ManyWriters

Just three days before our silver wedding anniversary.
I discovered his secret, a tiny underground room.
From wall to ceiling, it was plastered with countless photos of another woman.
Apparently, from his thirties to his sixties, someone else had occupied his heart.
Those crucial business trips, those exotic decorative pieces.
Everything now made sense, as I gazed at their beaming faces in the photos.
I looked down at my own hands, marked with wrinkles and age spots.
Suddenly, I felt utterly exhausted.

He Adorned the Basement With Photos Of His First Love

Dashiell's words were becoming increasingly harsh. I was getting angrier and angrier as I listened.


I locked the yard gate and turned the music up to its maximum volume.


Until I could no longer hear his scolding from outside.


After a long while, it finally quieted down outside.


But my tears started falling uncontrollably.


So all these years, in their hearts, I've just been a freeloader.


But when Dashiell was little, Garrison didn't have much income, and it was all thanks to me sewing clothes for others and taking odd jobs to keep the family afloat.


The money for Garrison's startup came from my parents' savings and their accident insurance payout.


We were short-staffed, and I was taking care of Dashiell while also helping out at the company.


I stayed up late to secure the company's initial business deals.


Even the old shareholders still at the company now are my former colleagues.


Chapter 5