- 10 hours ago
I was never your wife HD 1080p ASM
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00After the wedding, Marcus was recruited by Harwick University on a seven-figure salary.
00:05I gave up everything to follow him to London.
00:08Three years have passed.
00:10I still didn't have a single valid visa for my name.
00:13The woman who had flown over with us, his assistant,
00:16had already secured permanent residency through Marcus's connections.
00:20You don't need any of that. I take care of you.
00:23Besides, residency applications take time. There's a formal process.
00:26My position is sensitive right now. I can't be seen pulling streggs.
00:31As for Jade, she gave up everything to follow me here.
00:35Getting her settled is what a good boss does.
00:37I softened. I put the suitcase down.
00:39Then came the day I went to handle some paperwork and handed over my marriage certificate for verification.
00:45The clerk looked at her screen and looked back up at me.
00:48Ma'am, the system doesn't show you as Mr. Marcus's spouse. You'll need to go home and sort that out.
00:53All this time, I had never been his wife. Not legally.
00:57No spousal visa. No work arrangement.
01:00I didn't say a word.
01:01I packed everything I could carry and booked the first train out of the city.
01:05After returning to my apartment that day, I tried the door three times.
01:09Three times the lock beeped.
01:11Verification failed.
01:12I double-checked the address.
01:14It was right.
01:15But the lock was different.
01:16I called Marcus.
01:17He picked up fast.
01:19What is it?
01:19Why has the lock changed?
01:20It was fine when I left that morning.
01:22Oh, this afternoon Jade said her lock was broken.
01:25She's used to ours.
01:26And ordering one online would take too long.
01:28So I took ours off and had it put on her door.
01:30I got a new one for us.
01:31But it hasn't arrived yet.
01:33Find a hotel for tonight.
01:34I'm working late.
01:35I won't be back.
01:36Jade's lock broke.
01:37So he gave her hours.
01:39Then they sent me, the hostess, to the hotel.
01:41I thought I'd heard wrong.
01:43By the time the words reached my mouth, all that was left was,
01:46Okay.
01:47What else was there to say?
01:48Our home.
01:49With a stranger's fingerprint on the lock.
01:51I hung up.
01:52I found a budget hotel at the end of the street.
01:5590 pounds a night.
01:56When I tapped my card, the balance was almost gone.
01:59When we first arrived in London, Marcus had given me a linked card with no limit.
02:04After a while, Jade started handling most of his purchases.
02:08His clothes.
02:08His watch.
02:09The travel mug on his desk.
02:11She was responsible for buying everything.
02:13Gradually, the card migrated to her.
02:16He said she had better taste.
02:17She said she was just doing her job as his assistant.
02:21I didn't push back.
02:22On our third wedding anniversary.
02:24Dinner for two.
02:25Candles on the table.
02:27The mood was just settling in when the doorbell rang.
02:30Jade stood in the doorway, slightly out of breath, holding a small box.
02:34She pressed it into his hands.
02:36Professor, it's your special night.
02:38I made sure to pick these up for you.
02:39She glanced at me and smiled easily.
02:42You always say this brand is the most comfortable.
02:44Thoughtful of me, isn't it?
02:44Don't I deserve some credit?
02:46Marcus took the box.
02:47He made an awkward sound in his throat.
02:49She waved and left.
02:51The door closed.
02:52He carried the box of condoms back to the table and set it down without looking at me.
02:56I looked at the box.
02:58I didn't speak.
02:58I never knew which kind he preferred.
03:00We'd been trying for a child.
03:02We hadn't been using anything.
03:04That candlelit dinner felt like a punishment.
03:06At the end of it,
03:07I said something had come up at the university.
03:09He picked up his jacket and left.
03:11The door clicked shut, and I understood that an assistant's duties could be that thorough.
03:16That night, I dreamed of the year we first arrived.
03:19Two heavy suitcases.
03:21The arrivals terminal.
03:22Marcus waiting at the gate.
03:24Back then, he was still the man who had gone red-eyed with guilt because I had left everything
03:29behind to come to him.
03:30The man who carried my bags, who let me lean on him when I was tired.
03:34Then Jade arrived.
03:35Marcus said she had sacrificed a lot to follow him here.
