PART 2
The door opened.
Robert walked in.
He didn’t say anything.
At first, he looked directly into my eyes.
Then his gaze slowly moved downward.
To my neck.
To the dark marks I had desperately tried to cover with my hand.
I saw the exact moment he noticed them.
“Robert…”
My voice barely came out.
He walked toward the bed and sat in the chair beside me.
I waited for him to shout.
I waited for him to demand the man’s name.
I waited for him to tell me that our marriage was over.
Instead, he sat there in silence.
Finally, he said,
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”
Tears immediately filled my eyes.
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”
For the first time, Robert looked directly at me.
“You really believed that?”
I didn’t have the strength to
hide anything anymore.
So I told him.
I told him about the lingerie.
About the candles.
About all those nights when I tried to get close to him and felt him pull away.
“I felt disgusting, Robert,” I whispered. “I would look in the mirror and think you couldn’t even see me as a woman anymore.”
His expression changed.
“Oh, God, Linda…”
“I know what I did was wrong. I’m not trying to excuse it. But I wanted one night… just one night… to feel like someone still desired me.”
Robert lowered his head.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded different.
“It wasn’t you.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“It wasn’t your body. It wasn’t your age. And it certainly wasn’t because I stopped wanting you.”
I couldn’t understand.
Robert placed his hands on his knees.
“Two years ago, my doctor told me I
