Chapter 3

3.

Sure enough, she immediately went for the throat. "Caleb, look at yourself. What do you gain by fighting with me?"

"You'll only make me hate you. Our daughter always listens to me. If I stop caring for you, she will too."

"You can't even take a bath or leave the house without help!"

"At your age, you should learn to keep your mouth shut."

We're the same age, but she's healthy. I have one foot in the grave.

But I got this way because I broke my back to give them a good life. I ate scraps so they could have steak.

"Well? Are you going to keep making a scene?"

Helen looked down at me like I was dirt.

I tried to push myself up, but my arms gave out.

"Can you at least promise not to see him again?" I whispered.

If she stopped, maybe I could pretend I didn't know.

"No!"

She didn't even hesitate.

"Caleb, you're an old man. You should know that marriage and love are two different things."

"I married you for stability. That doesn't mean I love you."

"Silas is the only one I've ever loved. We belong together."

"If you won't let me see him, then my daughter and I are done with you."

My heart sank into an abyss.

Fifty years of living together. I was there every time she got sick.

When she was in her fifties, she was diagnosed with a serious illness.

Our daughter and our relatives told me to give up. They said the treatment was too expensive.

But I didn't. I stayed by her side every day. I took her to every specialist in the country.

When she finally got better, the first thing she did was go to Chicago.

I know that now because I saw the note on one of the photos: "I survived. The first thing I wanted to see was Silas."

I, the man who stayed by her side day and night, didn't even exist in her mind.