The Fourth Marriage of Sylvanus Greybeard

This article is about my fourth marriage to a Moluccan woman, who was 51 years old at the time, the same age as me. She was born in the Netherlands and was a friend of my younger sister.

While I was living in Switzerland, I traveled to the Netherlands once a week for business and would visit my younger sister, which is where I first met the Moluccan woman. After speaking with her a few times, I asked if she would come to Switzerland to live with me. She had lost her job and was living above the business where she worked, and since the business was being sold, she was about to become homeless.

Once she arrived in Switzerland, after some time she asked me if I would marry her. I said yes, and so we were married. Women always asked me to marry them, I only ever asked my first wife to marry me.

I was with the Moluccan woman to have a companion, not to have a romantic relationship. For the 14 years we were married, we lived like a brother and sister. There was no love, but we had respect for each other and helped each other whenever needed.

Since what I was working on went wrong (more on this in a future article), we returned to the Netherlands. When we arrived, I was facing a lawsuit that would last for four years. This lawsuit was filed by a criminal who wanted to swindle money from me (more on this in a future article).

After winning the lawsuit, my Moluccan wife and I went to Bali, where we lived for several years and rented out motorcycles and cars. Because she spoke the language, it was easier to get things done in Bali.

At one point, a Dutchman in Bali also started a motorcycle and moped rental business. This Dutchman was 38 years old, had about sixty companies worldwide, and had started selling domain names when he was 16. He went all-in on the rental business with 40 employees, a marketing manager, and a hundred motorcycles and mopeds. In a small market like Bali, this competition was unsustainable. We sold our business, used the remaining money to vacation in Bali for a while, and eventually returned to the Netherlands.

We first lived with my wife's friends for three months before we could rent a house, and then we both started working. After three years, we divorced after being married for 14 years.

My Advice

• Never jump in at the deep end. Don't start something if you can't foresee the consequences.

• A marriage based only on friendship isn't a lifelong marriage. The bond isn't strong enough.

• Never start a business with a criminal, as I did in Switzerland. Even if it's to start a legitimate business, you will eventually become unwillingly involved in shady affairs. Always thoroughly research your new business partner.

• If you're starting a business, make sure you have enough money saved to overcome obstacles.