The church was silent, save for the echo of Mr. Sterling’s revelation, which hovered in the air like a specter. Helen’s face was a mask of disbelief, her lips parted in shock. For the first time, she seemed at a loss for words, her carefully constructed world crumbling around her.
I was reeling. The man I had loved, the man I thought I knew, had lived with secrets that could have changed everything. Yet, hearing the truth, a sense of profound relief washed over me. Michael hadn’t hidden this part of his life from me out of deceit but out of love and protection, shielding me from burdens he felt were his to bear.
Helen’s composure began disintegrating as she sputtered, “This—this can’t be true! He would have told me!”
