But I also wanted to understand what was true.

We met in a cafe near my lawyer’s office.

Mrs.

Alvarez watched the twins for an hour.

Marissa looked different without the confident smile from the port.

She wore a plain sweater and kept turning an empty cup between her hands.

“He said you were separated before he boarded,” she began.

“He said you were co-parenting and that your marriage had been over for months.”