He began traveling.
His parents stopped visiting.
Before the fire, Brenda Vaughn called me her “model daughter.”
Afterward, she always had an excuse.
Migraine.
Church meeting.
Travel.
Cold.
Anything.
I told myself people were uncomfortable with trauma.
I never considered that they might be uncomfortable with guilt.
PART 3 — THE WOMAN WITH THE FLOWERS
Her name was Simone Blake.
I had met her twice before the fire.
She worked with Derek.
Officially, she was a business-development consultant.
Unofficially, I later learned, she had been sleeping with my husband for nearly a year.
Simone visited me once in the hospital.
She brought white lilies.
I remember because I hated their smell afterward.
She stood beside my bed.
“Elena, I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes moved over my bandages.
Not pity.
Something else.
Fear.
At the time, I thought I was imagining it.
After Derek asked for a divorce, my attorney, Priya Shah, began reviewing our finances.
Three days later, she called.
“Did you know Derek increased the insurance coverage on the rental house?”
“No.”
