She pushed the food around with her fork. She knew if she looked up at him, she might start to cry. So she kept pushing as she decided how long it would be before she could talk without crying.

After 11 years, it came to this. To be dumped so unceremoniously. And replaced so easily. It was insulting. And upsetting. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She finally found her voice. But she bit her tongue and didn’t express what she truly thought. He asked her to cooperate, to make nice, to not tell the truth about what really happened. She smiled and said she would, knowing that she needed to be quiet if she wanted to receive her payout.

If her mother was there, she’d say that this was all probably a blessing in disguise.