I did not look back.

I had said everything I came to say, and I had said it in eleven words, and I had a taxi to catch and a son to take home.

There is a version of that night I could have chosen instead, and I had rehearsed it, in the dark, in the days leading up to the gala.

In that version I stood up at the table and I told the whole room what he had done, named the mistress and the shell company and the four hundred thousand dollars, made a speech, made him small in front of everyone the way he had made me small in private for years.

It would have felt wonderful, for about a minute.