He Only Wanted Me When I Stopped Loving Him

Three years into our marriage, my husband, Julian Hughes, started publicly bringing a young college student, Selena Black, to various parties.

It wasn't even subtle. Even our friends teased him relentlessly.

"Yo, Julian, aren't you worried your wife's gonna get mad about this?" one of them joked.

He didn't care at all. In fact, he just pulled Selena into his arms like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Wait, wife?" He chuckled. "Megan’s just a way to meet my parents' expectations about marriage." He turned to Selena, a smile spreading across his face. "But this—" he gestured between them, "—this is your real sister-in-law. The one I actually love."

And it wasn't just that. Julian brought her to our annual hiking trip with friends, and the whole day was a mess.

During the hike, we both fell off a cliff.

Selena got off easy, just a sprained ankle, but I wasn't so lucky.

I hit my head hard, and blood started pouring out. I begged him to help, but he just shrugged me off impatiently.

"Selena's scared of pain," he said as he helped her. "I gotta get her back quickly."

"You'll be fine," he added, barely glancing at me. "Just wait for the rescue team."

He gave her all the attention, all the affection. Meanwhile, I was bleeding out, lying there with a head injury.

When I finally decided I'd had enough and told him I was done, he grabbed my wrist. His eyes were wide, desperate.

"You said you're my wife. You promised you'd never leave me," he pleaded.

——

There I was, lying at the foot of the cliff for hours. The rescue team was taking forever. If another hiking group hadn't come by and found me, I swear I might've just died there.

It wasn't until later that I felt the bandage on my forehead and looked up. The yard was glowing from a fire, and laughter and conversation drifted to me in the cool night air.

When I reached the gate, I could already see them. Julian, surrounded by our friends, was out in the yard, laughing and chatting, totally carefree. I couldn't help but notice Selena was right there by his side.

I heard one of our friends call out through the wooden gate, mocking him.

"Julian, aren't you gonna go to the hospital or something? Your wife's been in there for a week. She must be seriously hurt. You're throwing a party here like nothing happened?"

I could hear the others chuckling, but Julian didn't care. He was too busy holding Selena close and grinning.

"What wife?" he sneered. "Don't call her that. This is your real sister-in-law here."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Megan's just a tool to get my parents off my back. She doesn't even count."

His voice dropped to a more serious tone. "If her parents hadn't passed away and left her some decent inheritance, who would have married her, huh?"

He paused, a smug grin spreading across his face. "Mark my words—once her parents are gone for good, life will be way easier."

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I didn’t care to hear another word.

I just pushed open the gate and walked straight into the yard.

As soon as I stepped through, the chatter stopped. It was like someone hit mute. Everyone exchanged uncomfortable glances, their faces dropping as they realized who had just entered.

Julian froze. His eyes locked onto me, but it didn't take him long to recover. "Don’t you see all these friends in the yard?" he snapped. "Are you mute or something? Can't you greet anyone? Did you hit your head so hard that you're dumb now?"

"Megan!" he called out, his voice sharp.

I couldn’t help it. I curled my lips into a cold, knowing smile and turned to face him.

"Julian," I said, my voice steady but cutting. "If I were you, I'd be too embarrassed to say anything right now."

I stepped forward, crossing my arms, watching his face change. "Stop acting like you're in charge here. I've been in the hospital for a week, and you didn't even visit once. I've just gotten out, and you have never even asked if I'm okay."

I paused for a moment, letting it sink in.

"What makes you think you have the right to act all high and mighty in front of me?"

Julian's face turned red, his patience thinning. But there was a flicker of anger, too, a simmering resentment that boiled over when I didn't back down.

"You're fine, right?" he said, rolling his eyes like I was the problem. "Why are you making a fuss over this?"

He glanced at Selena, who looked at me like she couldn't care less.

"Selena sprained her ankle too, you know," Julian added, his voice almost mocking. "She was in pain. You saw that."