You told me you were making her leave so we could remodel!” Luca did not even look at her.

His eyes were locked on mine, and the panic was finally, fully breaking through the arrogant facade, the smooth executive dissolving in real time into a frightened man.

“Jessi,” he said.

“We can talk about this.

You can’t just throw me out in front of the kids!” And there it was, the breathtaking gall of it, the man who had packed my bags and stood on the porch with his mistress to end our marriage in front of our children, now invoking those same children, as though their presence were a shield only he was allowed to hide behind.

I did not raise my voice.