Maria Howard

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

I let the supply contract with Whole Foods expire. I also “forgot” to prepare the ranch’s financial statements for the next quarter. The water rights renewal, the document that was the very lifeblood of our ranch, I buried under a pile of junk mail. I’m Ava, Caleb Walker’s wife. I’m the woman who used her own money and ten years of her life to turn a failing family ranch into a modern business empire. And now, I was going to destroy it with my own hands. At last week’s barbecue, Caleb put his family’s century-old cowboy hat—the symbol of his legacy—on his illegitimate son’s head in front of everyone. His mistress, Briar, stood beside him, proudly announcing to the crowd that the ranch hands all took their orders from her now. In that moment, something inside me died. I didn’t make a scene. I just calmly finished my beer. But Caleb didn’t know that from that moment on, his reign as the “cowboy king” was on borrowed time. He finally came to me when the......