me," she told him, getting straight to the point. "I hope you are still into that business…"

The ex-boss grew serious. "You need to tell me what this is about, darling. You come to me after all these years, and unless I'm wrong, you want me to—" he started, raising a brow, but she cut him off.

"Yes, you got that right," she sighed confidently. "I want to hire someone to kill."

"Okay, okay…" he nodded, taken aback by the intensity of Amanda's demand. "But whom? You know the drill, darlin'," he said, leaning closer to her. "You give me the information, and I get my guys on it."

"This is the guy," Amanda placed Alex's photo on the table. "This is my husband, Alex. But yeah, I know if his body is found with something as simple as a bullet hole in the head, I'll be the first suspect.

"I don't want to be stuck in the mess of the police and the media, so it should be done by someone very professional. Make it look like an accident. Car crash, fire, suicide…up to you. And yes, money won't be a problem. Rest assured of that."

Mr. Rodriguez looked at the photo, then at Amanda. "Fine," he said after a brief pause. "I know a certain someone who is perfectly skilled for our job, darling. Please wait outside. My man will contact you."

Amanda met Mr. Rodriguez's man and went home, relieved that Alex wouldn't be a problem in her life anymore. As per his promise, the contract killer she had hired contacted her a few days later and asked her to meet him at the Maple Leaf Garden, a park in the center of the city.

Amanda arrived on time and sat on the bench the killer had mentioned, waiting for him. Around 15 minutes later, she saw a man clad in black walk in her direction and sit beside her on the bench. She clutched the bag of money she had carried tightly.

"Did you bring the money?" he asked, breaking the silence seconds later.

"Yes…yes, of course. Here," Amanda replied and handed him a trash bag containing $20,000.

"Any last wishes for your husband?" he asked with a chuckle, which irked her.

"I want you to make it look like he was a dear soul who left us too soon in a fateful accident!" she said venomously. "I don't care how brutal or not. You need to make sure the cops don't suspect me in any way! The only thing I care about is that he should not survive!"

The man rose to his feet and shook his head. "I feel bad for you," he said, and Amanda was confused by his words…until a man in plain clothes appeared beside her and handcuffed her, shocking her to the core.

"I'm Officer Patterson," He showed his police badge. "And YOU ARE UNDER ARREST for conspiring to commit the murder of your husband, Alex, Mrs. Gibbs," he announced as several other officers surrounded the bench.

"What the hell…What…what is going on?" Amanda panicked and looked at the killer she had hired, confused. But things became clear to her when she met Dylan and Alex near the police cruiser.

"Seriously, Amanda? You hired a hitman just to get your stupid revenge? Just imagine what would have happened if the casino owner had not contacted the police!" Alex shook his head in disbelief. "You stooped really low this time, Amanda. Do you believe it now...that you don't love me?"

Dylan had tears in his eyes when Amanda looked at him. "Why, Mom?" he asked, mustering the courage to confront her.

But all Amanda could give him for an answer was her silence. She lowered her head and avoided his eyes while sitting inside the police cruiser and asked the officer beside her to close the car door.

TOP 3 STORIES on AmoMama

1. Poor Janitor Shares Lunch with Homeless Boy, Gets Huge Mansion for It Later – Story of the Day

Patrick, a poor janitor, shares his lunch with a homeless teenager. And as they eat, Patrick realizes he has met the boy before and even knows his rich family. But the youngster reveals he has amnesia and doesn't remember anything, so Patrick decides to help the boy find his way home. However, when they arrive at the mansion where his parents should be living, another man answers the door... Full story here.

2. After Son Sells Her House, Woman Leaves Inheritance to Neighbor's Daughter – Story of the Day

Jake never bothered to check on his mother after selling her house and putting her in a nursing home. But he eagerly showed up at her lawyer's office to claim his inheritance, only to discover his mother had left her assets to a certain Mrs. McKinsey he had not even heard of. Determined to get the inheritance back, Jake takes desperate measures... Full story here.

3. Boy Screams Every Time He Sees Old Family Photo until Mom Looks at It Closer – Story of the Day

Little Adam cried whenever he saw an old family photo. But his parents were clueless about why it was happening until one day, the boy pointed at a detail in the picture, and his parents had to go to the cops... Full story here.

Tell us what you think about this story, and share it with your friends. It might inspire them and brighten their day.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.