Maggie adores her daughter-in-law, Lara. So when she overhears her son, Dan, planning a night with his mistress, she refuses to stay silent. With Lara by her side, she follows him, straight to his betrayal. But exposing him just isn’t enough. Instead, Maggie is about to teach her son a lesson that will cost him everything.
I have two sons. My eldest? James. A loving husband, a wonderful father, hardworking, honest, and kind.
My other son? Dan.
A woman sitting at a kitchen table | Source: Midjourney
Dan has always been… difficult. Selfish. Lazy. He was the type of kid who skated by on charm, always looking for the easiest way out. While James built a life, Dan bounced from one “passion” to another.
“It’s just the way I am, Mom,” he’d say. “Life is full of opportunities, and I want to try them out!”
The latest? A local fitness blogger, selling online courses on “proper nutrition and sports.” He barely had any followers, but he loved the attention.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
The comments, the likes, the little taste of fame.
We had long accepted that Dan would never settle down. So when he married Lara six months ago, we were shocked.
And Lara?
Oh, she was a dream. Sweet, thoughtful, kind, exactly the kind of woman I wished Dan could be worthy of. A wonderful wife and an even better daughter-in-law. A beautiful soul. And for a moment, I truly believed she could change him.
A young woman holding a puppy | Source: Midjourney
But Dan is Dan.
And a few nights ago, I found out exactly how much of a fool I had been.
It was late afternoon, and Dan was in my guest bedroom. He and Lara had a studio apartment, meaning that there was no room for his digital set-up. I was used to him coming and going, constantly making noise while filming.
I had just put the kettle on when I heard Dan’s voice, muffled but still audible, coming from the hallway.
“Yes, babe,” he chuckled. “I miss you too. But she’ll be at work tomorrow until late, so we can go to the restaurant and then move to the hotel. Yeah?”
A man talking on a phone in a hallway | Source: Midjourney
There was silence for a moment.
“Yes, the fancy restaurant on Paradise, Jen… I’ll text you the time.”
I gripped the container of teabags I was holding. My stomach dropped.
This foolish man was cheating.
On Lara.
A woman standing in a kitchen | Source: Midjourney
The sweet girl who made him homemade lunches. Who laughed at his bad jokes. Who believed in him when the rest of us had given up any hope.
My hands shook as I turned off the stove. And in that moment, I made my decision.
I wasn’t going to let Lara be another woman blindsided by Dan’s selfishness. I was going to tell her everything. And we were going to teach Dan a lesson.
A woman making a sandwich | Source: Midjourney
The next afternoon, I picked Lara up from work. She greeted me with a warm smile, wiping her hands on her apron. She worked at one of the busiest bakeries in town.
“Maggie! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” she asked, beaming.
I took a deep breath.
“Lara, sweetheart, we need to talk.”
A young woman in a bakery | Source: Midjourney
We sat in my car, and I told her everything. Every single word I had overheard. Everything I had suspected.
Her face went pale.
“He… he said that?” her voice cracked.
“I love and respect you too much to hide it, Lara. You’re the daughter I never had,” I said, reaching for her hand.
A woman sitting in a car | Source: Midjourney
Tears welled in her eyes, and she clutched her apron tightly with one hand. But she didn’t break.
She swallowed hard and whispered,
“I want to see it with my own eyes. Do you know which restaurant?”
I nodded.
“Then let’s go, sweetheart. I heard which restaurant while he was on the phone.”
The exterior of a restaurant | Source: Midjourney
Dan had made dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant. One of those dimly lit places where the food is served in tiny portions, but the bill could make you cry.
Lara and I slipped inside, finding a perfect spot by the window.
And there he was.
My son, grinning like a fool, sitting across from a blonde woman in a tight red dress. Jen.
A woman sitting in a restaurant | Source: Midjourney
She leaned in, twirling a piece of hair around her finger, laughing at something he said.
I watched Lara dig her nails into her palm. I put my hand on her knee.
“Breathe, Lara. It’s not over yet.”
“Unbelievable,” she muttered.
We didn’t confront them. Not yet. We just watched. Watched him pour her wine. Watched him whisper in her ear. Watched him act like he wasn’t married to the best woman he would ever have.
An upset woman | Source: Midjourney
Someone a million times more than he deserved.
Then, hand in hand, they left the restaurant.
And we followed.
