Even Tina couldn't quite articulate the fleeting panic that, in that moment, became tangible.

She felt like a caged eagle, majestic and beautiful, with a free and unyielding spirit and a clear mind, seeing through the life she had no choice in.

She had convinced herself to spend a lifetime tied by convenience to a man devoid of love, indifferent to whomever he might emotionally cherish or physically be with. That was why she laid out those clear-cut terms at their first meeting.

She wasn't looking for love in this marriage but to safeguard the Watson family's interests and her dignity.

But if she fell in love with her husband, her desires would change inevitably.

She could tolerate a husband who shared her bed but not her heart, where there was no affection, only mutual benefits, but not one who couldn't reciprocate her feelings. She could no longer calmly accept the idea of Phillip having affairs.

In truth, she harbored an extreme purity of spirit and body, wishing he would remain faithful. If other women appeared in his life, she'd lose her mind, becoming a hysterical, jealous wife.

She didn't want to be like that, too ugly and sad.

standing quietly

scarf around her neck was

the sad trajectory of her future

she finally looked up, her demeanor was as it had been upon

it,"

but never spoke another

slept in her room. The following morning when Phillip

at her door, instructing the housekeeper not to disturb her sleep. She usually woke up around ten, just in time for

if he should have checked on

favorite cake. He noticed she was down, even though he couldn't

told him that Tina had

filled with clothes she'd bought over the past months, not a piece missing. She arrived with just one suitcase and left just as

in Tanzania, capturing the migration of wildebeests across

clumsily following their mothers to drink by the

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