Shivering outside the mall in your thin, worn clothes, you waited as Ethan bought gifts for his family, ignoring your trembling. Back home, the house buzzed with warmth and laughter as his family arrived, but you stayed upstairs, feeling like an outsider.

Hunger pushed you to peek from the banister, watching them enjoy a feast you weren’t part of. Ethans’s eyes met yours, but before you could retreat, his sister’s mocking laughter echoed. Humiliated, you fled to your room, tears burning. You were his wife in name, but in their world, you didn’t belong.