My Wife on His Wall

In a daze, I pushed the door open further.

I had barely lifted my foot when the man spoke up. "There are slippers right there. We just had the housekeeper in to clean."

I pulled my foot back with an awkward smile.

The man didn't seem to mind. He waved a hand, telling me to feel free to look around.

The house was huge, easily more than twice the size of the rental Alexis Goldstein and I shared. It stayed warm in winter and cool in summer, and it didn't leak when it rained.

Signs of everyday life were everywhere: matching his-and-hers slippers in the shoe cabinet, picture frames crowding the TV stand, and an entire room packed with clothes.

It suddenly struck me that I'd been wearing the same shirt for three years. The cuffs had frayed, and I'd stitched and patched them again and again.

Whenever I wanted to buy new clothes, Alexis would always say, "Clothes cost dozens of dollars apiece. Let's save where we can. If it still fits, just keep wearing it."

But the clothes here still had their tags on. He could wear something different every day and not get through them all in a year.

"My fiancée's gorgeous, isn't she?"

The man's voice pulled me back. He lifted his chin proudly. "She said our wedding photo had to go in the most eye-catching spot in the house."

I forced the corners of my mouth up. "What's your fiancée's name?"

"Alexis Goldstein. She's the chairwoman of a company that just went public. It was all over the news a few days ago."

I took out my phone and searched her name. The moment Alexis's photo came up, my vision blurred with tears.

The Alexis I knew was buried under more than a hundred thousand dollars in debt. She worked herself ragged making food deliveries day and night. She suffered alongside me in our rental, where every meal had to be stretched to cover the next.

Now, I was finding out that the wife I'd been married to for a year was the chairwoman of a corporation, worth well over ten million dollars.

And she'd been living a double life all along.

I looked up at the picture frames on the TV stand. Every one of them had a date label stuck on it.

June 25.

"Where was this taken?" I pointed at the frame.

The man leaned in for a look and smiled. "Zamorano. I was in a funk around then, so she took me away to clear my head."

I remembered that date.

I'd worked myself so hard that my heart gave out, and a passerby had rushed me to the hospital. The doctor told me I needed bypass surgery, and it would cost a fortune.

I called Alexis, but couldn't get through. All she did was send me a text saying she was working on a very important order, and if she closed it, there'd be a good chunk of money in it.

I believed her. I turned down the surgery and settled for some cheap medication instead. I've been taking it ever since.

In the photo, Alexis pressed a soft kiss to the man's cheek, glowing with happiness.

I forced myself to look away and followed the man into another room.

It held a crib and was overflowing with toys.

"We haven't gotten our marriage license yet, but we've already decided to start trying for a baby. She picked out everything in here herself."

As the man looked around the room, his eyes brimmed with anticipation for the future.

I stood rooted to the spot, the blood in my veins running cold.

Alexis and I had had a baby once, too.

But by the time I found out, she'd already terminated the pregnancy. Crying, she told me she had no money to raise a child. She was still drowning in debt, we weren't in a position to have a baby, and she didn't want our child to suffer.

I had accepted it.

"You two must be really close."

Jeff Hocken smiled and rubbed the wedding ring on his finger. "We were childhood sweethearts. We grew up together. What about you? You and your wife must be close too, right?"

I glanced back at her in the wedding portrait and said nothing.

The rain had let up. It was time for me to go.

As I was leaving, Jeff pressed a tin of butter cookies into my hands. "Happy Thanksgiving. I bet you've never had cookies this good."

I managed a thin smile and thanked him.

On my way out, wearing my raincoat, I saw Alexis coming home. She didn't get a good look at my face. As she brushed past me, she trailed a perfume I'd never smelled on her before.

"Did we have company?"

"Just a driver. It was pouring, so I invited him in for a bit."

"You're too nice for your own good. Don't go bringing random people home."

Alexis's complaints gradually faded. I watched her toss the slippers I'd just worn into the trash can outside.

The door slammed shut behind her.