Although I was separated from my husband, I didn't have any particular complaints—but perhaps deep down, I felt a loneliness I couldn't honestly deny. My son, too, might have been feeling the absence of his father, as he gradually began seeking more affection from me. His need for closeness slowly intensified, evolving from simple expressions of love into something with a different, deeper meaning. Before I realized it, I became aware that my son was no longer seeing me merely as his mother, but as another kind of woman entirely.