As they approached the hotel two roads away, we sat in the car and waited. As much as I knew we were doing the right thing, I didn’t want to break Lara’s heart. But here Dan was… already doing that.
The exterior of a hotel | Source: Midjourney
I pulled out my phone.
“He probably posted something about it on his socials, right? Dan’s that stupid. He can’t resist posting hints about his ‘private life.’”
“Let’s check his story,” Lara said.
And there it was.
A grainy black-and-white photo of a hotel hallway, stupidly captioned:
Privacy is everything.
A hotel hallway | Source: Midjourney
Lara zoomed in, and all the answers were there.
“Room 312,” she said.
Bingo.
Dan had given us everything we needed.
We got to the third floor just in time to see Dan and Jen disappear inside the room.
A woman walking down a hotel hallway | Source: Midjourney
“Are you sure you want to do this, Mom?” she asked, exhaling slowly.
I loved when she called me Mom. It made my heart melt. And I realized that I truly did love this girl.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, Lara,” I said. “He cannot get away with this.”
And with that, we stormed in.
Dan was on the bed, his shirt already halfway unbuttoned, Jen straddling his lap.
A man sitting on a hotel bed | Source: Midjourney
His face went ghost white when he realized what was happening.
“What the… Mom?!” he yelped, scrambling to push Jen off him.
Lara wasn’t crying. She wasn’t yelling. She simply picked up Dan’s phone from the table with his wallet and watch and held it up.
“Smile for the camera, Daniel,” she said.
A man’s phone and wallet on a table | Source: Midjourney
And just like that, she went live on socials.
Dan’s followers flooded in. His small but dedicated audience, the ones who actually believed in his “perfect athlete and family man” persona, were tuned in and watching.
“Hey, everyone!” Lara said into the camera, her voice steady although her hands shook. “You all think this man is a role model, right? A perfect husband? A loyal partner?”
She turned the camera to Dan.
Jen shrieked, covering her face. Dan lunged for the phone.
A woman holding a phone | Source: Midjourney
“Turn it off, dammit!” he screamed.
I stepped in front of him.
“Oh, honey, don’t you dare.”
Lara looked straight into the camera.
“Meet the real Dan. A liar. A cheater. A fraud. This is what he does while he tells you to be ‘better, stronger, healthier!’ While his wife is at work, supporting him. This is the man you follow. This is the man you trust.”
An angry man | Source: Midjourney
I picked up my phone and joined in on the live. I wanted to see the comment section explode.
Wait! He’s married?!
This is the guy I bought a nutrition plan from?
Unfollowing NOW! What a joke!
Is this him cheating? And his wife is exposing him? Haha!
Dan shouted. He yanked at his hair, rage and panic flooding his face.
A woman using her phone | Source: Midjourney
But it was too late. The world had seen him. The real him.
The fallout was brutal.
Lara filed for divorce. Dan lost everything. Sponsors dropped him immediately. Followers vanished overnight. And as for Dan’s courses?
Refund requests flooded in.
An upset man | Source: Midjourney
James, my eldest, washed his hands of him.
“No way. I’m not bailing you out this time, Dan. And why would you do that to Lara? You make me sick. I don’t want my kids to know you.”
And me?
I did what a mother had to do.
I let him fall.
Because if you raise a son who has no respect for his wife, then as a mother, you have failed.
A woman sitting on a couch | Source: Midjourney
I may have lost a son that night, but I gained a daughter.
And I’d choose Lara every time.
Lara sat at the kitchen table, fingers tracing the rim of her mug. The warmth of the tea did little to thaw the heaviness in her chest. It was clear to see.
“I still can’t believe you stood by me like this,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “You didn’t have to. You could’ve just… ignored it. Pretended that you didn’t hear any of it.”
A woman sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Sweetheart, how could I?” I said softly. “I love you. You’re my daughter, even if not by blood.”
Lara looked up, her eyes glassy.
“But it must have hurt. To see your own son exposed like that.”
I clenched my hands around my mug.
“It broke me, Lara,” I admitted.
A woman sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
“Because of what he did to me?” she asked, her gaze fixed on the scone in front of her.
“Because of what he turned into,” I said. “Because I raised a man who could humiliate a woman like you. And because I couldn’t stop it.”
Lara let out a watery chuckle. “And instead, you helped me destroy him.”
I smirked. “Damn right I did.”
She reached across the table, squeezing my hand.
