I didn’t tell her about the money I’d lost.

She had already paid a cost no ledger could measure.

Later, she showed me a photograph from her accounting class.

She stood beside two classmates with her certificate of completion, smiling in a way I hadn’t seen since the years before our marriage became a competition for control.

“Congratulations,” I said.

“Thank you.”

“Would you mind if I framed a copy for the kids’ room?”

She laughed.