If She Had Known by Marian Myers

She wouldn’t have done it if she had known. At least, that’s what she told me years later. I suspect that, at the time, she did not fully grasp that her actions had consequences.
“But why take the risk?” I demanded. “While you languished in prison, you missed my childhood.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she replied calmly. “It wasn’t personal.”
“Of course, you had a choice,” I exclaimed. “You didn’t have to do it.”
She looked very weary as she thought back over the years.
“No, my darling, it was the only option open to me.”
“You could have walked away,” I argued. “No one has to commit a crime.”
“I did,” she concluded, a wistful look in her eyes. “You see, it’s very easy to fall in love with a handsome face, but it’s much harder to stand up to the person who comes with it.”