Sophronia ripped the plain gold wedding band from housemaid Dulcie’s finger and placed it on the auction table.
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Chapter 16 / 17
Chapter 16
Years later, a young associate asked me why I had kept my wife secret.
He expected a Mafia answer.
Protection.
Enemies.
Strategy.
I gave him the whole truth.
“At first, danger.”
Then:
“After that, cowardice disguised as timing.”
He looked surprised.
Good.
“Did secrecy keep her safe?”
I thought.
“From some people.”
Then:
“It made her vulnerable to others.”
That was the lesson.
Protection that removes someone’s voice eventually becomes control, even when love started it.
I had loved Dulcie every day of those four hidden years.
May you like
Love had not made the structure safe.
Only changing it did.
