At the time, I had been a rising executive in my family’s investment company.
My father had insisted that marrying Marianne was a mistake.
She came from a modest family.
She had no powerful connections.
She had no inheritance that could strengthen our business.
My father called her a liability.
My mother called her an embarrassment.
And Cordelia, who had been waiting for an opportunity to enter my world, offered me a future filled with money, influence, and social acceptance.
I chose that future.
I told myself Marianne would be better off without me.
I told myself that a child could not survive in a marriage built on resentment.
Most of all, I told myself that I was being practical.
The truth was simpler.
I was selfish.
When Marianne told me she was pregnant, I accused her of trying to trap me.
She cried.
She begged me to listen.
She told me she had never asked for my money and would never use a child to control me.
