Ethan stared at the floor.
"Four months ago," Claire repeated. "He was taking vitamins because his doctor told him to. We had an appointment with a specialist in October. I have the paperwork upstairs."
Vanessa looked physically stunned. "You told me you hadn't slept together in almost a year." Mason swore under his breath.
Ethan raised his hands again. "I lied. Okay? I lied. I was trying to keep two situations separate."
Claire's laugh was immediate and disbelieving. "Two situations? One of them was your marriage."
"I know that." "No, you know it now because they're standing in the same room." That sentence stopped him.
Claire realized as she said it that this was the heart of what had happened. Ethan's confidence had depended on compartments. Claire belonged to the house, to family dinners, mortgage payments, Sunday groceries, grief, history, and the future. Vanessa belonged to hotel bars, secret messages, flattering conversations, physical desire, and the fantasy of a life without consequences. He had not chosen between them because he had believed he could preserve both by ensuring the women never occupied the same space.
Now they did. There was no version of him that could survive intact in both stories at once. Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest. "Were you ever going to leave her?"
Ethan looked at her. "This isn't the time." "It seems like exactly the time." "Vanessa."
"You told me after New Year's." Claire's face changed again. "After New Year's?" Vanessa nodded, anger replacing embarrassment. "He said he wanted to get through the holidays so nobody's Christmas would be ruined."
Thomas let out a harsh breath. "Considerate." Ethan glared at his father. "Can you not?"
"Can I not what? Hear about how carefully you scheduled the destruction of your marriage around the holidays?" "Dad." "You don't get to be irritated with me tonight."
Margaret looked at Ethan with an expression he had never seen on her face. Not rage. Disappointment was too mild a word. It was the stunned grief of a parent discovering that adulthood had not transformed a child into the person she believed she had raised.
"Were you going to leave Claire?" she asked. Ethan opened his mouth. No answer came.
Vanessa stared at him. "Wow." "I didn't know what I was going to do." "You knew enough to tell me you did."
"I was confused." "You weren't confused," Claire said. "You were comfortable." He looked at her.
"You had a wife who kept the house running, remembered your mother's appointments, bought your birthday gifts, slept beside you, tried to have a baby with you, and protected your reputation. And you had a girlfriend who made you feel exciting. You weren't confused. You just didn't want to lose either benefit."
Ethan's face tightened. "That's not fair." Every person in the room stared at him. Claire blinked slowly. "Not fair?"