My husband, Mark, always said he was proud of me. At first, I believed him. I thought his compliments about my looks were loving. But over time, I realized he didn’t admire me—he displayed me. Short skirts, tight dresses, plunging necklines… he loved parading me around so his friends could “see what he had.”
I tried to ignore the discomfort, telling myself it was harmless. But at his friend Tyler’s summer pool party, everything changed.
Before we left, Mark tossed a tiny bikini onto the bed. “Wear this,” he said casually, as if it weren’t barely two pieces of fabric.
“Mark, this is too much,” I protested.
He laughed. “Relax. You look amazing. Don’t be shy.”
Shy wasn’t the word. Exposed. Humiliated. Objectified—that was closer.
At the party, the moment I stepped out, I felt eyes on me. Men stared openly. Women whispered behind their sunglasses. Mark put his arm around me with a proud grin, like he was showing off a trophy. I tried to shrink into myself, but he kept pulling me closer, telling me to “lighten up.”
I thought the night couldn’t get worse—until Tyler, his closest friend, approached me while Mark was inside grabbing drinks.
He lowered his voice. “You know he doesn’t treat you right, right?”
I blinked, unsure if I heard him correctly.
Tyler sighed. “He bets on you.”
“What?”
“He makes wagers with the guys about what he can get you to wear, how long it takes before you get uncomfortable… stuff like that. Today’s bikini? Part of the bet.”
For a moment, the world went quiet. The laughter, the splashing, the music—all of it faded as the truth hit me like a punch to the chest.
Mark didn’t love me. He used me.
When Mark returned, smiling as if nothing was wrong, I looked at him differently. And for the first time, I didn’t shrink. I stood up, grabbed a towel, wrapped myself in it, and said, “We’re done here.”
His smile dropped instantly. But I didn’t care.
Because that was the moment I decided: I would never be someone’s trophy again.
I’m staying at my sister’s now and talking to a lawyer. Am I wrong for wanting to divorce him over this?
