Updated Feb 23, 2026 • ~6 min read
POV: Rory
I’m at Priya’s apartment when Dominic calls.
“Can we talk?”
“We’ve done nothing but talk.”
“In person. Please. I need to see you.”
I sigh. “Fine. Where?”
“Home. Our home.”
Our home.
Is it still our home if his first wife exists?
I drive back to the house we bought together. The house that was supposed to be OUR fresh start.
Dominic’s waiting on the porch.
He looks broken.
“Thank you for coming,” he says.
“What’s so important?”
“Celeste is being discharged tomorrow.”
“Okay?”
“She has nowhere to go. Her apartment—our old apartment—we sold it two years ago. Her stuff is in storage. She can’t stay alone; she still needs physical therapy, medical monitoring.”
A terrible feeling settles in my stomach.
“Don’t,” I say.
“She needs somewhere to stay. Temporarily.”
“NO.”
“Rory—”
“Absolutely not. You are NOT bringing your first wife to OUR house.”
“Where else can she go?”
“A hotel. A recovery facility. Her friend Nina’s place. ANYWHERE but here.”
“Nina’s apartment is a studio. Celeste can’t do stairs yet. And recovery facilities cost thousands a week. I can’t afford—”
“You mean WE can’t afford it. Because this is OUR house. OUR finances. You don’t get to make this decision alone.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking.”
“You’re not asking. You’re telling me what you’ve already decided.”
He doesn’t deny it.
“It’ll just be for a few weeks. Until she’s stable enough to find her own place. Until we figure out the legal situation.”
“Figure it out how? By living with both your wives under one roof?”
“It’s not ideal—”
“It’s INSANE.”
“I don’t have another option!”
“You could choose. Her or me. Make a choice.”
“I can’t just abandon her. She has no one. Her parents are dead. Her sister lives in Australia. Nina’s place is too small. I’m all she has.”
“And what am I?”
“You’re the woman I love. The woman I want to build a future with. But Celeste is my responsibility. I can’t just—”
“She’s not your responsibility. She’s your EX-wife. Or she should be.”
“She’s not my ex. Legally, she’s still my current wife.”
The words hit like a punch.
“So what does that make me?”
Silence.
“Dominic. If she’s your current wife, what am I?”
“You’re the woman I love.”
“But not your wife.”
“Legally it’s complicated—”
“Stop saying that! I’m so sick of ‘complicated.’ Either I’m your wife or I’m not.”
“You ARE. In every way that matters.”
“Except legally.”
“We can fix that. Once we sort out the situation with Celeste—”
“By bringing her HERE? Into OUR home? Our bedroom down the hall from where we sleep together?”
“She’ll be in the guest room—”
“I DON’T CARE WHAT ROOM SHE’S IN. She shouldn’t BE here. This is our house. OUR life. And you want to bring her into it?”
“For a few weeks—”
“And then what? She gets better, gets her own place, quietly divorces you, and we all live happily ever after? That’s not how this works!”
“Then tell me how it DOES work, Rory. Because I’m trying. I’m trying to do right by both of you and I don’t know how.”
“You do right by choosing ONE of us. But you won’t. Because you’re too guilty to let her go and too comfortable with me to want to.”
“That’s not fair—”
“None of this is fair! But you’re making it worse!”
I grab my keys.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to Priya’s. Because I am NOT staying here if you bring Celeste home.”
“Rory, please—”
“No. You’ve made your choice. Now live with it.”
I slam the door on my way out.
The next day, Dominic calls.
I don’t answer.
He texts: “I’m bringing her home today. I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice.”
Me: “You always have a choice. You’re just choosing her.”
Dominic: “I’m choosing compassion. Please understand.”
Me: “I understand perfectly. Enjoy your wife. Your LEGAL wife.”
I block him.
Priya finds me crying on her couch an hour later.
“He did it,” I sob. “He brought her home.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“She had nowhere to go. He felt responsible.”
“He’s responsible to YOU. His actual partner.”
“Apparently not.”
My phone rings. Unknown number.
I answer.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Ashford?” A woman’s voice.
“This is Rory Bennett.”
“This is calling from James Ashford’s law office. We need you to come in to discuss the legal proceedings regarding your marriage.”
“What legal proceedings?”
“The annulment. Mrs. Celeste Ashford is filing to have your marriage to Dominic Ashford annulled on grounds of bigamy.”
The room spins.
“She’s WHAT?”
“Filing for annulment. You should have received paperwork—”
“I haven’t received anything—”
“Check your email. We sent it this morning.”
I hang up. Check my email.
There it is.
Legal documents. Pages of them.
Petitioning for annulment of marriage between Dominic Reid Ashford and Aurora Chen Bennett on grounds that marriage was entered into while petitioner (Dominic Ashford) was still legally married to Celeste Marie Ashford.
She’s not just living in my house.
She’s trying to erase my marriage.
“That BITCH,” Priya says, reading over my shoulder.
“She has every right—”
“She has NO right. You didn’t know. Neither did Dominic. This was an honest mistake.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s his legal wife. I’m not.”
“So fight her.”
“How?”
“Get your own lawyer. Prove good faith. Make them recognize your marriage as putative.”
“That doesn’t make it real.”
“It makes it REAL ENOUGH.”
My phone rings again.
Dominic. From a different number since I blocked him.
I answer.
“Did you know?” I demand.
“Know what?”
“That she’s filing for annulment. That she’s trying to erase our marriage.”
Silence.
“You DID know.”
“She told me this morning. I tried to talk her out of it—”
“Not very hard, apparently.”
“Rory, I don’t want this—”
“Then STOP IT. Tell her no. Tell her to drop the filing.”
“I can’t force her—”
“You can choose ME. You can stand up to her and say ‘I’m married to Rory and I want to stay married to Rory.’ You can DO SOMETHING instead of just letting this happen.”
“It’s not that simple—”
“It IS that simple! You’re just too guilty to do it!”
“She lost five years of her life!”
“And I’m losing MY life! The life we built! But apparently that doesn’t matter as much as her feelings!”
“That’s not true—”
“Then prove it. Choose me.”
Silence.
“You can’t, can you? You can’t choose me over her because you still love her.”
“I love you BOTH—”
“You can’t love us both! That’s not how this works!”
“Why not? Why can’t I care about both of you?”
“Because one of us will always come second. And apparently that’s me.”
“Rory—”
I hang up.
Stare at the annulment papers.
My marriage. Everything I’ve built. Gone.
Because five years ago, a woman I never met got into a car accident.
It’s not her fault.
It’s not my fault.
It’s not even Dominic’s fault.
But someone has to pay the price.
And it’s going to be me.
END OF CHAPTER 8
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