03:38He had to help her, so he helped her get residency, found her a job, and now, helped her take
03:44the lock off my door.
03:45Three years of trying to justify my presence.
03:48Three years of refusing to just be a housewife.
03:51And in all that time, I had missed so many small things.
03:54Like every weekend, something's come up at the university, gone all day.
03:58When I asked what, he always said, you wouldn't understand.
04:01Like the time he forgot a document and I brought it to his office.
04:05Two toothbrushes on the bathroom sink.
04:07One blue, one pink.
04:08I never looked too closely.
04:10The next morning, I went to buy a train ticket home.
04:13Waiting in line, I thought about the queue at Customs three years ago.
04:16It had been just as long.
04:18But I was about to see the man I loved, so I didn't feel it at all.
04:21Then a girl waved from behind him.
04:23Professor!
04:24What a coincidence!
04:25I was on the same flight as Claire.
04:27Marcus smiled and took her suitcase.
04:29He turned to me.
04:30I forgot to mention, Jade's coming on to keep working as my assistant.
04:34She's a long way from home.
04:35It wasn't easy for her.
04:36Jade smiled sweetly at me.
04:38Look after me, okay?
04:39My smile stiffened slightly.
04:40I nodded.
04:41In the car, I watched them talk.
04:44When she spoke, Marcus turned to listen.
04:46When she pointed out something in the sky, he looked where she pointed.
04:49A friend came back to New York and called me.
04:51Claire, that thing you asked me to look into?
04:54She hesitated.
04:55I could only access registration records.
04:57They're strict about privacy over there.
04:59I couldn't pull the full file.
05:01It's fine.
05:03Whatever you find.
05:04Two seconds of quiet.
05:06The wife registered Marcus in London.
05:08Her last name is the same as Jade's.
05:10I held the phone.
05:11I didn't speak.
05:12Are you okay?
05:13I'm fine.
05:15I hung up.
05:16The same last name as Jade.
05:18His wife is not even me.
05:20Those first months in London, I tried to find work.
05:23My specialty was art history.
05:25Nice enough that nothing came up.
05:27Hundreds of applications, no response, or a polite no.
05:32Being rejected, again and again, was something I didn't know how to hold.
05:36I spent those nights awake, turning it over.
05:39Was I not good enough?
05:40Finally, I went to Marcus.
05:42I said, haltingly.
05:44Could you ask around?
05:46There's that spousal arrangement in the talent package, isn't there?
05:49I wondered if there was something available.
05:51I couldn't finish.
05:52I had never asked for a favor in my life.
05:54I knew technically it was something I was entitled to, as his spouse.
05:58Part of the university's relocation terms.
06:01But saying it out loud made my face burn.
06:04Like I was doing something shameful.
06:06Sure.
06:06He said, without looking up from his papers.
06:09If you want to work, I'll ask around.
06:10I felt a small loosening in my chest.
06:12That was three months before anything more was said.
06:16He said he'd been busy.
06:17He'd get to it.
06:18By then, Jade had already been at Harwick for months.
06:21Good hours, good pay.
06:22Marcus said she'd applied through the normal process.
06:25I believed him.
06:26Looking back, her qualifications were below mine.
06:29Her professional experience was thinner.
06:32She struggled even with everyday English.
06:34I had applied through the same channels.
06:36Not a word back.
06:37The answer had been in front of me the whole time.
06:40I just hadn't been willing to see it.
06:42The line moved forward.
06:44My turn.
06:45I pushed my travel document through the slot.
06:47The clerk typed for a moment.
06:49Her brow creased.
06:50Ma'am, I can't issue a ticket with this document.
06:53Why not?
06:54She turned the screen slightly toward me.
06:56The system shows your permitted stay has expired.
06:59Expired?
06:59Your last extension application wasn't approved.
07:03There's no valid leave to remain on record for you.
07:05Three years.
07:05I had been in London for three years without a single valid permit.
07:09What do I do now?
07:11You'll need to go to the immigration office first.
07:13Once you have a die departure clearance, you can purchase a ticket.
07:16I didn't even have a legal right to be here.
07:18Then what had these three years been?
07:20I left the station and called the immigration consultant.
07:23Margaret, I need to ask about my situation.
07:26My extension applications have never gone through.
