I’m fully aware of how cynical it must seem to so deliberately try to reinfect someone who was cured. Even if there was consent on her part, let’s be very clear: I was a man, gaslighting a woman. I was lying to her to send her back to a violent life because . . . well. I wish there was a way of finishing that sentence easily. I wish I could justify myself with complete confidence. I can’t, acknowledging only how we live in strange and unpredictable times. I’m not proud. And all it took was for me to tell her a story.
