The lies.

The secrecy.

The months and months of pretending.

The fact that her husband had decided, out of his own pride, that she was not allowed to know what was happening inside her own marriage, inside her own life.

“I could have carried it with you,” she said, and her voice broke on it.

“That is the whole point of being married.

I would have carried every ounce of it, gladly.