07:28I'm looking at a significant fine now.
07:31What happened?
07:31Mrs. Clare, that shouldn't be the case at all.
07:34Marcus is a Harwick professor.
07:35Spousal dependent application should have been straightforward.
07:38Were all his sponsorship documents filed?
07:40He said they were.
07:42That's strange.
07:42Let me pull something up.
07:43Silence for a moment.
07:45When she came back, her voice was quieter.
07:47Can I ask you something direct?
07:48When Marcus sponsored you, did he go through the spousal visa pathway?
07:52Family reunification?
07:53I held the phone.
07:54I didn't answer.
07:55The system is showing that the spousal slot linked to Marcus's file was approved by a
07:59woman whose last name matches his assistance.
08:01He did file something for you, but not as a spouse.
08:04A different route.
08:05That route was discontinued at about a year ago, which is why your renewal stopped going
08:09through.
08:10Understood.
08:10Thank you, Margaret.
08:11I hung up.
08:12I stood still and let the pieces settle.
08:15Three years ago, the day I arrived, Marcus had said he would handle all the paperwork.
08:20He took my documents, told me later it was sorted.
08:23I hadn't asked again.
08:25What I had thought was love, crossing an ocean, starting over, had become an illegal overstay.
08:31I spent the rest of the afternoon running from office to office.
08:34In the end, there was only one way out.
08:37Marcus, my former sponsor, had to submit a signed statement, confirming that he had failed
08:42to notify me of the change in sponsorship status and that my overstay was not deliberate.
08:47Then I could pay the fine, apply for a short-stay departure permit, and leave legally.
08:52Simple.
08:53One signature.
08:54But how do you ask for that?
08:56Since you gave my spousal slot to someone else, can you sign here so I can go?
09:00And if we were counting, what about the last three years?
09:04Did we settle that too?
09:05I went back to what Marcus called home.
09:08He wasn't there.
09:09The door was shut.
09:10I didn't wait.
09:11I called a locksmith.
09:13Once everything was in order, I went to university.
09:15His office door was slightly ajar.
09:18Professor, this artist residency with the Harwick Foundation, you're really putting me
09:23forward for it?
09:24Jade's voice.
09:25A note of practiced delight in it.
09:27I know I'm not really qualified.
09:29This should go to Claire.
09:30It's literally her field.
09:31I stopped outside the door.
09:33An artist residency.
09:34I had never heard Marcus mention it.
09:37Art history.
09:38My program in New York takes eight people a year.
09:41I was one of them.
09:42It was the kind of degree that led somewhere.
09:45Curators, specialists, department heads.
09:47I had given all of that up.
09:49And this opportunity, he had never even suggested I apply.
09:53Don't worry about it.
09:54I've already made the call.
09:56As for Claire, she has me.
09:58She doesn't need these things.
09:59And honestly, with your abilities, if you'd had the same opportunities she did, you'd have
10:04done just as well.
10:05So my years of work were just opportunities in his mind.
10:09My specialty, the thing I was proudest of, was something anyone could match with the
10:14right breaks.
10:15The door opened.
10:16Jade stepped out.
10:17Claire, are you here to see the professor?
10:20This floor is staff only, though.
10:22Maybe wait downstairs in the lobby?
10:24Love does something for a person.
10:26Move.
10:27I reached out to push past her.
10:29She stumbled back dramatically, falling into the office.
10:33Marcus stood up from his desk.
10:34He looked at me, cold.
10:36Then he crouched down to help her up.
10:38Are you hurt?
10:39She bit her lip and shook her head.
10:41I'm fine.
10:42I lost my balance.
10:44It wasn't Claire's fault.
10:45Marcus straightened and looked at me.
10:47Jade was just doing her job.
10:49What was that for?
10:51I looked at him, then at Jade, blinking up at him with red-rimmed eyes.
10:55I didn't bother.
10:56I need you to sign a statement for the immigration office.
10:59What statement?
11:00I handed him the pages.
11:02He took them, scanned the first few lines, and stopped.
11:05You came here and pulled that stunt for this?
11:08Claire, when did you get like this?
11:09Sign it, or I go to the dean right now and ask how a professor's spousal residency slot
11:15ended up filed under his assistant's name.
