After we got married, Briar and I always slept in separate rooms. At first, I asked if I could share a room with him. He refused. “No, Marceline. Chloe would be upset.” “If it weren’t for this marriage, she and I wouldn’t be apart. So let’s just keep things the way they are.” Chloe was his first love. I stood there for a beat before I managed a quiet, “Okay.” Later, I came to terms with it. This marriage had always been a transaction. My family needed an infusion of cash to solve a liquidity crisis. His company needed my family’s connections to navigate a troublesome lawsuit. Once it was all over, we were supposed to walk away. After that, I never brought it up again. For the next three years, whenever he appeared in public, Chloe was on his arm. She was there for Thanksgiving dinner, there for his company’s annual gala, and there on my own mother’s birthday. Everyone could see who he was really with. Now, both our families’ problems had been r......
