After discussing it with Nora, I published a short statement under my own name.

I said the courthouse marriage had begun under family pressure, that Silas had given me the option to refuse, and that the wedding had not been a corporate transaction.

I described my years of work and asked people not to confuse wealth with kindness or poverty with disgrace.

The final sentence mattered most: A person’s dignity does not change when someone learns their bank balance.

Some commenters mocked me.