11:17Claire, enough.
11:19Don't forget who's been keeping you.
11:22Without me, you can't stay in this country.
11:24You can't go anywhere.
11:25Go home.
11:26We'll talk tonight.
11:27I looked at him for two seconds.
11:29When he begged me to come to London, he said,
11:31I'll take care of you.
11:32Now he said,
11:33Don't forget who keeps you.
11:34Sign it now, and we can both walk away with some dignity.
11:37His gaze hardened.
11:39Security.
11:40Two uniformed men appeared.
11:41He glanced at me.
11:43Please see my wife out.
11:44She's not feeling well.
11:45He leaned close and said quietly,
11:48We'll talk tonight, okay?
11:50Don't make this into something.
11:52There was nothing left to say tonight.
11:54By nine that evening, Marcus was driving home.
11:56He thought about the afternoon, pushed it aside.
12:00Those pages she brought, he hadn't even finished reading them.
12:03Immigration statement?
12:05Claire was home all day.
12:06What did she need documents like that for?
12:08The new lock was on the door, slightly ajar.
12:11He stopped.
12:12The lights were on inside.
12:13He pushed the door open and walked to the bedroom.
12:16The spousal slot thing, I've explained this.
12:20Jade needed it more than you did.
12:21She came all this way.
12:23She deserved to be taken care of.
12:24Stop making it into something.
12:26He put his hand on the door handle.
12:28He pushed it open and stopped.
12:30Ten minutes later, two police officers stood in front of Marcus, notebooks open.
12:35Mr. Marcus, you're certain this is a burglary?
12:37Yes.
12:38His voice was tight.
12:39My wife's documents, clothes, personal belongings, all gone.
12:44And when I came home, the door wasn't locked.
12:46Someone must have gotten in.
12:47The other officer examined the lock.
12:50It's new.
12:51No signs of forced entry.
12:53Marcus hesitated.
12:54I replaced the lock yesterday.
12:55I hadn't had a chance to program her print yet.
12:57You hadn't programmed her print.
12:59So how was your wife getting in?
13:00Marcus opened his mouth.
13:01How was she getting in?
13:03Wait for him to come home.
13:04Or stand at the door.
13:08He thought, suddenly, of how many times she had done exactly that over three years.
13:13Waited until dinner went cold.
13:15Waited until dark.
13:17Waited until he texted to say he wasn't coming back.
13:20What I mean is...
13:21He continued.
13:22She probably couldn't get in, so she called a lock Nifno herself.
13:25The lock on there now, the one I installed.
13:28You're saying your wife couldn't get into her own home?
13:29And instead of calling you or waiting, she called a lark mister and changed the lock herself?
13:33Marcus opened his mouth.
13:34Yes.
13:36Her contact number.
13:37Off.
13:39It's been off.
13:40I can't get through.
13:41The officers exchanged a look.
13:43When did you last see her?
13:44This afternoon.
13:45In his office, he had called security to walk her out.
13:48This afternoon, she was still home this afternoon.
13:50Anything else missing?
13:51Besides her belongings?
13:52No.
13:53A pause.
13:54Just hers.
13:56Mr. Marcus, this may not be a burglary.
13:58It looks like your wife changed the lock, packed her things and left.
14:02That's not possible.
14:06She wouldn't leave.
14:07The flat was intact.
14:09Nothing valuable missing.
14:10Only her things.
14:12Only hers.
14:13But he held the line.
14:15My wife loves me.
14:17She left a career in New York to come here with me.
14:19She wouldn't just walk out.
14:20Mr. Marcus, did you and your wife have an argument this afternoon?
14:24An argument.
14:25He thought of her standing at his desk, holding out those pages.
14:28The way she had looked at him when security walked her out.
14:32Too calm.
14:33No argument.
14:34One officer finished writing.
14:35The other returned from checking the building's internal cameras.
14:39Broken, as it turned out.
14:40We'll try to pull footage from outside.
14:43In the meantime, we'd suggest reaching out to your wife's family or friends.
14:47See if anyone knows where she might be.
14:48Marcus nodded.
14:50The officers left.
14:51He stood in the doorway and looked at the door, still slightly open.
14:54Family or friends.
14:56She had neither in London.
