Chapter 20 - THE MARRIAGE BREAKS OPEN
Corinne moved into a hotel in Boston.
Within a week she rented an apartment.
Graham did not file for divorce immediately.
That surprised Helena.
“Do you want me to?”
“No.”
“Would it make you feel safer?”
“My safety does not require your divorce.”
He nodded.
Again, learning.
Graham began individual therapy.
Corinne agreed to marital counseling only after her attorney advised cooperation would look better.
That fact irritated Graham.
He went anyway.
In the first session, Corinne said:
“I became resentful.”
The therapist asked:
“Resentful of whom?”
“Everyone.”
“Be specific.”
“Graham for being gone.”
“Helena?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“For needing things.”
Graham started to interrupt.
The therapist stopped him.
Corinne continued.
“For living in our house.”
Helena had contributed.
“For reminding Graham of his father.”
Interesting.
“For making me feel judged.”
Possibly real.
Then:
“For having money she didn’t seem to understand how to use.”
There.
The therapist asked:
“Who should have decided how she used it?”
Corinne became defensive.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Who?”
“Her.”
“Did your behavior reflect that belief?”
Corinne cried.
“No.”
That was perhaps the first honest admission without qualification.
The marriage did not repair.
But the story changed.
Corinne began confronting herself rather than only defending.
Some days.
Other days she called Helena manipulative.
Progress was not linear.
Graham gradually stopped asking whether the marriage would survive.
He asked whether it should.
May you like
That was a more intelligent question.
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