For years, Jason and I shared a bed like any couple. I’d fall asleep to the sound of his typing or the rustle of his book. Some mornings we woke tangled, laughing when he teased, “You drooled on me again.” It wasn’t perfect, but it was real.
So when he suddenly suggested sleeping in the guest room, I thought he was joking.
“Babe, I love you,” he said, toothbrush in hand. “But your snoring is next-level. I’m exhausted.”
I laughed. “You’ve made bear jokes for years. Now it’s a dealbreaker?”
He shrugged. “I just need uninterrupted sleep. Work’s draining me.”
That night, he moved into the guest room—with a packed bag, charger, laptop, and his whole routine. No argument. No real conversation. Just… gone.
At first, I was embarrassed. I tried sleep apps, herbal teas, nasal strips, even sat upright like a ghost bride to stop snoring. Nothing changed. Jason stayed locked away.
“Don’t take it personally,” he said over coffee. “I’m finally sleeping.”
But it wasn’t just sleep. He showered in the guest bathroom, moved his toiletries, locked the door, claiming it was in case I sleepwalked. I’d never sleepwalked in my life.
He wasn’t just sleeping there. He was living there.
One night at 2:30 a.m., I woke to silence. Jason’s phone lit up on our nightstand. Odd—he never left it behind.
A text flashed: “Can you call me when she’s asleep? – Lana.”
My stomach dropped. Who was Lana? Why did she know I was supposed to be asleep?
I crept to the guest room. The door was cracked, light spilling out. Jason sat at his desk, headset on, smiling at his laptop.
“No, she thinks it’s the snoring,” he whispered. “She has no clue.”
My heart hammered. I backed away.
The next morning, I acted normal—made him breakfast, kissed his cheek. But I had already backed up his phone to our shared cloud.
The messages weren’t romantic. They were obsessive. Jason begged Lana for reassurance: “Am I cut out for this?” Dozens of texts, voice notes, PDFs, sales funnels.
Lana was a “business mentor,” mid-forties, promising to make him an online millionaire. Jason had paid her $19,000.
It wasn’t an affair. It was worse. He was draining our savings into a scam.
At dinner, I finally said it: “I found the messages. With Lana.”
He blinked, then smiled—like a kid caught sneaking cookies. “You weren’t supposed to see this. I did it for us. You don’t understand high-level strategy.”
I set my fork down. “No, Jason. You didn’t trust me enough to fail honestly. You locked me out and gambled our future.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Maya.”
That was it. Not the money. Not the lies. It was the way he looked at me—like I was small. Two weeks later, I filed for divorce.
He didn’t fight it. Lana’s website vanished. No refund. No empire. A month later, he messaged: “I have a new mentor. This one’s different.” I blocked him.
Now, the guest room is mine. I painted it sage green, filled it with books and candles, hung a wind chime. The walls don’t hold secrets anymore.
I snore. Sometimes loudly. But no one moves away. No one locks me out.
Last week at a bookstore, a man asked about the poetry collection I held. We talked for thirty minutes—about literature, life, finding your feet again. No flirting. Just presence.
For the first time in a long time, I felt peace.
I sleep alone now. Door open. Phone unplugged. Dreams unburdened.
