I Went to Surprise My Husband at Work—His Colleague Looked at Me With Tears and Asked, “He Hasn’t Told You Anything, Has He?”

I opened it.

Ben’s handwriting covered both sides.

My hands began shaking before I even read the first sentence.

My love,

If you are reading this, then I wasn’t brave enough to tell you myself.

I stopped.

My eyes blurred.

I wiped them and continued.

You have spent eleven years believing I was working too much because I loved my job more than I loved our family.

That isn’t true.

The truth is much worse.

I stopped breathing.

The next line was written darker, as though Ben had pressed the pen hard against the paper.

For the past eleven months, I have been trying to save someone who cannot be saved.

I read the sentence again.

Then again.

A noise escaped my throat.

“Arnold…”

He stepped closer.