My husband sent another woman a huge bouquet of white roses and pink peonies with a card signed “Love, Daniel,” and by one careless mistake, those flowers arrived at our house instead.

could only nod.

Chapter 4: The aftermath

We talked for three hours, pausing to cry or sit in silence. Daniel admitted the emotional affair preceded Chicago: coffee after meetings, late-night messages, private jokes, complaints about work, then complaints about us. He said Laura hadn’t pursued him. I believed that much, not from trust but because I refused to cast him as the victim of a seductress. Daniel had married me and made the vows. Laura’s responsibility was her own; his belonged here.

I asked, “What did she know about me?”