Tsuma Ni Damatte Sokubaikai Ni Ikun Ja Nakatta ... -

I think I’ll keep her. And the lamp.

She nodded slowly. Then she said the words that still haunt me: “I saw the credit card alert. Surplus sale?”

Last Sunday, it happened. A local electronics surplus sale. The kind of place where “unclaimed luggage,” “overstock from bankrupt factories,” and “slightly cursed robots” go to die. A flyer appeared in my social media feed at 2 AM. I was weak. I was foolish. And most damning of all—I decided not to tell my wife. I told her I was going for a “morning walk” to clear my head. She smiled, handed me a water bottle, and said, “Don’t buy anything stupid.” Tsuma ni Damatte Sokubaikai ni Ikun ja Nakatta ...

But she did smile when the shrimp lamp arrived on the coffee table.

I kissed her forehead, lied straight through my teeth, and drove 45 minutes to a convention center that smelled of regret and old dust. I think I’ll keep her

“How was your walk?” she asked.

I walked in the door. My wife was folding laundry. She looked at my empty hands (I left the bags in the garage). She looked at my guilty face. Then she said the words that still haunt

I told myself: Just looking. Just browsing. I am a responsible adult. Then I saw it.

I hadn’t.