e Fo

ing a project had run over. He presented me with a small, velvet box. Inside was a delicate s

handled for our household finances. I saw the charge from Tiffany & Co. It was for tw

"A gift for my mother," he'd said smoothly. "Her

ng wife, had believed every singl

s ears, catching the sterile fluorescent light of the school hallwa

onnecting dots I

on it weeks ago when she was announced as Ben' s new art teacher. I' d thought it was just prof

es on a desk. The caption: "He knows I'm allergic to eve

pollen allergy was severe, life-threatening. Jaxon knew that better than anyone. He had sat by my hospital bed for hours afte

ar. "Stuck in traffic, but can't wait for my m

y, babe. Going to be super late tonight. Big deadline, yo

wo hours later to a flurry of calls from the school. Ben had been sitting on the steps, all alone,

is knuckles white. "Why didn't you check your phone, Grace? I told you I was busy

erated myself for days, feeling like a failure. I was the stay-a

He was on a date with her. He had let our son sit alone in the cold so he could

replaced by a fury so pure and cold it made my visi

tfield, no longer seeing a flustered girl but a co-conspirator. The cheap

g," I said,

hardened. The victim act was failing, so she was switching tact

question but a fact. "The same day he gave me a bracelet that cost a

y white. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no s

chat, in person she was nothing. A weak, unimaginative

ear another word.

ng in the hallway. My heels clicked decisively on the po

g air, I pulled out my phone. I didn't call

who could give me not

aid, when

d powerful real estate mogul in New York, did not waste time

lp," I said, my

each last summer. A perfect family. A perfect lie. My finger hovered over it for a second,

" I told my father. "Ja

n the other end of the line. Then, his v

g breath. "Our son's fi

this one heavie

as a death sentence. "Tell me everythin