The Fake Marriage Exit Strategy

Summary

Charlie and I grew up in the same zip code, our lives stitched together by shared fences and decades of family dinners. But that lifelong proximity didn't breed love; it bred a quiet, simmering resentment in him.

The marriage certificate we signed was nothing more than a prop. From the very beginning, our union lacked any legal teeth. I had already booked my flight out of Chicago, just waiting for the right moment to disappear.

On our wedding night, his grad student, Maisie, practically poured half a bottle of bourbon down his throat.