“You made decisions with my money for years while telling me I was selfish for working.”
He flinched.
“You said my career was destroying our marriage while secretly relying on the money from that career to support another household.”
“I know how it looks.”
“How it looks?”
My voice rose for the first time.
“No. How it is.”
He stood.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You could have told me.”
“You were always working.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You were always succeeding.”
I stared at him.
There it was.
Not the whole truth.
But a piece of it.
He looked ashamed as soon as he said it.
“I don’t know when I started resenting you,” he whispered.
Eleanor turned away.
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
“At first I was proud. Then every promotion made me feel like I was falling further behind.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“And then Thomas died. Melissa couldn’t afford the house. Noah needed help. Mom didn’t want people knowing about the family history. I thought I could fix everything.”
“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
“And when lying became too difficult, you blamed me.”
His eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another excuse would have.
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then I said, “Why shave my head?”
Daniel’s face crumpled slightly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
“Myself.”
“Then why was I the one being punished?”
He had no answer.
Eleanor sat on the bottom stair.
“I encouraged him,” she said quietly.
I looked at her.
She clasped her hands.
