My husband and I had just boarded a flight to Miami when I fell asleep on his shoulder. Later, I woke and found my husband gone and a mysterious man in his spot! He hushed me before I could scream, and urgently whispered, “Your husband is not who he seems to be…” When Jerry took on that new project six months ago, I knew it would be demanding. I just didn’t realize it would consume him entirely, leaving me feeling like an unwanted piece of luggage in our marriage.Late nights, weekends away—our relationship was becoming a ghost town. Conversations were strained, his eyes always glazed over with disinterest whenever I tried to talk about us. It felt like I was screaming into a void. So, when Jerry suggested postponing our week-long vacation to Miami, I stood my ground. “Everything’s already booked,” I told him firmly. “We can’t cancel.” “We have to,” he snapped. “My project has reached a crucial phase.
Or have you forgotten that some of us don’t have the luxury of living off investments?”“Jerry, you know darn well that I don’t ‘live off my investments,’ like some trust fund baby,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “I also work and have career aspirations and job responsibilities.” He always brought up money when he wasn’t getting his way and I was not going to cave to his tactics this time! “Besides, your leave has already been approved and, like I said, we can’t cancel.”Jerry let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Not like you’d miss the deposit if we did, but you’re the boss, right?”See why we needed this vacation so badly? Jerry and I couldn’t carry on like this anymore. We were living past each other, and it would ruin our marriage if we didn’t do something about it immediately. I started packing immediately.