An idea for a melodramatic plot

And because she loved him, she could not take the leap - it would ruin his carefully ladden future, it would cripple him. And so she stayed and married another and never sighed and carried herself stoically. And so he went and climbed to heights unthinkable and to sights of glory and to halls of silence. Their eyes met everyday - there was no word exchanged that did not carry the weight of their sacrifice.