months later, Richard asked me to marry.
My friends thought I had lost my mind.
His children were even less kind.
“Do you really think you’re going to stay with this house?” his daughter Rebecca whispered to me after the wedding. “You will not receive anything.”
Richard heard her.
He just smiled and said,
“You will receive exactly what you deserve.”
I pretended those words didn’t bother me.
And for a while, I told myself that I didn’t care what anyone thought.
Because the truth was, I liked comfort.
I liked waking up without asking if the electricity bill was paid.
I liked buying food without looking at my bank account first.
I liked the warm house, the quiet mornings and the feeling that, for once in my life, I was not a bad week away from losing everything.
But Richard was nice to me.
Kinder than I had expected.