A scone with jam and cream | Source: Midjourney
“I lost a husband,” she whispered, “but I gained a mother.”
Tears stung my eyes.
“And I’ll always choose you, sweetheart.”
A week later, Dan had moved out of his apartment and into Jen’s home, leaving Lara to find herself in her own space. But this evening, he had come home for one final family meeting.
Dan stood in my living room, arms crossed, looking every bit the sulking child he had always been. James sat beside me, his jaw clenched so tight I thought he might break his teeth.
“So, what now?” Dan scoffed. “You guys are just going to cut me out completely?”
An angry man | Source: Midjourney
James exhaled sharply.
“You did that yourself, Dan.”
Dan rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. Lara’s fine. She got her revenge. What more do you want?”
I stared at him, disgust curling in my stomach.
“Fine?” My voice was low, dangerous. “You humiliated her. You destroyed your own marriage. You ruined everything, and for what? A cheap thrill?”
A woman sitting on a couch | Source: Midjourney
Dan scoffed. “It wasn’t like that…”
“Shut up, Dan.” James’s voice was sharp, cutting through his excuses. “For once in your life, shut up and take responsibility.”
Dan had the audacity to laugh.
“Oh, please. You’ve always hated me. This is just an excuse to push me out.”
I stood up, my hands trembling.
A woman standing in a living room | Source: Midjourney
“Do you think this is easy for me?” I whispered. “Do you think I wanted to be ashamed of my own son?”
Dan’s smirk faltered.
“I have always loved you, Dan. Even when you failed. Even when you disappointed us.” I swallowed hard. “But this? I can’t stand by you after this.”
James stood beside me.
“Neither can I.”
A man standing in a living room | Source: Midjourney
Dan looked between us, panic flickering in his eyes.
“You’re choosing her over me?” he asked, voice cracking.
I nodded.
“Dan. I’m choosing what’s right over you.”
And with that, I turned away. James followed. As for Dan? He was finally alone.
Some betrayals deserve to be exposed. Some men deserve to lose everything. And sometimes? Your real family isn’t the one you’re born into. It’s the one you choose.
A woman holding a plant | Source: Midjourney
If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |
When Emily’s sister-in-law plans an elaborate potluck, she feels nothing but dread at the things that Jessica insists she brings. Trying to keep her budget in mind, Emily makes a casserole, but Jessica dismisses it, and her. It’s only when karma steps in, that Jessica has no choice but to eat humble pie.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
The sultry Heather Thomas of ‘The Fall Guy’ struggled with addiction – but look at her now, at 66
Known for her starring role opposite Lee Majors in The Fall Guy, Heather Thomas–who turned 66 on September 8–was poised for a hugely success Hollywood career.
But when the actor’s mother showed up on set after the show’s finale was filmed, the gorgeous blonde rushed to hospital, believing that her father had an emergency.
The family and friends who greeted her at the Santa Monica hospital let her know that her dad, Leon, was fine, and that it was her who had their concerns.
This was just the beginning of a new journey for the then 28-year-old woman, whose personal life and career completely transformed after that visit to the hospital.
Keep reading to find out what happened to the former pinup girl of the 1980s!
Gifted with the talent and natural movie star beauty that rivalled Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas did what she was born to do.
Playing Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter on the popular action show, Thomas was adored by the male population who viewed her as a sex symbol, a title which she admits to having mixed feelings.
“There’s obligatory condescension that goes with that,” Thomas told People. “You fill that archetype, the blonde bimbo. But at that point, I was just having fun.”
Unfortunately, she was having too much fun with the inclusion of drugs, a habit that started before her role as Jody Banks.
Her substance use dates to the sixth grade when she started using drugs to maintain steady top grades. Thomas said, “I was taking acid and making straight A’s. I just thought it was mind expanding.”
As her mind evolved from child to adult, so did the drugs she consumed.
At UCLA Thomas started using cocaine and in 1981, one year into her role on The Fall Guy, her drug problems escalated.
Also, feeling like she had to live up with her sex symbol title, the 5-foot-7 Thomas became obsessed with weight, and started taking Lasix, a diuretic that can cause severe lethargy.
To counteract the lethargy, she took more cocaine for a burst of energy.
“At first I was in a honeymoon stage with the drug. I felt that I was getting a lot for my money. It enabled me to stay up all night and then work all the next day,” she said, claiming that she never used cocaine on set. “Cocaine is not approved of on sets. It’s not clubby to do it anymore. It is just a private hell.”