14:57Three years.
14:58And she had not made a single friend here.
15:00He had told her she didn't need to work.
15:02Didn't need a social life.
15:04She had him.
15:05He found his mother-in-law's number.
15:07Let it ring.
15:07She answered warmly.
15:08Oh, is everything all right?
15:10Calling this late?
15:11Marcus's throat moved.
15:12Has Claire been in touch today?
15:14No.
15:14Why?
15:15She lost her phone, he said.
15:17Just checking around.
15:18He hung up.
15:19He scrolled through his contacts.
15:21Her college roommate.
15:22Her closest friend from New York.
15:24Her old colleagues.
15:25He had none of their numbers.
15:27Not one.
15:29He stood in the hallway and thought about all the time she had asked to go back.
15:33My best friend's getting married next month.
15:35I want to go.
15:36There's a reunion next week.
15:38I haven't seen these people in years.
15:41My mom hasn't been well.
15:43I want to check on her.
15:44Every time he said.
15:45Don't bother.
15:46It's too much trouble.
15:47And she had stayed.
15:48He had assumed she was listening to him.
15:50Now he understood.
15:51She stayed because she knew he didn't want to go with her.
15:54And she wouldn't go without him.
15:56He tried her number again.
15:58Off.
15:58Still off.
15:59He walked to the bedroom.
16:00Stood in front of her side of the wardrobe.
16:03Empty.
16:03Three years.
16:04She had followed him here and given up everything.
16:07A career that was going somewhere.
16:09A mentor who believed in him.
16:11Her circle.
16:11Her friends.
16:12The life she would have had.
16:14She had never once said she regretted it.
16:16His phone rang.
16:17The police station.
16:22Mr. Marcus.
16:23We pulled footage from the cameras outside the building.
16:26At approximately 5 o'clock this afternoon.
16:28Your wife left with a suitcase.
16:30No signs of distress.
16:31She was alone.
16:32He held the phone and didn't speak.
16:34At this stage it appears she left of her own accord.
16:37She was really gone.
16:39Marcus slid down against the wardrobe until he was sitting on the floor.
16:43He looked at the wedding photo on the opposite wall.
16:46White dress.
16:47Dark suit.
16:48Both of them looking at the camera.
16:50Smiling.
16:51Three years.
16:52Marcus.
16:53Will we stay together?
16:56Yes.
16:58Then I believe you.
16:59And she had.
17:00For three years she had believed him.
17:03He dropped his head into his hands.
17:05His phone buzzed.
17:06A transaction alert.
17:08The linked card he had given Jade.
17:10Just charged.
17:11A boutique in the city.
17:12$13,800.
17:15Women's handbags.
17:16Marcus stared at the screen.
17:18A couple of days ago.
17:19Jade mentioned wanting a new bag.
17:21He had said sure without thinking.
17:23$13,800.
17:26Claire's allowance was $2,000 a month.
17:28Out of that.
17:29Groceries.
17:30Utilities.
17:31Everything.
17:31Enough to get by.
17:33Nothing more.
17:34She had never asked for anything else.
17:36The one time she came to him with a request.
17:38Standing in his office.
17:40Holding those pages.
17:41He hadn't finished reading them.
17:43He got up.
17:44Called Margaret.
17:45Professor?
17:46It's late.
17:47Something wrong?
17:48Has Claire been in touch with you?
17:49She came to me before.
17:51Asked about residencies.
17:52And recently.
17:53She asked how to sort out the paperwork.
17:55To leave the country legally.
17:56She had come to his office today to get that sorted.
17:59That was all she wanted.
18:00A signature so she could go.
18:03There's something else I think you should know.
18:05When she came to see me.
18:07She mentioned the marriage certificate.
18:08She knows it's not real.
18:09The phone nearly left his hand.
18:13She knows?
18:14Yes.
18:15That's why she stopped asking about the spousal visa route.
18:17The call ended.
18:19The sound in his ears like static.
18:21His shoulders began to shake.
18:23Jade sent a message.
18:24A string of cheerful texts about the bag needing a matching outfit.
18:28More transaction alerts followed within minutes.
18:31He thought about when he had first handed her that card.
18:34Her first purchase had been a full wardrobe.
18:36Things befitting, she'd said.
