When Alexis’ parents forced her to marry Robert, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. Later, Alexis broke the one rule her husband gave her and entered the room he warned her about, unleashing secrets she wasn’t prepared for.
I couldn’t understand why my parents wanted me to get married before I found someone myself.
“Alexis,” my mother said, “Robert is a catch. He’s a wealthy man who will take care of you. You wouldn’t even have to work.”
I couldn’t refuse. My father had made it clear.
“You marry Robert, Alexis,” he said, puffing on his cigar. “Or you can figure out your own living arrangements.”
In a sense, Robert was my prince charming. Our family had a bakery, which was losing customers because we had no gluten-free options on the menu.
“We will continue to bake what we know,” my father insisted.
Our marriage was definitely an arranged one. Robert’s demeanor was cold, and he refused to let me get to know him properly. I don’t know how my father arranged our connection.
Our wedding was a spectacle of Robert’s affluence, nothing short of extravagant. Robert’s wedding planner had thought of everything.
My wedding dress was a custom piece that he commissioned for me. But even through our wedding planning, we barely spoke.
“I’m looking forward to being married,” he admitted one evening, a few days before the wedding.
“But I don’t know what I’m doing,” he added.
That was the closest Robert had gotten to letting me in.
Two days after our wedding, I moved into our new home.
“Come, I’ll show you around,” Robert said.
He took me around our home, a mansion boasting luxuries I’d never imagined before: sprawling golf courses, a shimmering swimming pool, and a fleet of staff at our beck and call.
“It’s beautiful,” I said when we got to the kitchen. “Everything is beautiful.”
“Now, Alexis, this house belongs to you too,” he declared with a hint of pride.
I smiled at the stranger standing in front of me. Maybe we were going to make something of our marriage.
“But one thing, Alexis,” he said. “There’s one rule. The attic. Never go in there.”
I nodded at Robert. I couldn’t fathom why I wouldn’t be allowed anywhere in the house. But I also recognized that I didn’t know my husband well enough yet. So, I had to obey.
A few days later, Robert went to a meeting, leaving me alone in our massive home.
Driven by curiosity stronger than any warning, I found myself ascending the stairs to the attic. My heart pounded with a mix of fear and excitement. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time.
A quick in and out, I thought to myself.
Pushing the door open, I was met with a sight that sent me to my knees, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know why I was crying. I didn’t know why I felt confusion and relief at the same time.
The attic, dimly lit, seemed to be a vault of my husband’s hidden memories. Childhood toys lay scattered, each carrying untold stories. Old postcards and photographs of Robert’s life before me. Among the relics were letters from a young boy to his father, a soldier away at war.
“How dare you come in here? Now, I have to change the locks in my own home because my wife does not respect my requests?”
Robert’s face turned red with rage.
“I just want to understand,” I stammered. “I just want to know you, Robert.”
Slowly, his rage dissolved, and he seemed to see me as a companion in his world, instead of the intruder he had made me out to be.
“Alexis,” he said, “Come, let’s sit.”
Robert led me to the living room.
“My father was a stern man. He was a soldier and he believed in keeping emotions locked away. These are the only things I have of a time when I felt loved,” he confessed.
My heart caught on his every word as his voice broke.
What followed was a revelation of his soul. Stories of a lonely childhood, of a boy yearning for his father’s approval, unfolded in our home.
In those vulnerable moments, I didn’t see the distant, cold man I had married but a boy who had never stopped seeking love and acceptance. He just didn’t know how to go about it.
In those few hours, things changed. Robert started letting me in. And now, years later, our home is filled with the cries and laughter of our daughter, April.
Through our daughter, Robert healed. He healed for himself, and for our daughter.
We’ve packed away everything from the attic, so it is no longer a shrine to Robert’s past but is now my little reading nook.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt has come to a painful conclusion
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, once one of the most talked-about couples globally, have seen their relationship deteriorate into a state of open hostility.
Since their divorce in 2019, the pair, famously known as “Brangelina”, have been embroiled in ongoing legal disputes and public disagreements, along with a series of serious allegations against one another.
Most recently, in April, Jolie submitted court documents to the Los Angeles Superior Court claiming Pitt had physically abused her, a charge he has strongly denied. The former couple is also locked in a contentious dispute over the sale of a French winery they acquired during their marriage.
In a notable development, reports have emerged that Vivienne, one of their daughters, has chosen to drop “Pitt” from her surname. Now, it appears that her sister Shiloh is following suit, taking steps to make this change official.
According to TMZ, Shiloh celebrated her 18th birthday by filing for a legal name change to Shiloh Jolie. The timing of her paperwork submission, on the day she turned 18, suggests that this was one of her first actions as an adult.
While the name change is pending, it seems likely to go through. Shiloh is one of the six children Jolie and Pitt share, and she isn’t the only one showing strained relations with her father.
Recently, Vivienne made headlines when her name appeared in the official Playbill for the production of The Outsiders, which she helped her mother produce, listed simply as Vivienne Jolie. Similarly, 19-year-old Zahara has reportedly begun using the name Zahara Jolie, and the eldest sibling, Maddox, 22, has also dropped ‘Pitt’ from his name.
While Shiloh is the only child to have formally initiated a name change, the broader trend among the siblings suggests a unified stance in support of their mother amid the ongoing tensions with their father.
In 2020, their brother Pax even took to Instagram to express his disdain for Pitt, saying: “You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell”.
He added ominously: “You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want, but the truth will come to light someday”, finishing with: “So Happy Father’s Day, you f*****g awful human being”.
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