Slowly, Olivia leaned closer, her voice soft.
"Then what happened next? Did you...take him back? Since he was willing to change?"
At that, June scoffed, almost laughing outright.
"Oh no! God, no. There was no way I could go back to him after that." She waved her hand dismissively, though her smile carried a sharper edge now. "You see, Olivia, in the past, I stayed because I pitied myself."
"I told myself that with my leg, with my scars, with my low self-esteem, no one else would ever want me. I thought if I left him, I'd be abandoned forever."
"...That's why I clung to that miserable marriage for so long."
Her eyes hardened, though they gleamed with a certain victorious light.
"But after seeing him that day, on the ground, blubbering, pathetic, I realized the truth. He wasn't a man. Not in my eyes. He was incompetent, weak, and so unworthy of me. That day, something snapped inside me. I felt...free. Stronger than I'd ever felt before."
