. Jess was hysterical, accusing me of destroying everything. I tried to explain, to say I didn't know wh

ation. My parents eventually left, their disappointment

stomach, crying out in pain. I rushed her to the clinic, the same one w

o sorry. Jessica... she was pregnant. The stress, th

ny, impossible flicker of hope ignited, then was instantly extinguished by the word "miscarr

ess, but I had also, in her eyes and now mine, been responsible fo

perfectly. She lay in bed, pale and weak, refusing to

cking on Jess. She' d look at me with

ly spoke to me, her voic

"But I' m willing to try, for the memory o

on it after my "infidelity." They were wealthy, image-conscious people from a Dallas suburb,

ul again, if there was any hint of impropriety on my part, Jes

. "If you want any chance of us surviving

even hesitate. What were assets compared to the pain I' d supposedly caused? I signed it. I signe

osed. The emotional distance was a chasm now, wider and deeper than ever. I felt like I was living with