“What I want,” I said, “is for you to understand that I am not going to spend one more hour of my life on you than the paperwork requires.”

Chapter 26 — What I Didn’t Do

Here is where the story I’d imagined in the rain diverged from the one I actually chose.

In the car that first night, I had wanted to design something elaborate for him — a long, personal, grinding humiliation, a life spent laboring under my heel where I could see it.

I had the means to do exactly that.

I want to be honest that the temptation was real.