Barbra let out a tired sigh as she settled into her seat on the bus. It had been a wonderful weekend at her friend’s house near the beach in Destin, Florida, but now it was time to return home to Tallahassee. She was looking forward to unwinding for a bit before another exhausting workweek began.
Her life had changed drastically in the last two years. After her husband, Christopher, had a terrible accident at work, she had taken on multiple jobs to support them. He had been hit on the head by a falling box, and though he survived, he was left in a wheelchair.
Since Christopher wasn’t supposed to be in that area at the time of the accident, his company refused to give him a settlement. They covered his medical bills and provided a wheelchair, but that was it.
He received a small disability check from the government, but it wasn’t nearly enough to maintain their lifestyle. Before the accident, they had been comfortably upper middle class. Now, Barbra had to work a corporate job, run an Etsy shop where she sold custom knitted pieces, and work part-time at a coffee shop just to keep them afloat.
On top of that, she was paying for Christopher’s physical therapy out of pocket.
She never complained. She loved her husband and believed he was struggling emotionally. He never helped around the house, never tried to do anything productive, but she excused it.
“He’s going through a rough time,” she always told herself.
The one thing that lifted Christopher’s spirits was spending time with his friend Bruce. Bruce would take him to baseball games, and they spent hours playing video games in Bruce’s home. Since Bruce was a busy businessman, these weekends together were rare. But when they did happen, Barbra used them as an opportunity to relax as well, which was why she had taken the trip to Destin.
As the bus neared her stop, Barbra gazed out the window. They were passing by Bruce’s house when she noticed two men standing in the front yard. One of them popped the trunk of a car and pulled out a bag of golf clubs.
“Huh,” she murmured to herself.
She wasn’t sure why, but something about the scene caught her attention. Then her stomach dropped.
One of the men was wearing a familiar, hideous Hawaiian shirt—Christopher’s favorite.
She blinked, her heart pounding in her chest. It wasn’t possible. But there he was, standing on two legs, laughing with Bruce, grabbing a golf club, and pretending to take a swing like he was playing in a tournament. Then the two men walked off towards the backyard, where Bruce had a miniature golf course.
Barbra’s breath caught in her throat.
“What… what am I seeing?” she whispered, gripping the armrest of her seat.
Her mind raced. Christopher could walk? How long had he been lying? Why would he do this to her?
As the bus continued its route, Barbra’s hands trembled. Maybe this was new. Maybe something had happened during this trip. Maybe he was going to surprise her when he got home.
Yes, that had to be it.
She clung to that thought as she got off the bus, retrieved her car from the parking lot, and drove home.
But doubt nagged at her. Something didn’t feel right. And she was going to get to the bottom of it.
Later that evening, Christopher returned home with Bruce pushing his wheelchair inside.
“Hey, honey. How was your trip?” he asked with a warm smile.
Barbra studied him closely, waiting for him to stand up and reveal the truth. But he stayed seated, his expression as casual as ever.
“Oh, hey, you two. It was fun. What about you guys? What did you do?” she asked, forcing a smile.
Bruce shrugged. “Same as always. Watched the game on Friday, played some video games, just hung out.”
Barbra’s stomach twisted. So he wasn’t going to tell her.
“Well, Bruce has that nice golf course,” she said, watching Christopher’s face carefully. “You could’ve played a little.”
Christopher scoffed. “I still don’t have the hang of playing in a wheelchair, so that’s a no.”
Barbra’s jaw clenched.
“Really?” she said, her voice rising. “You don’t have the hang of playing in a wheelchair?”
Christopher frowned, looking confused. “What? Honey, it’s hard to play golf in a wheelchair. You can’t control your swing well—”
“I SAW YOU!” Barbra exploded, slamming her fork onto the table.
Christopher froze.
“I saw you walking around, getting golf clubs from Bruce’s car, swinging like a pro! Christopher, I want the truth. Right. Now.”
Christopher’s face turned pale. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He looked like a fish gasping for air. Finally, he managed to croak, “How?”
“My bus passed by Bruce’s house. You were standing right there,” she said through gritted teeth. “How long have you been lying to me?”
A long, heavy silence filled the room before Christopher let out a sigh.
“A year and a half,” he admitted.
Barbra felt like she had been punched in the gut.
“I just didn’t want to go back to work,” he continued. “Your job was getting us by, and I needed a break after working for so long. And… I loved how you took care of me. It was nice. It was the best year and a half of my life.”
Barbra’s hands balled into fists.
“You mean to tell me that while I was working myself to death, paying for therapy that you didn’t even need, you were out playing golf and pretending to be disabled?”
Christopher flinched at her tone. “Please don’t yell—”
“How long has Bruce known?” she demanded.
“Since I started walking again,” Christopher admitted.
Barbra let out a deep breath. She knew she had a choice to make, but in that moment, there was only one decision she could live with.
She stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the house.
She stayed at her mother’s place that night, crying herself to sleep. In the following days, Christopher sent message after message, begging her to come back, but she ignored them. When she told her family what had happened, they were horrified.
A month later, she filed for divorce.
She emptied their shared bank account, quit her jobs, and spent the next year traveling the world—finally living for herself instead of for a liar. It was the best decision of her life.
What can we learn from this story?
- A relationship cannot survive on lies. Trust is the foundation of any marriage, and Christopher shattered it beyond repair.
- No lifestyle is worth sacrificing your well-being. Barbra worked tirelessly to maintain their life, but in the end, it wasn’t worth it.
- Sometimes, walking away is the best decision. Barbra found freedom and happiness after leaving Christopher, proving that no one should stay in a relationship built on deception.
