Chapter 10 - Robert Had Chosen Me Because Youth Felt Like Flexibility
Months later, during discovery, I finally understood why Robert had been drawn to me.
Not because of money.
I had none compared with him.
Not because of an inheritance.
Dad was comfortable but nowhere near Robert’s wealth.
And not because of some hidden family property.
The answer was more personal.
Robert had spent his adult life building environments that obeyed him.
Companies.
Staff.
Homes.
Schedules.
Philanthropic boards.
He was not accustomed to being told no by people who depended on him.
His previous relationships had increasingly failed for the same reason.
Not secret crimes.
Not buried wives.
Ordinary relationship histories.
One former partner described him in a deposition as:
“Generous until generosity stopped purchasing agreement.”
That line explained my entire courtship.
When I was nineteen, Robert’s certainty felt like stability.
He knew restaurants.
Investments.
Travel.
Lawyers.
Architecture.
He never seemed lost.
I was still figuring out what graduate program I wanted.
He told me that difference complemented us.
Eventually, I understood what he actually loved about it.
My uncertainty created room for his certainty.
The problem began when I grew more confident.
When I rejected his credit card.
Kept my apartment.
Defended Lily.
Refused the household agreement.
Said I might leave after the wedding reception.
Robert had not fallen in love with helplessness.
That would be too simple.
He fell in love with being needed.
May you like
Then became threatened when being needed stopped guaranteeing obedience.
That was the engine underneath everything.
