“You are going to cook and clean while we enjoy the beach, Lydia, because that is exactly what a wife is for after all.”
The words fell from my husband’s mouth right there on the private dock in the Florida Keys, spoken directly in front of his parents, his ex-girlfriend, and the pilot who was waiting to fly us to the private island I had reserved for our anniversary.
I stood perfectly still while clutching my sunglasses in my trembling hand, feeling my heart hammer against my ribs as if it were trying to break free from my chest.
It had been five long years of marriage to Caleb Harrison, five years in which he flaunted designer watches, expensive dinners in the Harbor District, custom suits, and vintage sports cars while everyone believed he was a titan of industry.
The truth was far less glamorous because the cybersecurity firm that funded his entire lifestyle was actually mine, a business I had built from a cramped studio apartment in the West End while sleeping only three hours a night.
I had turned down every party and endured years of mounting debt and mockery until I finally transformed that tiny start-up into a multi-million dollar corporation.
Caleb worked as a mid-level manager at a logistics company, yet his modest salary did not even cover the insurance on the car he drove every day.
Even though he treated me with growing indifference, I still desperately believed that I could save our crumbling marriage if I just tried hard enough.
That was the only reason I had booked a week on a private island in the Caribbean for our fifth anniversary, securing a villa complete with a personal chef, a full staff, and an exclusive beach for the price of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
I did it because Caleb had spent months telling me that I was cold and that my company had turned me into a woman who no longer had a home in her heart.
He told me he needed a wife who was more present and traditional, and I was foolish enough to want to believe that he actually missed me.
The night before the trip, I handed him the itinerary inside a heavy black envelope embossed with gold lettering.
“This trip is just for the two of us, Caleb, with no meetings, no business calls, and absolutely no outside distractions,” I told him softly.
Caleb barely looked up from his smartphone as he took the envelope with a dismissive grunt.
