She lowered her eyes.
“Tonight you told me you had an appointment with a divorce attorney.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You could have started with the truth.”
He picked up his coat.
Before leaving, he turned to me.
“Claire, I’m sorry we had to meet this way.”
I nodded.
“So am I.”
He hesitated.
“Thank you for telling me what was happening.”
I looked at him.
“I wish there hadn’t been anything to tell.”
He left.
Vanessa followed a few minutes later, after confirming she’d speak with him about Noah’s upcoming schedule.
Then Ethan and I were alone.
The cake plates were still downstairs.
The decorations I’d hung for his birthday were still on the wall.
And the man I’d spent seven years building a family with was sitting in front of me, crying over an affair he’d concealed while criticizing me for noticing.
“Claire, please say something.”
I looked at Ethan.
“What would you like me to say?”
He rubbed his face.
“That we can work through this.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t promise you that.”
“It only happened once.”
“The sex happened once, according to you. The lying happened for months.”
He stared at the floor.
I continued.
