Margaret finally broke the seal. Robert’s letter began with an apology. He knew that if she was reading his words, one of his secrets had finally reached her. But Evelyn Carter had never been his lover. For fourteen years, Robert had secretly helped finance Evelyn’s ovarian cancer research. Margaret’s mother and sister had both died from the disease, and Robert had lived with the fear that Margaret might someday face the same diagnosis.

Without telling her the full reason, Robert had arranged genetic testing and medical screening. He believed he was protecting Margaret from years of unnecessary fear. Evelyn confirmed that Margaret’s genetic results had fortunately been negative. But another detail changed everything. During the screening, an ultrasound had detected a small cyst on Margaret’s left ovary. Somehow, after Robert’s death, nobody followed up on the finding. The tiny abnormality remained unnoticed for twelve years. Now doctors believed the enormous mass filling Margaret’s abdomen was the same cyst. Robert’s secret had not been an affair. It had been an attempt to protect his wife.