Contrary to her claims, a source close to the actor told People that her drug use was derailing her career. “Word was out on Heather,” the source said. “People knew she had a problem.”
Thomas dropped from 125 to 105 pounds and was falling asleep between takes. Thomas admitted, “Sometimes I was in a minicoma.”
And then she passed out in front of Majors, who called her manager, who called her mother.
When the series finale of The Fall Guy wrapped, her mom, Gladdy Ryder–a former special education teacher–appeared on the set and told her daughter that her father was in hospital.
Rushing to St. John’s Hospital, the author of “Trophies” was greeted by family and friends who were ready to see her admitted into the hospital’s three-week drug program.
“It was a big relief to me,” Thomas said of that day, adding that when she checked into detox, she had pneumonia, scarred lungs and inflamed kidneys. “I’d been on a roller coaster and I wanted to get off. If my family hadn’t intervened, I probably would have gone on my merry way until I lost my job or I died.”
She added, “…The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago.”
Committed to recovery, Thomas surrounded herself with like-minded people who would benefit her goals of being drug-free. That was when Thomas, 28 at the time, met and married Allan Rosenthal, the co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, whom she divorced in September 1986.
The same month, she suffered serious injuries to both legs when she was struck by a car while crossing the street.
After detox, divorce and surgery repair major damage in one of her legs, Thomas returned to work with smaller roles in TV series. She can also be seen in films like in Cyclone in 1987 and the 1990 Canadian film Red Blooded American Girl with Christopher Plummer.
With her troubles behind her, Thomas started new in the 1990s and while trying to revive her career, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham in 1992. Taking on the new role as the stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna, Thomas also gave birth to her only biological child, daughter India Rose who was born in June 2000.
“So when I had about 45 restraining orders out, and I was on everything from a toilet seat cover to an ashtray–and I was in love, and [then] had two little girls–I decided to give it up and write for a while,” she told Reuters.
In 2017, Heather made a brief comeback in the movie Girltrash: All Night Long, one of her 26 acting credits in her career.
Focused mostly on writing, the Zapped! actor said it wasn’t a lack of roles that drove her from acting, but the stalkers who persistently breached her privacy.
“I was getting so stalked. I had one guy climb over the fence with a knife one time. I had these two little girls and they desperately needed raising so that was that. But I think now I have gotten so old that people won’t bother me much.”
Thomas is also now involved as an activist and formerly served on the board for the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team.
Identifying as a feminist–a duplicitous title for a former sex symbol–Thomas explained the power of both.
“When I was young, I did what people told me to do but when I was older, I didn’t compromise myself. I wanted power and freedom. This gave me a house and the notoriety to get into the door. There is nothing horrible in letting people see your body. I don’t think I betrayed myself. I don’t think being a feminist means you should be ashamed of your body,” she said.
It’s really sad that Heather Thomas was unable to revive her career in acting again but we’re happy that she got the help she needed and is now in a lifelong journey of recovery.
There are so many wonderful shows of the 1980s and we loved seeing her in the role of Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with the Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors!
We’d love to hear what you have to say about Thomas and her recovery!
Known for her starring role opposite Lee Majors in The Fall Guy, Heather Thomas–who turned 66 on September 8–was poised for a hugely success Hollywood career.
But when the actor’s mother showed up on set after the show’s finale was filmed, the gorgeous blonde rushed to hospital, believing that her father had an emergency.
The family and friends who greeted her at the Santa Monica hospital let her know that her dad, Leon, was fine, and that it was her who had their concerns.
At only 14 the girl hosted an NBC series called Talking with a Giant, a show where she and four other teens interviewed celebrities.
Wanting to take her career to the next level–as an actor, director and writer–Thomas, now 66, then studied film and theater at UCLA, and the year before she graduated, she appeared in the short-lived comedy series, Co-Ed Fever (1979).
Heather Locklear and Heather ThomasPosted by Back to 80s on Saturday, June 5, 2021
In 1980, the Connecticut-born actor won her first leading role in the TV series, The Fall Guy, playing the sidekick to Lee Majors, who in the 1970s, gained global recognition for his performance as Steven Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man.
Playing Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter on the popular action show, Thomas was adored by the male population who viewed her as a sex symbol, a title which she admits to having mixed feelings.
