“Put this Pepsi in your husband’s plate of rice,” the old Native doctor said quietly to Emily.
“He will never cheat again.”
Emily stared at the glass bottle in the woman’s weathered hand. It was warm from the afternoon sun, beads of condensation sliding down its sides like nervous sweat. Pepsi. Ordinary. Familiar. And yet, in this small wooden hut tucked deep into the Oklahoma hills, it felt heavy—dangerous, even sacred.
“You don’t mean… poison,” Emily whispered.
The doctor smiled, slow and unreadable. Her long gray hair was braided down her back, her eyes sharp with a lifetime of seeing people at their worst.
“No,” she said. “I mean faith.”
Emily didn’t understand. Not yet. But desperation has a way of quieting questions.
1. The Cracks in a Marriage
Emily Carter had been married to Daniel for twelve years. Twelve years of shared mortgages, Sunday dinners, and the quiet comfort of knowing where someone would be at night. Or at least, she thought she knew.
The first crack appeared as a phone buzzing face-down on the kitchen counter.
Then came late nights at “work,” showers taken immediately after coming home, and a smile that no longer reached Daniel’s eyes when he looked at her.
Emily tried to be rational. She told herself she was imagining things. She tried to be the cool wife, the understanding one. But suspicion grows best in silence, and soon it filled every corner of her mind.
The confirmation came on a Tuesday afternoon, hidden in plain sight.
A lipstick stain. Pale pink. Not hers.
Emily didn’t scream. She didn’t throw anything. She sat on the edge of the bathtub, the world narrowing until all she could hear was the hum of the ventilation fan and her own breathing.
When Daniel finally admitted it—just once, a mistake, it meant nothing—Emily felt something inside her go cold.
He promised it was over.
She wanted to believe him.
2. The Second Betrayal
Trust, once broken, becomes fragile glass. Emily watched Daniel closely after that. Too closely. Every notification, every unexplained delay reopened the wound.
Three months later, she found a burner phone.
That night, Daniel didn’t deny it.
“I don’t know why I do this,” he said, rubbing his face. “I love you. I swear I do. I just—something’s wrong with me.”
Emily slept on the couch. Not because she was angry—but because she was afraid of how empty the bed felt beside him.
Divorce crossed her mind. So did humiliation. Her parents adored Daniel. Their friends envied their marriage. Emily had built her identity around being the one who made it work.
So instead of leaving, she drove.
She drove until the city disappeared, until the roads narrowed and the radio crackled with static. She drove because pain makes you look for answers in strange places.
That’s how she found the Native doctor.
3. The Woman Who Listened
The woman’s name was Aiyana.
Her home smelled of sage and wood smoke. Feathers and old photographs lined the walls. She didn’t interrupt as Emily spoke. Didn’t judge. Didn’t offer comfort too soon.
When Emily finished, her voice raw, Aiyana nodded slowly.
“Infidelity is not always about desire,” she said. “Sometimes it is about power. Sometimes about emptiness.”
“I just want him to stop,” Emily said. “I want my marriage back.”
Aiyana studied her carefully.
“Would you rather control him,” she asked, “or understand him?”
Emily didn’t answer.
That’s when Aiyana handed her the Pepsi.
4. The Ritual
“You will place this in his plate of rice,” Aiyana said. “Not because it changes the food—but because it changes you.”
Emily frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Men who cheat believe they are unseen,” Aiyana said. “This ritual is not poison. It is a mirror. If you believe it holds power, your behavior will change. And he will feel it.”
Emily hesitated. “And if it doesn’t work?”
“Then you will learn something far more important,” Aiyana replied.
That night, Emily cooked Daniel’s favorite meal. Rice. Grilled chicken. Green beans with too much butter.
Her hands trembled as she poured a small amount of Pepsi over the rice when his back was turned. It fizzed quietly, disappearing into the steam.
Daniel ate without noticing.
But Emily watched him differently.
5. The Shift
Over the next few days, Emily stopped begging for reassurance. She stopped checking his phone. She stopped shrinking herself to keep the peace.
Instead, she spoke calmly. Directly.
When Daniel came home late, she didn’t accuse. She simply said, “I deserve honesty.”
When he deflected, she didn’t chase. She went for walks. Took up painting again. Reconnected with herself.
Daniel noticed.
Men always do when the balance shifts.
One night, he asked, “Are you… okay?”
Emily met his eyes. “I am learning to be.”
Something about her unsettled him.
6. The Confession
Two weeks later, Daniel broke.
“I’ve been thinking about leaving,” he admitted, sitting at the kitchen table. “Not for someone else. For myself. I hate who I’ve become.”
Emily’s heart pounded, but she didn’t interrupt.
“I cheat because I feel empty,” he said. “And because I never thought you’d actually stop trying to hold me together.”
Emily swallowed. “And now?”
“I’m terrified,” he said. “Because I can see you don’t need me to survive.”
That night, Daniel deleted the burner phone.
Not because of the Pepsi.
Because of the woman Emily had become.
7. The Truth Behind the Magic
Emily returned to Aiyana a month later.
“He hasn’t cheated,” she said. “But I don’t think it was the ritual.”
Aiyana smiled knowingly.
“No,” she said. “It was you.”
Emily frowned. “Then why the Pepsi?”
“Because sometimes,” Aiyana said, “people need a symbol to reclaim their power. You stopped acting like a woman begging to be chosen—and became one who could walk away.”
Emily thought of the question Aiyana had asked before.
Control or understanding?
“And if he cheats again?” Emily asked.
“Then you will already know what to do,” Aiyana said. “And it will not involve rituals.”
8. Epilogue
Daniel never cheated again.
Not because he was cursed.
Not because he was controlled.
But because Emily changed the rules of love.
She learned that fidelity isn’t enforced by fear—but by self-worth. And that sometimes, the most powerful medicine is not what you give someone else…
…but what you finally give yourself.
