“But I was afraid of what would happen to them. I was afraid he would use his money and connections to take them away from me. I was afraid they would grow up believing their mother had destroyed the family.”
She looked toward the window.
“And, Richard, I was ashamed.”
I leaned forward.
“Of what?”
“Of staying. Of not being strong enough to leave sooner. Of letting so many years pass.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Everyone thought I had a wonderful life. We had a beautiful house. Our children went to good schools. Thomas donated money to local charities. People invited us to dinners and praised him for being generous.”
She gave a trembling smile.
“If I had told them the truth, who would they have believed? The respectable businessman or the wife who had spent years making excuses?”
I felt something heavy settle inside my chest.
I had spent decades imagining that Anna had been given a comfortable life. I had assumed she might have been unhappy at first, but eventually she had found a way to make peace with the decision her family had made.
