{"id":25773,"date":"2026-09-29T21:47:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25773"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:47:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:47:03","slug":"part-33-owning-the-truth-about-how-their-marriage-began-forced-jill-to-stop-casting-herself-as-either-victim-or-thief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25773","title":{"rendered":"PART 33 \u2013 Owning the Truth About How Their Marriage Began Forced Jill to Stop Casting Herself as Either Victim or Thief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The drive home from the courthouse was quieter than the first one had been a year earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Not colder.<\/p>\n<p>Not more frightening.<\/p>\n<p>Just more honest.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy drove with both hands on the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>I held the copy of the preliminary application in my lap even though we had not asked for it.<\/p>\n<p>The younger clerk had printed a plain reference copy before I told her I did not need certification.<\/p>\n<p>July 29, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Our signatures.<\/p>\n<p>Mine unmistakable.<\/p>\n<p>That piece of paper had existed all these years whether I remembered it or not.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at my younger handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>Large loops.<\/p>\n<p>Careless confidence.<\/p>\n<p>The handwriting of someone who believed consequences belonged to later versions of herself.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy glanced at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want me to pull over?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re pale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked back at the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed softly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re getting very good at not fixing me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears of expensive training.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That almost made me smile.<\/p>\n<p>Then I looked back at the application.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI judged Lacey for rewriting history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI judged you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I was doing it too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy glanced at me again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I immediately shook my head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not make this smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were about to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I folded the paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew you were still with her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe went to the courthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI signed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou backed out because it felt wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy was quiet.<\/p>\n<p>That part had returned more clearly while we sat on the courthouse steps.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the fluorescent lights.<\/p>\n<p>The old counter.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy asking about identification and waiting periods.<\/p>\n<p>Then, outside, him becoming pale and saying we should leave.<\/p>\n<p>At twenty, I had interpreted his hesitation as fear of marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Now I knew it had been something closer to conscience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said we needed to wait until things were settled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said if I loved you, I should stop making you wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered that too.<\/p>\n<p>Ugly.<\/p>\n<p>Not monstrous.<\/p>\n<p>Not unforgivable.<\/p>\n<p>But ugly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ever remind me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy laughed quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou mean during which decade?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned onto our road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think after enough time passed, I started believing the cleaner version too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Memory is not a courtroom transcript.<\/p>\n<p>People polish the past without realizing when they begin.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know I had forgotten?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remembered going there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI forgot we filled anything out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not defend himself.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>At home, I carried the paper into the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>The cedar chest was upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>The legal files were in the cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>I did not know where this belonged.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy watched me stand with it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat I don\u2019t want to put it with Lacey\u2019s things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause this is not about her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the fireproof safe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith our marriage papers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That felt right.<\/p>\n<p>Not hidden.<\/p>\n<p>Not displayed.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the record.<\/p>\n<p>I placed it beside the certified marriage certificate and the final annulment order.<\/p>\n<p>Three pieces of paper.<\/p>\n<p>Attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Correction.<\/p>\n<p>None captured the whole story.<\/p>\n<p>I shut the safe.<\/p>\n<p>That afternoon, I called Dr. Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>We had an appointment two days later.<\/p>\n<p>I considered waiting.<\/p>\n<p>Then remembered the rule.<\/p>\n<p>If something alters shared reality, say it.<\/p>\n<p>I left a voicemail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found something about the beginning. Nothing current. But I think I\u2019ve been editing my own memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Saying it aloud made the shame less theatrical.<\/p>\n<p>It became information.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, I called Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>Not because she needed to know.<\/p>\n<p>Because she had known us then.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you remember July 2004?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember when Jeremy and I first started talking about marriage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow early?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Longer pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Jeremy across the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>He was pretending not to listen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found a preliminary marriage application from before he officially ended things with Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were both idiots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not detail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want detail?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou and Jeremy were already acting like a couple before he broke up with Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot every person in Tennessee, Jill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid people think I stole him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people thought Jeremy was the one behaving badly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he was the one in a relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simple.<\/p>\n<p>Accurate.<\/p>\n<p>I had spent years imagining a crowd judging me alone.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps because it fit the guilt I already carried.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not excuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m saying you were both selfish and convinced your feelings made the timing less important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was painfully accurate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid I ever talk to you about the courthouse?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember you saying Jeremy got scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were furious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told you to slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never mentioned that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I spent years telling myself I was more innocent than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJill, I was not keeping a moral archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought you remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen now you do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sentence landed.<\/p>\n<p>Now I do.<\/p>\n<p>No trial.<\/p>\n<p>No punishment.<\/p>\n<p>Memory corrected.<\/p>\n<p>I thanked her.<\/p>\n<p>After we hung up, Jeremy sat across from me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat everyone knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He winced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said you were mostly blamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe also said she told me to slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel giving sensible advice at twenty-two is hard to imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled too.