Disparity
Had John ever loved Vera, he didn't know. He'd been attracted to her, yes, as any moth is to a hellish inferno. But if she'd ever held a place in his heart, it was easily dwarfed by Anna.
There was no end to the ways the two women differed. Where Vera's venom had always made him grateful for his sharp tongue, Anna tested his vocabulary's ability to voice his adoration. Where once Vera made him glad to be a large man, able to endure her many physical abuses, Anna made him thankful for his stick when her smile made him weaken at the knees.