18:38The assistant of someone in his position.
18:40But Claire had nothing.
18:41He had asked her to give up her career.
18:44Her friends.
18:44Her entire life.
18:46And in three years, what had he given her?
18:48A fake marriage certificate.
18:50A visa status that was never going to come through.
18:52An illegal overstay she didn't even know she was in.
18:56And he, her supposed husband, had let all of it slip from his mind entirely.
19:01Too busy building a life in London for someone else.
19:04He didn't know what he was doing.
19:06He drove to the transit terminal and sat there until morning.
19:09No record of Claire leaving the country.
19:12He stood in the terminal hall and stared at that information for a long time.
19:16No departure on record.
19:18She was still here.
19:19As long as she was in the city, he could find her.
19:22And if he could find her, he could explain.
19:24It's Marcus.
19:25I need your help.
19:26I want to get Claire's status sorted.
19:29Whatever it takes.
19:30Tell me what to do and I'll do it.
19:32Margaret met him at a cafe.
19:33He sat down and went straight to it.
19:37What's the fastest way to get her proper documentation?
19:40I'll cooperate with anything.
19:41Mr. Marcus, you've known the fastest way if she's your spouse.
19:45Mr. Marcus, you've known the fastest way if she's your spouse.
19:50Margaret, about the marriage certificate, I want to explain.
19:53A few years ago, someone looked into it for me.
19:55Told me that for the exceptional talent visa, it was cleaner to come in as single.
19:59Get settled first, then sort out the spouse paperwork later.
20:01Claire's mother was ill at the time.
20:03She wanted to see us properly married before I had two certificates made up just to ease her mind.
20:08I intended to register properly once we were stable.
20:11Mr. Marcus, that's not true.
20:13There's no such rule.
20:14Who told you that?
20:16My assistant, she looked into it, said it wasn't common knowledge.
20:20Margaret was quiet for a moment.
20:21I've been an immigration consultant in this city for 15 years.
20:25The exceptional talent Vasa has never had any such requirement.
20:29Being married doesn't complicate the application.
20:31If anything, a spouse accompanying you is a positive factor.
20:35The year you joined Hartwick, several other professors came over with their entire families.
20:39Spousal visas were processed normally.
20:41The fastest cases were done in three months.
20:44Three years ago, Jade helped him prepare his application materials.
20:48She had been insistent.
20:49Professor, it's really better not list yourself as married.
20:52The background checks get complicated.
20:55Get to London, get settled, and then handle the spouse paperwork.
20:58It won't cause any delays.
20:59He had believed her.
21:00He had always handed the administrative side of things to her.
21:03She knew what she was doing.
21:05He trusted her completely.
21:06So he had shown up at Claire's mother's bedside with two forged certificates to put the old woman's
21:12mind at ease.
21:13He had intended to register properly once they were settled.
21:16There was always something in the way.
21:18The day Jade had confirmed she was coming to London.
21:21Professor, I'm giving up everything to follow you.
21:23You're responsible for me now.
21:25That I hope to build a life in London.
21:27To put down roots.
21:29It would mean so much, she said, if I could stay.
21:34A woman who had come all this way.
21:36He agreed without thinking.
21:38She had taken the spousal slot that should have been Claire's.
21:41Gotten residency.
21:42Gotten a job.
21:43Used the card he had meant for his wife.
21:45Mr. Marcus.
21:46Margaret's voice.
21:47He looked up.
21:48The assistant.
21:49That's Jade, isn't it?
21:51He said nothing.
21:52Margaret let out a long breath.
21:53He stood to leave.
21:55His phone rang.
21:56Harwick administration.
21:58Professor Marcus, we need you to come into the dean's office this afternoon at three.
22:03There are some matters that require your explanation in person.
22:06It concerns your personnel file and your spousal sponsorship documents.
22:10Someone has submitted a formal complaint to the university.
22:15Marcus sat in the conference room in the dean's suite.
22:18Two documents on the table in front of him.
22:20Professor Marcus, can you confirm these are both genuine?
22:24Under UK law, bigamy is a criminal offense.
22:27The university has received a notice of cooperation with the home office.
22:30We also need an explanation regarding the marital status declaration you submitted when
22:34you joined the faculty.
