PART 13 – The Decision to Try Counseling and the Question We Could Not Avoid

Dereck asked again whether I would attend marriage counseling.

By then, the loan application was closed and our financial records were organized.

I agreed to three sessions, with no promise beyond that.

We chose a counselor who was not connected to either family.

At the first session, Dereck described feeling unsuccessful beside me.

I had been promoted twice.

He had changed jobs and watched several business ideas fail.

He said Adam's investment plan had felt like a chance to become the person he thought I wanted.

"Did I tell you I wanted you to borrow against our home?" I asked.

"No."

"Did I tell you your work wasn't enough?"

"No."

He stared at his hands.

"I told myself that."

The counselor let the silence remain.

At the second session, we discussed the airport.

Dereck said he had genuinely forgotten the passport while hurrying to finish work before our trip.

He admitted that his panic escalated when I called Mom because he knew the file was in the bedside drawer.

I told him I could not know whether his account of forgetting was true.

He listened.

He did not demand that I believe him.

At the third session, the counselor asked what repair would look like.

Dereck spoke about being transparent with accounts and asking before making commitments.

I spoke about the exhaustion of checking everything myself.

"I don't want to become your supervisor," I said.

"I know."

"And I can't be your partner if every no becomes something to maneuver around."

He nodded.

I wanted to feel moved by the conversation.

Mostly, I felt tired.

Afterward, we walked through the parking lot together.

"Do you think there's a chance?" he asked.

"I think you're finally hearing me."

"Isn't that a chance?"

I stopped beside my car.

"It might be. But it isn't the same as trust."

He accepted that answer.

We scheduled one more counseling appointment, then agreed to reconsider.

No one called it a breakthrough.

We had only begun to speak honestly about the damage.

Click here to continue reading: PART 14: A Letter from the Investigator and the Business Deal That Fell Apart