Messages flooded in:
“You deserve it, Charlie! We all saw your hard work these past years!”
“If you’re COO today, you’ll be Mrs. Salvador tomorrow. We better all start treating you like royalty.”
Then Charlotte sent a winking emoji.
A few seconds later, a mocking follow-up came in:
“But Marian’s still lucky. After all, not everyone gets a second chance after killing someone. The boss is so kind as to give her anything at all.”
I stared at the screen, heart thudding, until I caught sight of Timon’s face. Cedrik and Elle's face.
He was smiling. They're all smiling.
Smiling at her. Smiling in a way they never once did for me. I looked down at that dollar bill still in my hand. Ten years in prison. Two dollars in return.
And a husband who wished I’d never come back.
But I did.
And I wasn't leaving quietly.
---
TO COMPLY with the secret marriage agreement, Timon moved out of the master bedroom and into the guest room like I was a tenant he barely tolerated.
He laid out the rules like a CEO giving policy to a new hire:
“No more sharing a car,” he said.
“No talking to me at the office unless it’s business. Refer to me as ‘Mr. Salvador’—strictly professional.”
And the last one stung the most:
“Charlotte and I have a public image. It’s all for the company. Don’t stir up drama. We're too old for that.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond.
Just like ten years ago, he made a decision and left me to deal with the mess.
Then, he disappeared for three days.
On the second day, I sat curled on the couch, a fever crawling up my spine and a dizziness I couldn’t shake.
I tried calling him. Nothing. So I turned to the one person who was supposed to be ours—Cedrik.
He was passing through the living room, on his way out with Elle tugging at his sleeve, whining about wanting sushi instead of the catered food in the kitchen.
“Cedrik,” I asked softly, “do you know where your father is?”
He didn’t even glance at me.
“He said don’t talk to him unless he wants to talk to you.”
Then he shrugged, grabbed his car keys, and added coldly,
“You should probably just leave him alone, Mom. You’re not… helping.”
He was out the door before I could say anything else.
That night, my phone finally rang. My hands trembled as I answered the call, “I had a fever.”
“And I’m on a trip,” he cut me off. “Handle it yourself. You’re not new to doing things alone.”
I closed my eyes. His voice echoed, sharp and distant. “I u-understand,” I whispered. Just above silence.
But then came the voice that made my blood boil:
“Timon, can you help me lock this necklace? The clasp’s so tiny…”
Charlotte. Behind him. Again. Her tone wasn’t innocent—it was intentional.
He hung up fast, but it was too late.
I sat in that cold clinic for another hour, my body burning, but not from the fever anymore.
The next morning, I opened Instagram. Her profile had changed. A matching couple avatar.
Charlotte and Timon. Her head leaning on his shoulder. His hand around her waist.
I stared at the image too long. I remembered asking him once, years ago, if we could do that. Something small. Something sweet…
He laughed back then. “What are we, teenagers? That’s tacky.”
But I guess it wasn’t tacky when it was Charlotte. Not when the prison wife was locked out of the public frame.
My phone buzzed. Timon was suddenly flooding me with messages, voice mails.
I sent one reply:
“Please understand this is my rest period, Mr. Salvador.”
When I returned to the office, nothing had changed. My desk was piled with paperwork. The whispers behind my back were louder than before.
To them, I was the ex-con the boss kept around out of guilt. A relic of the past. They didn’t know I was the reason this company still existed.
So, I packed the last of the personal things I had foolishly brought: a couple mugs, a framed photo, old keepsakes—and shoved them into a black garbage bag. I was ready to throw it out when Timon appeared like a ghost.
He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the stairwell.
“What’s this?” he snapped, snatching the bag. “You’ve got time to clean up trash but can’t answer my calls?”
The heavy scent of Charlotte’s perfume on him made me step back. It stings.
“I replied. I said it was my rest time.”
“And you called me Mr. Salvador?”
“You told me to.”
He narrowed his eyes, lips curling into disgust. “You’re acting petty, Marian. Don’t make me start resenting you.”
Then he flung the garbage bag down the stairwell.
The crash echoed like a gunshot. Broken glass, shattered memories. And just like that, he turned and left. I stared at the scattered remains of my past. A cracked photo frame. A mug with our wedding date. A tea tin dented beyond recognition.
I smiled bitterly.
I knelt and gathered the pieces with steady hands.
No more hoping. No more asking. No more enduring.
That night, I called a lawyer.
By the next morning, I had a draft of the divorce agreement. When I headed to the print room to make a copy, the door opened. Timon stood there. We met each other’s eyes like strangers.
I held out the papers.
“Sign when you have time, Mr. Salvador.”
He didn’t even skim the document. He flipped straight to the last page, signed his name with that same cold efficiency, and handed it back.
Then, without missing a beat, he said, “Join me for dinner tonight. Big investor. Play your part, Marian. Drink on my behalf.”
I stared at him. “You don’t need me to drink for you.”
Charlotte’s voice interrupted from behind him.
“Oh, the boss is being sweet again,” she giggled. “He remembered I can’t drink tonight—my cold’s acting up. You know, being fifty-three and sick is just extra stressful.”
I looked at both of them. The perfect couple in the hallway light: My husband and my replacement.
