Nina stood.
“I can’t marry someone who does this.”
She removed her engagement ring and placed it on the table.
Everett reached toward her.
“Nina, please.”
She stepped back.
“You told me the difficult conversations had already happened. You made me part of hurting someone who didn’t even know I existed.”
She left.
Beatrice rose next.
“I love you, Everett,” she said quietly. “But I’m not going to pretend you’ve been misunderstood again.”
After she’d gone, Everett turned toward me.
“Rosalie, please. We can try counseling.”
A month earlier, I would’ve done anything to protect our marriage.
But that woman hadn’t known what her husband was doing.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
He begged me to reconsider.
I explained that separating our lives would take time, but my decision wouldn’t change.
Over the following weeks, I found an apartment and began rebuilding my finances.
