Andrea Gunning

Eventually, she became resigned to the fact she couldn't change his mind.

At that point in our marriage, I felt very distant from him.

In this period where Chad was sleeping in the basement office and they were bickering, Danielle knew that their marriage needed to improve.

So she sought help for herself.

She even suggested they try counseling again as a couple.

But this time, Chad resisted.

With each passing month, Chad spent more and more time out of the house, renovating the rental properties.

And some nights, tenants would call with emergencies.

There would be nights where he would say, oh, I got to go.

Despite their rocky few years, she still trusted him.

She had to.

Plus, the rental properties added financial security to their lives.

She believed that at the end of the day, he was working so hard in order to provide for the family.

She often overheard him practicing conversations he needed to have for work.

There was one big meeting in particular Chad was preparing for.

It was with an older couple that went to their church, a couple that taught Sunday school.

They had known Chad for nearly his whole life.

And they were wealthy.

Chad set up a meeting with them to pitch his financial advising services.

In the end, they decided not to use him.