When Cinnamon met her husband, he was destitute. He had less than five dollars in his savings account, rode around in a hoopty and lived in a rundown tenement, swarming with indescribable creepy crawlers, but the fact that he lacked the proper credentials did not change the way she felt about him. Her love for him carried more weight than his standing in life. His name was Horatio Jones.

She had just graduated from a top university with a degree in Health Management when she met Horatio. Three months later, they were married. To support her husband and to make his dreams a reality, she worked as a manager at a homecare agency and held down a part-time job at a nursing home, while he attended college full time. In three years, he obtained his BS Degree in Marketing and Advertising.

In a flash, Horatio got a job at a digital marketing firm. One year later, he became a junior executive but turned into a workaholic. Wanting more out of life, he was busy climbing the corporate ladder, hobnobbing with top-level decision-makers, and placing his crown into every female’s valley. Then he started doing Ebony Butts, whose father was the founder of the company. Two years later, Horatio became C.E.O.

For Cinnamon, there was no intimacy in or out of the bedroom. It got to the point where she was spending much of her time alone, amusing herself with adult toys and erotic films.

After eight years of marriage, Horatio divorced her, claiming irreconcilable differences. Since you got what you wanted, you no longer need me, Cinnamon thought. Shortly thereafter, he married Ebony. After that painful awakening, she made a promise to herself: The next man I meet will have to be successful. I will never get involved with or support an insolvent, unappreciative, or unscrupulous louse.