ad.”
“And for three years ago.”
She looked down.
I kept going.
“I threw you out without proof.”
“I trusted Melissa because she was my sister.”
“I treated your silence like guilt.”
“I made your life worse.”
“I destroyed your reputation.”
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
Her eyes filled.
I stopped.
Then she said,
“You destroyed yourself too.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The man who threw me out wasn’t the Ethan I married.”
“I spent years wondering where he went.”
She looked at me.
“Then today you threw money into the mud.”
“I realized maybe he had been gone longer than I thought.”
I lowered my eyes.
“I’m ashamed.”
“You should be.”
I nodded.
No softness.
No reassurance.
Good.
I deserved honesty.
Then she continued.
“But shame is useless if all you do is sit inside it.”
I looked up.
“What should I do?”
“Fix what you can.”
That became my direction.
We started with Dad.
Specialists evaluated him.
His stroke damage was severe but not hopeless.
He could regain some speech.
