Three weeks later, Brandon got the job at Metropolitan Elite Hospital. His starting salary was $200,000 a year. When he told me, I cried with relief.

Finally, I could quit at least one job. Maybe two. Maybe I could go back to school and finish my degree.

But Brandon had different plans. He came home one evening with brochures for luxury apartments.

«We need to move,» he said, spreading them across our scratched kitchen table. «This place isn’t appropriate for someone in my position. My colleagues all live in the River District, that’s where we should be.»

I looked at the brochures. The rent on the cheapest apartment was $4,000 a month, more than I made in three months at all my jobs combined.

«Brandon, that’s so expensive. Maybe we could find something nice but more affordable? Then I could quit working and go back to school.»

He looked at me like I’d suggested something ridiculous. «Grace, image matters in my field. Where we live, what we drive, how we present ourselves—it all matters. Besides, it’s good for you to keep working. Independence is important.»

Independence. That’s what he called it now.

We moved to a luxury apartment in the River District. Brandon bought a BMW and expensive suits. He joined a gym that cost $300 a month.

He got his hair cut at a salon that charged more than I made in a week of waitressing. And I kept working my two jobs. I’d quit the cleaning job, at least, paying my share of our life while watching Brandon transform into someone I barely recognised.

The comments became constant. «Grace, why don’t you do something with your hair?» «Grace, that shirt is really worn out.» «Grace, maybe you should read the news more. You never know what’s happening in the world.»

«Grace, I can’t take you to the hospital fundraiser. You wouldn’t fit in.»

Every criticism felt like a knife. I was the same woman who’d worked herself half to death for him. The same woman who’d given up her education, her youth, her dreams.

But now I wasn’t enough. I was too simple. Too plain. Too unsophisticated.

Veronica’s name came up constantly. «Veronica organised the charity auction.» «Veronica said the funniest thing at lunch.» «Veronica summers in the Hamptons.» «Veronica understands the professional world.»

I tried to bring it up once. «Brandon, you talk about Veronica a lot.»