“There’s obligatory condescension that goes with that,” Thomas told People. “You fill that archetype, the blonde bimbo. But at that point, I was just having fun.”
Unfortunately, she was having too much fun with the inclusion of drugs, a habit that started before her role as Jody Banks.
Her substance use dates to the sixth grade when she started using drugs to maintain steady top grades. Thomas said, “I was taking acid and making straight A’s. I just thought it was mind expanding.”
As her mind evolved from child to adult, so did the drugs she consumed.
At UCLA Thomas started using cocaine and in 1981, one year into her role on The Fall Guy, her drug problems escalated.
Also, feeling like she had to live up with her sex symbol title, the 5-foot-7 Thomas became obsessed with weight, and started taking Lasix, a diuretic that can cause severe lethargy.
To counteract the lethargy, she took more cocaine for a burst of energy.
“At first I was in a honeymoon stage with the drug. I felt that I was getting a lot for my money. It enabled me to stay up all night and then work all the next day,” she said, claiming that she never used cocaine on set. “Cocaine is not approved of on sets. It’s not clubby to do it anymore. It is just a private hell.”
Contrary to her claims, a source close to the actor told People that her drug use was derailing her career. “Word was out on Heather,” the source said. “People knew she had a problem.”
Thomas dropped from 125 to 105 pounds and was falling asleep between takes. Thomas admitted, “Sometimes I was in a minicoma.”
And then she passed out in front of Majors, who called her manager, who called her mother.
When the series finale of The Fall Guy wrapped, her mom, Gladdy Ryder–a former special education teacher–appeared on the set and told her daughter that her father was in hospital.
Rushing to St. John’s Hospital, the author of “Trophies” was greeted by family and friends who were ready to see her admitted into the hospital’s three-week drug program.
“It was a big relief to me,” Thomas said of that day, adding that when she checked into detox, she had pneumonia, scarred lungs and inflamed kidneys. “I’d been on a roller coaster and I wanted to get off. If my family hadn’t intervened, I probably would have gone on my merry way until I lost my job or I died.”
She added, “…The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago.”
Committed to recovery, Thomas surrounded herself with like-minded people who would benefit her goals of being drug-free. That was when Thomas, 28 at the time, met and married Allan Rosenthal, the co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, whom she divorced in September 1986.
The same month, she suffered serious injuries to both legs when she was struck by a car while crossing the street.
After detox, divorce and surgery repair major damage in one of her legs, Thomas returned to work with smaller roles in TV series. She can also be seen in films like in Cyclone in 1987 and the 1990 Canadian film Red Blooded American Girl with Christopher Plummer.
With her troubles behind her, Thomas started new in the 1990s and while trying to revive her career, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham in 1992. Taking on the new role as the stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna, Thomas also gave birth to her only biological child, daughter India Rose who was born in June 2000.
“So when I had about 45 restraining orders out, and I was on everything from a toilet seat cover to an ashtray–and I was in love, and [then] had two little girls–I decided to give it up and write for a while,” she told Reuters.
In 2017, Heather made a brief comeback in the movie Girltrash: All Night Long, one of her 26 acting credits in her career.
Focused mostly on writing, the Zapped! actor said it wasn’t a lack of roles that drove her from acting, but the stalkers who persistently breached her privacy.
“I was getting so stalked. I had one guy climb over the fence with a knife one time. I had these two little girls and they desperately needed raising so that was that. But I think now I have gotten so old that people won’t bother me much.”
Thomas is also now involved as an activist and formerly served on the board for the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team.
Identifying as a feminist–a duplicitous title for a former sex symbol–Thomas explained the power of both.
“When I was young, I did what people told me to do but when I was older, I didn’t compromise myself. I wanted power and freedom. This gave me a house and the notoriety to get into the door. There is nothing horrible in letting people see your body. I don’t think I betrayed myself. I don’t think being a feminist means you should be ashamed of your body,” she said.
It’s really sad that Heather Thomas was unable to revive her career in acting again but we’re happy that she got the help she needed and is now in a lifelong journey of recovery.
There are so many wonderful shows of the 1980s and we loved seeing her in the role of Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with the Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors!
We’d love to hear what you have to say about Thomas and her recovery!
If you just took a walk down memory lane, step back in time again and read about the iconic model Twiggy – and press here to see how she looks today, at 73.
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