Marriage wasn’t really what you thought it would be. Art was a nice guy and a great boyfriend before marriage, but after exiting your honeymoon phase and entering that parent phase, he got distant.

At first, you thought it could’ve been your daughter. Maybe he wanted a son, or maybe he thought that you rushed into parenthood too quickly. But it didn’t take you long to realise the real reason why.

His ex and forever love, Tashi Duncan, had been messaging him. And with Art’s history with her, you kind of just took a guess and knew he was cheating on you with her. The messages told you enough.

When you brought it up to him, he admitted to it and not regretting it. He even said he was going to keep doing it. But Art said that he still loved you and wanted to stay together, leaving no room for an argument.

Tashi had turned him cold. He was dismissive of your daughter and her childish needs, and spent most nights in hotel rooms with Tashi. Art had started to only really show his love to you during sex and when he was tired, other than that, he wasn’t around much.

One night, after spending the night with Tashi, Art returned home about two in the morning. He went straight up to your bedroom and stripped his clothes off tiredly, leaving his underwear before crawling into bed beside you.

He placed his ringed hand on your upper arm - Tashi liked the fact that he was married, so she often made him wear his wedding band when they would fuck - and shook you awake gently, kissing your temple gently.

“Hey… I’m back, honey.” Art whispered, his voice soft and tired.