I Chose Freedom
He had been gone for twenty years, but my mother had never forgotten him.
"Mom, Dad has been gone for a long time—"
She raised a finger to her lips and whispered, "Shh. Your father came to see me last night. He said it's time for us to be free."
The dam inside me broke, and tears poured down my face.
She knew. She had known all along. She was simply protecting the last scraps of my dignity in her own way.
That evening, when I returned home, I began packing.
…
As expected, Evelyn had not come back. Perhaps she was still in that hotel room with that man, finishing what they had started.