My name is Maria and you may want to judge me — find me wanting, but I need love just like you do. I’m a woman of means with a profession and an independent income. I know how to spend my husband’s money so my lifestyle is probably more lavish than yours and you think it should make me happy. Money does not guarantee that the heart is satisfied and there is no happiness unless the heart is full.

He intrigued me, and the more I learned about him, the more I wanted to know.

I stayed with my husband out of habit — we occupy the same space, but we live independent lives. I don’t make him happy, and he barely knows I’m alive.

To fall in love at my age is a wonder in itself.

I know he loves me, but it’s not that simple. First, he must decide what he wants, and if I’m lucky, that will be me.