“My husband texted from vegas: ‘just married my coworker. You’re pathetic BTW.’ I replied: ‘cool.’ Then I blocked his cards and changed the house locks. Next morning, police were at my door…”

Ethan puffed his chest the way he did when he wanted to seem like the steady reasonable man in a room full of women overreacting around him. He had gotten good at that posture over the years. Hands on hips. Jaw tight. Voice lowered rather than raised, so any emotion on my part looked like instability against his composure.

“Look,” he said, “I get that you’re hurt, but you can’t just shut me out. This house is—”

“This house,” I cut in, “was purchased three years before I met you. Your name isn’t on the deed. Never was.”

He went white for half a second, then flushed so fast the red rose up from his collar.

Margaret hissed like I had insulted the monarchy. “We’ll call the police again. You can’t erase a marriage in one night.”

“Funny,” I said, “that’s exactly what Ethan did.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “So dramatic.”