“Solomon was lonely, Natalie!” she snapped, and there it was, the whole of her morality in one sentence.

“You were always working late, always focused on your career — ”

“And teaching Theo that his father would leave him forever if he told the truth,” I said.

“Was that part of your maternal wisdom as well?”

She looked away, toward the window.

“I only didn’t want the boy to ruin his own family.”

“No,” I said, and I leaned in close, so that she would have to hear it properly.

“You nearly broke a little boy’s spirit in order to protect an adulterer.