My husband, Ben, made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of attending his high school reunion after twelve years of marriage and raising two children together. Instead of bringing me, he hired a stranger—a stunning model—to pose as his wife.
I had already prepared a surprise that would ensure his humiliation would be complete, though he had no idea what I was planning.
I met Ben when I was 21, and by 23, we were married. We were college sweethearts, and back then, we believed love could conquer anything.
I was teaching preschool, barely earning enough to cover gas and groceries, while Ben worked at a small computer startup, just starting out.
Our apartment was small and furnished with second-hand pieces, and our meals mostly consisted of ramen and whatever leftovers we could find. Yet, we were happy.
We laughed constantly, delighted in each other’s company, and our tiny apartment felt like a kingdom. I remember feeling so alive and so secure, wrapped in the warmth of love that seemed unbreakable.
But life changes as time passes. By his mid-30s, Ben’s career began to take off. He earned promotions, first one, then another. Our modest lifestyle suddenly gave way to luxury.
We had a new car in the driveway, fine suits in the closet, and dinners at restaurants where the prices were never listed on the menu. But with these changes came an unsettling shift in him.
I began noticing the way he looked at me—or rather, the way he no longer looked at me.
After the birth of our second child, which left me with another C-section scar that I struggled to accept, his eyes no longer met mine with the warmth they once had.
He looked at me as though I were just part of the furniture, something permanent yet invisible.
I managed the home, cared for our two young children, and squeezed in freelance graphic design work whenever I could between school pickups, feeding schedules, and diaper changes.
My body had changed. I was exhausted constantly. Ben, too, seemed preoccupied—but he would deflect any concern I had about finances with his favorite line:
“We’re tight this month, babe.” “You don’t really need new clothes. What you have is fine.”
Yet, he spent freely on himself: a new watch, a high-end laptop, golf outings with coworkers on the weekends. I trusted him, believing we were navigating temporary financial struggles.
Meanwhile, I had to convince myself that wanting to get my hair done or ask for a babysitter was “wasteful.”
Then came a September evening when Ben came home buzzing with excitement. “My 20th high school reunion is next month!” he announced, his voice brimming with the enthusiasm I hadn’t heard in months.
For the next two weeks, it was all he talked about.
The first warning sign came one night at dinner.
“You know,” he said casually, “most people don’t bring their spouses to these things. It’s really more for old friends catching up.”
I paused mid-chop while helping our youngest daughter with dinner. “Really? I thought reunions usually allowed plus-ones.”
Without looking at me, he shrugged. “You’d probably be bored anyway. It’s not really your crowd.”
His words stung more than I cared to admit.
The following week, I noticed him trying on an Italian suit that would have cost nearly $900. When I asked about it, he claimed it was for a work meeting.
“The dishwasher can wait a few more weeks,” he said, in that calm, patronizing tone that made me feel small. “We can wash dishes by hand.” Naturally, “we” meant me.
A few nights before the reunion, I noticed his unusual attachment to his phone. He smiled while typing rapidly, then placed it face down.
When I asked, he said he was talking to a friend helping organize the event. But there was a strange undertone I couldn’t ignore.
The next morning, after he went to the gym, I did something I had never done before—I opened his laptop. I scrolled through emails, business receipts, and spam until a message caught my attention:
From: Companions Elite, Inc.
Subject: Confirmation – Event Date Package – October 14th
My hands trembled as I opened the email. The invoice was unmistakable:
- One-night event date: $400
- Wardrobe consultation: $100
- Extra briefing: $100
- Role: Light amount of spouse affection (appropriate hand-holding, arm-linking) Total: $600
There was also a photograph of a young, flawless blond woman named Chloe. The correspondence between Ben and the agency included a recent photo of me, clearly for reference. The messages were explicit. Ben had written:
“Won’t be an issue. Chloe will just need to look the part for a few hours. My wife isn’t really in her best shape right now. Don’t want to deal with the awkwardness.”
My husband had labeled me as someone unworthy of attending his reunion—enough to pay a stranger $600 to stand beside him. I read the email three times, each time feeling a mix of disbelief and fury.
That night, when Ben returned, I confronted him. “We need to talk,” I said firmly.
He was irritated. “Can it wait? I’m exhausted.”
“No. It can’t wait.”
I told him I had found the invoice. The color drained from his face. “It’s not what you think,” he stammered.
I laughed bitterly. “Really? You hired a model to pretend to be your wife. Am I wrong?”
He tried to justify it, claiming it was just optics, that everyone attending the reunion would be successful and he didn’t want to “settle” in front of them. The word “settled” echoed between us, poisonous and heavy.
“Get out,” I whispered.
And he did.
But I wasn’t finished. That night, I called my best friend Rachel, a professional photographer, and told her everything. “I need your help at the reunion,” I said. “Bring your camera.”
I also reached out to Melissa, a former classmate on the reunion planning committee. Once I explained the situation, her eyes gleamed with outrage and excitement. “We’re going to make this legendary,” she said.
On the night of the reunion, I arrived separately, perfectly groomed and dressed in a stunning dark blue gown. Rachel was with me, blending in with the photographers. Ben, meanwhile, proudly introduced Chloe as his wife. No one questioned it.
Then the slideshow began. Senior photos, prom snapshots, and “Now” pictures—then, a wedding photo of the real us appeared on the screen. Rachel had captured Ben with Chloe just an hour earlier, and the next slide bore a single, brutal caption:
“Some people grow with their partners. Others rent them for $600.”
The room went silent. Chloe’s face went pale, Ben’s grin vanished, and I walked forward, calm and resolute.
“Hi everyone,” I said. “I’m Claire, Ben’s real wife. The one he’s been married to for twelve years. The mother of his two daughters. The one he didn’t feel good enough to bring tonight.”
Chloe fled. Ben was speechless. The audience erupted in applause. Photos and screenshots spread like wildfire online. By Tuesday, Ben’s company had put him on temporary leave for “conduct unbecoming of company values.”
By Wednesday, I handed him divorce papers. “Get out of my house, Ben,” I said. And he left.
Three months later, I’ve rebuilt my life. I have my daughters, my townhouse, and a peace I hadn’t known in years. Ben wanted a trophy wife; he got a cautionary tale instead. And me? I’m finally free to be accepted exactly as I am.