Claire walked home instead of calling a cab. Along the way she prepared herself for the conversation waiting behind her front door and considered two possible approaches.
She could apologize for the unfortunate joke, pretend nothing had happened, and preserve the evening’s fragile peace.
Or she could ask Andrew directly why an innocent remark had sent him into such a panic.
The first choice promised quiet.
The second offered a chance at the truth.
As she crossed the courtyard, her phone rang. The screen showed the name of her mother-in-law, Margaret.
“Claire, darling, good evening. Do you know where Andrew is? I’ve called several times, but he won’t answer. I’m starting to worry.”
“He left the anniversary dinner before I did,” Claire replied calmly. “He may have gone to see his mistress.”
“What on earth are you saying?” Margaret gasped. “Claire, what kind of horrible joke is that? How can you throw words like that around? Have you no conscience?”
“Margaret, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
But the call had already ended.
Claire grimaced. Margaret had always treated her kindly. She never interfered in their marriage and had done nothing to deserve such an answer.
When Claire reached her floor, she dialed Sophie, her closest friend. With Sophie, she could discuss anything, even the most humiliating nonsense.
“Sophie, hi! You’re never going to believe what happened. Do you know what I blurted out at the anniversary dinner tonight?”
The apartment door suddenly opened from the inside.
Andrew stood on the other side. Judging by the tension in his face, he had been preparing an accusation for some time and was now determined to deliver it in full.
“Finally decided to come home, did you?” he snapped instead of greeting her. “Get this through your head: nobody called you! I checked everything, do you understand?”
Claire stopped, her phone hanging beside her hip.
There was silence on the other end of the line. Not empty silence—she could clearly hear someone breathing carefully.
“So you checked,” Claire repeated thoughtfully. “Interesting. Whom exactly did you question, Andrew? My dentist? The concierge? Perhaps the people at the post office?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“I’m trying to understand the important part. So no one was looking for me because you had already contacted the person who might theoretically have been looking for me? Sweetheart, congratulations. You’ve just exposed yourself. And you did it so neatly, as if you had wrapped your confession in a gift box.”
Andrew sucked in a breath and waved helplessly.
“Couldn’t you have come home first and discussed this like a normal person? Did you really have to shout about some mistress in front of everyone?”
“So the problem isn’t that you’re cheating. It’s where the cheating was mentioned. Fascinating position. Please, go on. I’m listening.”
“Stop mocking me! If you already know everything, then say it plainly!”
Claire removed her coat without hurrying, hung it on the hook, and smoothed one sleeve. Then she turned toward her husband.
“All right. No more riddles. Tell me in order. How long has this been going on? Where do you meet her? Who is she? Start with her name. I always prefer to hear the ending first.”
“You know perfectly well who she is!”
“I want to hear it from you. That way you can’t later claim I invented the whole story.”
Andrew dropped heavily onto the small bench in the entryway. He rubbed both hands over his knees several times before finally breaking.
“Sophie! Her name is Sophie! Are you satisfied now? It’s been going on for six months! And I’ve meant to end it a hundred times!”
Very slowly, Claire lifted the phone to her ear.
“Sophie, darling. Did you hear all of that?”
The answer was a series of short beeps. Her friend had ended the call so quickly, it sounded as though she had dropped the phone in terror.
Andrew stared at the device in Claire’s hand.
His face twisted. He looked like a man who had confidently stepped off an escalator without realizing the next step had vanished.
“You… You were recording us?”
“No, Andrew. When you opened the door, I was speaking to Sophie. The call stayed connected the entire time,” Claire explained, placing the phone on the shelf. “And now let me tell you the most remarkable part. Until tonight, I suspected absolutely nothing. I didn’t know her name, how long this had lasted, or even that anyone existed. I was making a joke at dinner.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s entirely possible. You confessed to cheating, named the woman involved, and I didn’t have to investigate a thing. People say the truth doesn’t need an advocate. Sometimes all you have to do is let the guilty person start defending himself.”
Andrew’s phone began to ring. He glanced at the screen and hissed irritably.
“It’s Mom! What did you tell her?”
“Only the truth, presented in a humorous format.”
“Hello, Mom! Yes… No! There’s no mistress! We’re dealing with something ourselves!” he said nervously before ending the call.