<\/p>\n<p>Then became serious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I built my guilt strangely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI admitted enough to feel bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut not enough to fully own it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked at me carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said I flirted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said we were emotionally involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said I knew you had Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I kept one line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe physical one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI let myself believe we became serious only after.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat version made me guilty but still basically decent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are basically decent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not the point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI needed the story to contain a boundary I had not crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow I know I crossed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy was quiet.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciated that.<\/p>\n<p>No rescue.<\/p>\n<p>No \u201cwe were young.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked, \u201cDo you judge me differently?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat fast?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou already knew who I was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot what I remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes my forgetting bother you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause part of our repair depended on me admitting I edited the story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now I know you did too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Painful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He held up a hand when I glared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes me feel less like one person corrupted reality while the other person perfectly remembered it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat helps you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes that minimize what you did later?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Immediate.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe second marriage was still my choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lies were mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou forgetting 2004 did not cause 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Exactly.<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we\u2019re clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At counseling, Dr. Ellis let me explain everything without interruption.<\/p>\n<p>When I finished, she asked, \u201cWhat are you afraid this changes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy moral position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy shifted beside me.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis asked, \u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a year, I have been the person betrayed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now I remember more clearly that I participated in betraying someone first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes that cancel what happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Jeremy\u2019s betrayal justify yours?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why must one determine the other?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I want a coherent story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHumans prefer those.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy said, \u201cApparently we are bad at them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you be someone who harmed Lacey at twenty and someone harmed by Jeremy at forty-two?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you also be someone who later treated Lacey with compassion?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan Jeremy be someone who betrayed both women at different times and someone who loved both?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan Lacey be someone harmed, someone harmful, someone frightened, someone generous?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of the fund.<\/p>\n<p>The will.<\/p>\n<p>Calvin.<\/p>\n<p>The pregnancy lie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen perhaps the moral work is not deciding who the good person was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would have saved us a lot of paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He laughed softly.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis asked me, \u201cWhat do you owe Lacey now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat does not answer it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccuracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot using her death to make myself innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ellis nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Stop looking for even.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the session, Jeremy and I walked to the parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped before getting into the truck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to go somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe old hardware store.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s store had closed decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>The building now housed an auto-parts warehouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We drove there.<\/p>\n<p>The original sign was gone.<\/p>\n<p>The parking lot had been repaved.<\/p>\n<p>The alley behind the building remained.<\/p>\n<p>That was where Jeremy and I had kissed before Lacey and he officially ended.<\/p>\n<p>I stood near the brick wall.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing looked romantic.<\/p>\n<p>Dumpster.<\/p>\n<p>Drainpipe.<\/p>\n<p>Oil stain.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-two years of memory had made it more cinematic than it deserved.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy stood several feet away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I touched the wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The humid night.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy\u2019s hand at my waist.<\/p>\n<p>My fear.<\/p>\n<p>My excitement.<\/p>\n<p>The way I had whispered, \u201cWhat about Lacey?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The way he said, \u201cI\u2019m ending it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then I kissed him anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Not after.<\/p>\n<p>Before.<\/p>\n<p>The truth was not new.<\/p>\n<p>Only restored.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said you were ending it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI accepted future tense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted you enough to make grammar feel moral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled sadly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were awful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that moment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I appreciated the precision.<\/p>\n<p>Not awful people.<\/p>\n<p>An awful choice.<\/p>\n<p>We stood in the alley.<\/p>\n<p>Then I said something I had avoided for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sorry, Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Not because she could hear.<\/p>\n<p>Because I could.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I knew enough to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The apology did not undo anything.<\/p>\n<p>No one answered.<\/p>\n<p>No forgiveness arrived from the sky.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>That was not the purpose.<\/p>\n<p>We returned to the truck.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy asked, \u201cBetter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorse?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, I opened Lacey\u2019s last letter.<\/p>\n<p>Only once.<\/p>\n<p>I reread one paragraph.<\/p>\n<p>You did pursue him while we were together. That hurt me. I am not going to pretend otherwise because I am dead.<\/p>\n<p>Then the next.<\/p>\n<p>But he chose too. And I chose what I did afterward.<\/p>\n<p>Accuracy.<\/p>\n<p>Not absolution.<\/p>\n<p>I folded the letter and returned it to the chest.<\/p>\n<p>This time, I did not feel judged.<\/p>\n<p>I felt included.<\/p>\n<p>One person among three who had made choices.<\/p>\n<p>Some loving.<\/p>\n<p>Some selfish.<\/p>\n<p>Some frightened.<\/p>\n<p>Some generous.<\/p>\n<p>No villain role needed.<\/p>\n<p>No victim role sufficient.<\/p>\n<p>That night, Jeremy and I lay in bed.<\/p>\n<p>He turned toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cActually?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I spent most of my life wanting to be innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy\u2019s brow furrowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds harder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>We turned off the light.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since the courthouse discovery, I could see the beginning of our marriage clearly enough to dislike parts of it without believing that meant the entire life should disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Truth had finally reached both ends.<\/p>\n<p>The beginning.<\/p>\n<p>And the middle.<\/p>\n<p>What remained now was the ending we were still choosing.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25774\">Click here to continue reading: PART 34: A Year After the Courthouse Discovery, Jill and Jeremy Returned to Their Anniversary With No Clean Story Left to Celebrate<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The drive home from the courthouse was quieter than the first one had been a year earlier. Not colder. Not more frightening. Just more honest. Jeremy drove with both hands &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25808,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25773\/revisions\/25808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}