"You stayed."
"I am your wife," she replied simply.
Something changed then. Not passion, but confidence.
A constant and silent devotion.
Years passed. Their house was warm, but the laughter of children was missing.
One day, Matilda asked, "Arthur... what if we adopted?"
A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes. "If that's what you want."
“Yes,” she said. “You choose your family.”
They adopted a frightened little girl named Ella. Then, two more children: Liam and Mia. The house, once silent, echoed with voices, footsteps, shared meals, and a love that needed to resemble no one else's.
In town, people whispered, gossiped, and judged. But their words never crossed the threshold of the Shaw house.
Matilda had been sold. But in the end, she had won.
She had found a home.
A companion.
Children.
A life she had chosen and protected.
"Love takes many forms," Matilda used to tell her children.
"Ours was simply different. And that's what made it so special."
