low and urgent as he pulled me away from the secur

on, to control the narrative. He wa

oking directly into his eyes. The man I had loved f

istress. He was trying to hide the silver necklace she wore, subtly shifting his position

The image was burned into my memo

e time or place

xcuse." I thought of the countless times I had tried to talk to him, only to be to

er. On it, he had written, "Wherever you go, I will go." For years, I wore it. I took it off the day I found

now. He wouldn't even wa

he hospital," he said, t

'll have my lawyer send you the papers. I

ered, as if the thought had never occ

vid, the man who would have been horrified at the thought of losing me. But it was

u won't. You have Olivia. You've already replaced

ected him to nod, to agree, to be gla

It wasn't relief. It was something closer

David, this marriage has been over for years. W

d see: a man trapped by his own choices, finally realizing the cost but unwilling, or unable, to pay it. He thought he could have it all:

still remembered the boy I fell in love with, felt a pang of sorrow. But the rest of me, the