The Chipped Wife

I grew up craving a hot meal and a place to call home. I never dreamed of true love. I never imagined I’d be chosen. So when Ivan offered to take care of me, I said yes. When he suggested we get chipped to keep our love locked in forever, I hesitated. But what else was I going to do? Go back to nothing?

Yet the closer I look, the more I see that Ivan’s life is built on lies.

 And I might be the biggest one.

Every day I wake up to a life I could’ve never imagined—all because I met and married the perfect man.

 For him, I smile on cue. And every time he touches me, my heart races like it did on day one.

Because the chip guarantees it will.

They told us the love would never fade. They said it would protect our bond. But lately, Ivan is cold. Distant. His stories don’t add up.

 And yesterday I found something hidden in his closet—something he never meant me to see.

I tell myself I’m imagining things. That it’s chip fatigue. That I’m paranoid because of what I survived before.

But the more I learn, the more I realize: Ivan has secrets.

 About his past. About me. About what really happens when the chip starts to fail.

They said the only way out of this marriage was death.

 I didn’t realize they meant mine.

But Ivan doesn’t know who I was before he found me.

 He doesn’t know what I’ve had to survive.

 He doesn’t know what I’m willing to do to get out alive…