Then she turned to the divorce paperwork.

“Were you preparing to divorce Nora?”

“Yes,” he said quietly.

I felt the word settle heavily in my chest, even though I’d been expecting it.

“I convinced myself she’d be better off without me,” he continued.

“That if I transferred assets and moved out, she wouldn’t be tied to the mess I’d made.

But I was also afraid she’d hate me when she learned everything.

I wanted to leave before she could reject me.”