Nia stared at the opposite wall. Someone had patched a nail hole and not yet painted over it. A small imperfect circle.
"I feel like a fool," she said. "I feel like a child you managed. I feel like every FaceTime was a performance and I clapped for it."
"You weren't a fool. I was a coward who told himself he was a protector."
"Both can be true," she said.
Amara's laughter burst from the kitchen. Simone's followed, quieter. Nia listened to the sound and tried to decide whether it belonged in her marriage or outside it.
"Is there anything else?" she asked. "Any other secret hiding under this one? Another woman who isn't a realtor? A debt I haven't seen? A health scare? Anything."