"I know a secret marriage isn't fair to you. I'll give you a divorce agreement with the date left blank. The moment you want out, I'll sign. And for every year the marriage lasts, five million dollars will be deposited into your account."
When I thought about how I could work my entire life and never earn five million, yet all I had to do was marry a handsome, restrained man for one year to get it, I was ashamed to admit my heart wavered.
In the second year of our marriage, our relationship shifted. We went from two strangers coexisting under the same roof to exchanging small daily check-ins, casual concern, quiet warmth.
Then one night, he came home drunk from a business dinner. The second he walked through the door, he pinned me beneath him and murmured Edith's name, his voice thick with longing.
My heart lurched. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around him. But the moment our lips touched, I remembered: he had someone else. The one that got away. The woman he'd never stopped wanting.
I shoved him off. Hard. And I laid it all out before things went any further.