"If you truly were only useful, there would be others to take your place. Why does it seem so impossible that he chose to stay?"

But that's not the question she's really asking. The one really meant is the one that comes out soft, and the desire laced within it is nothing physical - it is a desire to understand, to hold a metaphorical hand out, his to accept or reject.

"Do you hold yourself in such low esteem?"

It's hard to make such a choice. There is no perfect outcome, only the one you can live with.