“I’m not.”
I pushed the phone back toward her.
“You made the decision.”
She began crying then, quietly at first.
She told me the relationship with R had started as messages and turned into meetings.
She said she had felt invisible, overwhelmed, trapped in routine, and desperate to feel like something other than the person constantly needed at home.
I listened because explanations matter when you’re deciding what happens next.
But an explanation isn’t the same thing as an excuse.
She had every right to say she was exhausted.
She had every right to ask for help.
She had every right to tell me she was unhappy with our relationship.
She did not have the right to make Tessa the hidden support beam holding up an adult double life.
“I never wanted her scared,” she said.
“Then why did she think calling me would make you angry?”