22:35That he had concealed a marriage?
22:37Did he register a second one in London to give Jade residency?
22:40That he had left Claire waiting three years without so much as a legal right to be in the country.
22:46He couldn't say any of it.
22:47The investigators came in quickly afterward.
22:50Professor Marcus, were you unaware that falsifying documents is a criminal matter?
22:55Or that two congruent marriages constitute bigamy?
22:57He had just not bothered to think.
23:00The things he hadn't bothered to think about, someone else had spent three years thinking
23:04about them instead.
23:06Jade had thought about it for three years.
23:08How to stay.
23:09How to secure her position.
23:11How to move into space beside him, inch by inch, until it was hers.
23:15And Claire.
23:16Claire had stood in a kitchen for three years waiting.
23:19Waiting for him to come home for dinner.
23:21Waiting for him to remember they had a home.
23:24Waiting for him to take even a small part of his attention away from the things he couldn't
23:29be bothered to think about and give it to her.
23:31He never did.
23:32Marcus was suspended from all teaching and research.
23:35His salary stopped during the investigation.
23:38When he walked out of the dean's suite, Jade was in the corridor.
23:42Her face was white.
23:43Her eyes were red.
23:44She came toward him.
23:47They've suspended me too.
23:49They called to say the placement has been withdrawn.
23:51Marcus looked at her.
23:52That coat was new.
23:54She bought it last week.
23:55The bag on her arm.
23:56$13,800.
23:59Charged last night.
24:00Claire never touched luxury labels.
24:03The card?
24:04Give it back.
24:05Professor?
24:07That card was for Claire.
24:08Not for you.
24:09She shifted the bag behind her.
24:11Her eyes went redder.
24:13I've been with you for three years.
24:15You followed me for three years.
24:16She waited for me for three years.
24:18You told me not to register for the marriage.
24:21You planned this from the beginning, didn't you?
24:23Her expression confirmed it.
24:25I just wanted to stay.
24:27Marcus looked at her and felt nothing but exhaustion.
24:30She just wanted to stay.
24:32So Claire had to go.
24:33He had stood here for three years and had not seen it.
24:36The legal proceedings were ugly.
24:38Jade refused to dissolve the registered marriage.
24:40She hired a lawyer and went after compensation, reinstatement, and a public statement from Marcus acknowledging their relationship as a
24:48genuine marriage.
24:49Marcus gave her none of it.
24:51She had come to London with nothing.
24:53She left with three years of employment on her record, residency status, and the debt
24:57from the card repayments the court ordered.
25:00Marcus didn't come out of it much better.
25:02He went back to New York several times to find Claire.
25:04Everyone in her neighborhood said she hadn't come back.
25:07Back and forth.
25:08Weeks becoming months.
25:10No job.
25:10No home.
25:11No one.
25:12He rented a small flat, far from where they lived.
25:15Some nights, he went and stood in the corridor outside their old building, where she used
25:19to wait for him.
25:20No one stood in that spot anymore.
25:22One year later, the London Art Fair.
25:25Marcus had been pulled along by a former student.
25:28Come and look.
25:29It'll do you good.
25:30He wandered through the rooms without much purpose.
25:32Then he stopped.
25:33To his left, in front of a large canvas, stood a woman.
25:37She was wearing a deep gray dress.
25:39Her hair was longer than he remembered.
25:41Pulled back loosely.
25:42She was turned slightly away, speaking to someone beside her.
25:46A quiet smile at the corner of her mouth.
25:48Marcus stopped breathing for a moment.
25:50He moved toward her without thinking.
25:52She was thinner, but she looked well.
25:54Her eyes were bright.
25:55When she spoke, she made small gestures with her hands, the way she always had.
25:59She smiled again.
26:01That smile.
26:02He hadn't seen it in three years.
26:04Not in London.
26:04He had seen it once, when they were first married.
26:07He walked faster.
26:09He just needed to get to her.
26:10Tell her what exactly.
26:11Was he wrong?
26:12That he had spent a year looking?
26:14That the certificate was fake, but he had never meant to deceive her.
26:18He had just been too busy.
26:19Too stupid.
26:20Claire.
26:21She turned.
26:22The moment she saw him, the smile left her face.
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