Michael. Back then I’d thought it was jealousy alone. Later I recognized possessiveness. Daniel had assigned us parts in a scene of his own making: Rachel, his chosen woman; me, the wife forced to watch; himself, wanted by both. But I was laughing with another man, refusing the role, and the performance collapsed.
Rachel had mistaken being secretly chosen for victory. Daniel had confused attention with commitment, ownership with love, and jealousy with care. For a while I had treated betrayal as proof that I’d lost something to another woman.
