Sometimes what I wanted from my lawyer was impossible—her assurance that I was justified in ending my marriage. She had given me no sign she felt this way, or that it was her job to feel any particular way about my marriage at all.

Still, sometimes I wanted to believe that in taking this case, she was somehow—like lawyers in the movies—fighting for my innocence. As if I needed to prove that my leaving was justified in order to deserve any kind of happiness.

In my heart, I knew there was no such thing as innocence. Only the choices I’d made, and the life I built in their shadow.