Paper Marriage

For five years of marriage, I gave up my career and left everything behind to follow my brigadier general husband—only to end up living as an illegal resident on the base. He gave my military dependent slot to the girl we sponsored, and even had the lock on our home changed for her. Heartbroken, I left in the dead of night and started over in a new city. Seven years later, at a military arts festival, we crossed paths again. He was full of regret, but I was already standing next to another man. This time, I didn't look back.