Vacant by Choice
After we got married, my husband and I kept sleeping in separate rooms.
At first, I asked if he could move into the primary bedroom.
He refused without the slightest hesitation.
"No. Rosalie would mind."
"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have ended up like this. Let's just keep things this way."
Rosalie was his first love.
I stood there frozen for a long time before finally saying okay.
Later, I told myself that this marriage was only meant to help my family survive a cash-flow crisis and solve a difficult lawsuit his company was facing.
It was just a fair exchange.
Once everything was settled, we would naturally go our separate ways.
After that, I never brought it up again.
For the next three years, he brought her to every occasion.
Family dinners, annual galas, even my mother's birthday. She was always the one standing beside him.
Everyone kept guessing who the real woman of the house was.
Now, everything that needed to be solved has been solved.
And it is time for me to leave.