Choice.

Gwen had made a choice seventeen years earlier.

She invested in someone she loved.

The mistake was not that she helped Douglas.

The mistake was believing that helping someone meant she no longer needed to protect her own identity.

She would never make that mistake again.

EPILOGUE — WHAT SHE ACTUALLY GOT BACK

People who heard pieces of Gwen’s story often assumed the important part was the settlement.

It wasn’t.