Melinda French Gates is telling her story on her own terms.

Almost four years after she and Bill Gates announced their divorce, the Pivotal Ventures founder writes in her book, The Next Day, about what she called “betrayals” in their 27-year-marriage.

“It takes courage forging a different life,” Melinda, 60, told People in an interview published April 2. “When you change paths, you realize, oh, it’s a big opening.”

Of the biggest lesson she’s learned during her divorce, the entrepreneur added, “You have to stay true to yourself always, right?”

While Melinda mentions that the reason for the divorce is for Bill to share, she writes in the book via People, that seeking therapy “made it possible for me to respond to the betrayals in my marriage without betraying myself in return.”

Melinda and Bill, who are parents of Jennifer Gates Nassar, 28, Rory Gates, 25, and Phoebe Gates, 22, announced the end of their marriage in May 2021. Since, the pair have candidly spoken about their split, with the Microsoft co-founder calling the end of his marriage, “The mistake I most regret.”