I thought it was funny when my husband came home with another woman and said he wanted her to be his second wife. But when I saw that he was being serious, I told him I would agree as long as he met one condition. He wasn’t expecting that state to happen. Today I’m ready to talk about what happened a week ago, something I never thought I’d say. Things started going wrong a few months ago when my eight-year-old husband Jack started acting strangely. We were no longer lovers, but our marriage was strong. That’s what I thought, anyway.…
Author: World Wide
Karen is shocked to see her son driving a new sports car a week after her savings were stolen. He says it’s from a new job, but Karen doesn’t believe him. Karen is desperate to find out the truth about her son’s sudden wealth, so she gets into a heated argument with the other person. My husband had left twenty years ago. I worked late nights, ate meals that were put together, and looked forward to payday every week for twenty years. Being a single mom should have made me used to having to balance everything all the time,…
In order for me to keep my well-earned job, my husband begged for a son and promised to stay home and raise him. Once our child was born, he changed his mind and tried to make me give up everything I had worked for. When I got married to Nick, I was sure that we would be together for a long time. Before we got married, we were together for five years. Five good years. We always felt like we were on the same team and laughed a lot. Nick was friendly and funny, and he could make any…
I brought only two suitcases and a lot of hope with me when I went from Mexico to the United States. People in my sister Ana’s American husband Tom’s small Ohio town made me feel welcome. I told myself it would only last a short time, until I found my own way. During those first few months, I missed home and learned English while helping Ana with her daughter Emily. Amy was a nice girl back then. She had a beautiful smile and big brown eyes. I made her hair look cute with braids and sang old Spanish songs to…
After my divorce, I didn’t just crave a new chapter—I needed one. That’s how I ended up in a quiet cul-de-sac, in a whole new state, standing on the porch of a little house with a white swing and a yard that belonged entirely to me. I was 30, freshly single, and desperate for calm. Then came Sabrina. She lived in the corner house at the end of the loop. Her husband, Seth, though I wouldn’t learn his name until much later, was quiet. Always in the background. I never saw him behind the wheel. Only her. Always her. The…
Having your own home is an American dream, unless your neighbor thinks she owns your yard. My friend had her son mow it without being asked, and then she wanted $50. She tried to get me to agree, but I told her no. Sometimes it’s harder to learn when the mirror is turned around on you. Once I got to my new house, the late-afternoon sun was beating down on my neck. I’m now 29 years old and finally own my own home. What a big step! Even though the two-bedroom house in Oakridge Estates wasn’t fancy, every mortgage payment,…
It scared my mother-in-law that I was hiding something from my husband when she said that I was. She thinks the “evidence” she found was real, but it was really just bait. She just proved what I wanted everyone to see. That’s what I did when my mother-in-law moved in. Mark, my husband, had said, “It’ll only be for a little while.” “She’ll help with housework.” “Give us a break, please.” I smiled, but I wasn’t really sure. Jennifer, who was his mom, wasn’t exactly… low-key. She liked the way things were. She was interested in everything. Things went…
My dad, Grandpa Jack’s son, was the only family member who didn’t show up to his 80th birthday party. I stood across the street and watched Grandpa wait for guests that never showed up while sitting alone at a long table with his helmet on. The staff at the restaurant were kind and understanding while he looked at his phone over and over for two painful hours. Three weeks before, Grandpa Jack called each family member by name. “Just got the big 8-0,” he said with that deep, Harley-rumble laugh. “I thought we could all meet up at the Riverside…
There were green fields, soft sunlight, and laughter coming from the barn on our wedding day. It was everything we could have hoped for. It smelled like daisies on the wind for a while, and it felt like something from a movie. But Jenna, my sister-in-law, was like a cloud in the sky that wouldn’t go away. Jenna made her dislike known as soon as the bridal group got together. She squinted at the sun as if it were bothering her, yanked at her dress, and mumbled something about how it stuck to the wrong places. When the photographer tried…
