I continued.
Sasha: And Bram?
Callan: Bram is easy. He believes whatever you tell him.
I sat down on the edge of the bed.
They weren’t just cheating.
They were discussing us.
Our marriages.
Our families.
Our trust.
Like we were obstacles.
Like we were furniture that could be moved when convenient.
Then I found a message from almost nine years earlier.
Sasha:
I shouldn’t have kissed you.
Callan:
You shouldn’t have stopped.
Nine years.
Nine years of lies.Christmases.
Birthdays.
Family dinners.
My children’s birthdays.
My wedding anniversary.
Every time I hugged my sister, I was hugging a woman who had been sleeping with my husband.
Then I found something from three months before the garden party.
Callan: When the time comes, we’ll tell them together.
Sasha: And Bryony?
Callan: She’ll eventually understand.
Eventually.
As though my entire marriage was something I would eventually get over.
I kept scrolling.
Then another message appeared.
Sasha:
What about the money?
I frowned.
Callan:
I’ll handle it.
Sasha:
And the house?
Callan:
She won’t fight me if I do it carefully.
My stomach tightened.
I read it again.
The bedroom door opened.
I looked up.
Callan stood there.
His hair was wet.
He looked at the phone in my hand.
He didn’t ask what I’d found.
He knew.
“You weren’t supposed to find that.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
I put the phone on the bed.
“You weren’t supposed to get caught.”
He closed his eyes.
“Bryony…”
“How long?”
“I told you.”
“No. You lied.”
“I was scared.”
“You weren’t scared when you were doing it.”
He looked at me.
“I love you.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t say that.”
“I do.”Then what was she?”
He said nothing.
“What was my sister?”
He sat down.
“I don’t know.”
I stared at him.
“You don’t know?”
“It was complicated.”
“Nothing about this is complicated.”
I pointed at the phone.
“You made it complicated because you wanted two lives.”
He rubbed his face.
“I tried to end it.”
“When?”
“Many times.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
He looked away.
I understood.
“You didn’t want to.”
He didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
PART 4 — THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Sasha came to the house the next morning.
She knocked twice.
I opened the door.
She looked exhausted.
