“Is there anything going on that I need to know about?” I asked.
He paused.
“What do you mean?”
“Work. Us. Anything you’ve been avoiding.”
He looked straight at me.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Of course.”
“Everything’s fine, Maddie.”
That killed the last of my hesitation.
I’d given him a clean chance.
He chose another lie.
At dinner, Mom held Sophie while everyone talked easily.
Then Eve looked at me.
“Elon said you might stay home with Sophie a little longer.”
I turned toward him.
“You told them that?”
“I said we’d been talking about it.”
“We have.”
I set down my fork.
“I’m going back to work.”
Elon looked at me sharply.
Nobody stepped in.
Nobody answered for me.
Later, Elon followed me into the kitchen.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“About my own decision?”
His mouth tightened.
“We’re married, Madeline.”
“Then why am I hearing it at dinner?”
I looked at him.
“That’s a very interesting complaint.”
His expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
I picked up my water glass.
“You’ll understand in a minute.”
walked back into the dining room.
“I want to make a toast.”
Conversation stopped.
Elon stood near the doorway for a second, then sat.
I looked at Mom, Dad, his parents, then my husband.
“I had a different anniversary speech planned.”
Elon’s face tightened.
“This week, I called Elon because I wanted to know whether he’d be home for dinner.”
“Madeline.”
“He thought the call ended.”
The color left his face.
His mom lowered her glass.
I kept going.
“I heard him talking to a woman named Sierra.”
Elon shifted in his chair.
“You told her I was driving you insane. You complained because I sent you pictures of Sophie.”
“Maddie, stop.”
My voice stayed calm.
“You told her you hated me. Then you said you’d divorce me and marry her.”
His dad looked at him.
“Is that true?”
Elon rubbed both hands over his face.
“She heard part of a private conversation.”
“I heard enough.”
“Things were said.”
“You kissed her.”
His head snapped up.
“I was venting.”
“Did venting require kissing her too?”
Silence.
That was the first real answer I’d had all week.
Then Elon pushed back from the table.
“You have no idea what the last few months have been like for me.”
