I felt my stomach tighten.
“Your husband did this?”
She nodded.
I wanted to stand up. I wanted to walk through the room, shout at someone who was no longer alive, and demand an explanation from a world that had allowed this to happen.
But none of that would help Anna.
So I stayed where I was.
And I listened.
“It wasn’t like that in the beginning,” she said.
Her voice was barely audible.
“After we married, he was very attentive. He bought me clothes, took me to restaurants, and introduced me to people who treated him with great respect. My mother told everyone how fortunate I was.”
She gave a small, bitter laugh.
“I tried to believe her.”
At first, Thomas had simply been controlling.
He wanted to know where Anna was going, who she would meet, and how long she intended to stay away from home.
If she visited a neighbor, he expected her to tell him beforehand.
