Eight thousand dollars, she said proudly.
I knew about that necklace.
I had seen the charge appear on our shared credit card account.
The account that received its deposits from my supposedly meaningless job.
When Richard Walked Through the Door
His car pulled in quickly, the way it does when someone believes they are responding to something urgent.
The front door opened.
He walked in still speaking mid-sentence about whatever emergency he had imagined.
Then he stopped.
His eyes found Alexis first.
The color left his face in a way I had never seen in twelve years of marriage.
A second later he looked at me.
The silence between the three of us lasted only a few seconds.
It felt much longer than that.
Alexis stood up from my sofa with a bright smile.
“Surprise,” she said.
Richard did not move or speak.
I kept my arms folded and my voice completely level.
“Your girlfriend was kind enough to walk me through how things work around here,” I said.
He started to say my name.
I shook my head once.
“You will have time to explain everything while you pack,” I said quietly. “Tonight you are leaving this house.”
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