“Yes, Michael.”

“I — I know everything. The test. The fertility clinic.” He choked on a sob, sounding like a small, terrified child. “She played me. They both played me.

It’s Robert’s. It’s his.”

I kept my composure. “I’m aware.”

“I’m so sorry.” The desperation was palpable — a drowning man reaching for a raft he’d set on fire himself. “I was a blind, arrogant fool. You took the blame for me all those years.

You protected me, and I threw you away for a lie. Sarah, please — come back to Chicago. I’ll leave her. I’m evicting them today. My mother wants to beg your forgiveness.