The silence that followed Raymond’s declaration was so absolute I could hear the frantic hammering of my own heart. His wife? The two words echoed, senseless and horrifying, in the hollow space he’d carved out inside me. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I could only stare, my mind scrabbling for purchase on this new, impossible reality.

It was Lacie who shattered the quiet. A raw, wounded sound tore from her throat, half-sob, half-scream. “Your wife?” she shrieked, her voice ...