Chapter 23

The ridicule continues when somebody accuses you of inventing your marriage. After weeks of demanding information about Mangler Max and the women he selects, you have apparently failed to satisfy the forum's more cynical members that you even possess a wife. One contributor suggests that you are a lonely fantasist pretending to be a husband, while another declares that nobody should waste another minute answering your questions until you provide proof.

You initially dismiss the accusations as childish provocation, but the mockery becomes increasingly personal. Eventually, irritated beyond reason, you upload a photograph of yourself and your wife taken during a recent vacation. Within minutes, the replies change. The men who had been laughing at you are suddenly complimenting her appearance, asking how long you have been married, and congratulating you on having such a beautiful woman at home.

You feel an unexpected surge of pride, followed by the uncomfortable realization that you have just introduced your unsuspecting wife to a community of strangers whose interests you barely understand. The compliments quickly become more intrusive.

Someone asks whether you have photographs of her in a swimsuit. Another wonders whether you are merely pretending to be married to the woman in the picture. Before long, several contributors are openly demanding intimate photographs, assuring you that husbands seeking admission to Max's performances are expected to demonstrate that they have nothing to hide.

You refuse at first, offended by their presumption, but the taunts resume immediately. They accuse you of cowardice, suggest that your wife must be embarrassed by you, and insist that you cannot possibly understand the appeal of Mangler Max if you are frightened of a few strangers looking at her. You know perfectly well that these men have no right to see anything more. Yet their approval has become strangely important to you, and the prospect of retreating now feels like admitting defeat.

Eventually, against your better judgment, you select a nude selfie your wife once shared with you and send it to one of the more persistent contributors. You hesitate for several minutes before clicking the button, fully aware that she never gave you permission to show it to anyone else. The response is immediate.

The stranger praises her beauty, then forwards your submission into a private discussion where several others begin commenting upon her. You feel a sickening rush of guilt when you realize what you have done, but beneath it is another sensation you find far more difficult to confront. These men are looking at your wife. They are discussing her as though she were a woman they might fuck, and you are the person who placed her before them.

You should be horrified by your betrayal of her privacy. Instead, you discover that their attention has awakened the same forbidden excitement you experienced while watching strangers dance with her at the club. The realization frightens you because, for the first time, you have done something genuinely harmful to your marriage in pursuit of a fantasy.

The discussion takes a more sinister turn when the compliments become predictions, and the predictions become threats disguised as jokes. One contributor remarks that it would be a terrible shame for such a lovely wife to attract Max's attention. Another suggests that her husband ought to enjoy her smile while he still can.

A third writes, "Imagine bringing a beautiful woman like that to Max and taking home a broken whore who can't even bear to look at you after you watched her holes get wrecked." You stare at the message, imagining your wife frightened and devastated, her happiness extinguished by Mangler Max.

The men continue discussing her as though she were already promised to the monstrous figure, speculating about how quickly your excitement would become regret. Their cruelty is unmistakable, but what truly unsettles you is the knowledge that they are no longer speaking about an anonymous woman. They are speaking about your wife.