My husband took me to his company’s gala and, in front of the director, introduced me as “the nanny” so no one would know he was married to me… but he never imagined who was actually signing his paycheck.
—She’s not my wife… she’s the nanny.
The air in the room caught in my chest the moment Julian said those words in front of his company’s CEO, and it wasn’t because I was shocked—at least, not in the way people expect—but because of how easily it came to him, how natural it sounded, how quickly seven years of marriage could be reduced to something so small, so dismissible, that it didn’t even require a second thought before he said it out loud.
He didn’t look at me when he said it.
He didn’t hesitate.
He didn’t soften it.
