He took off his suit jacket and hung it up before reaching for the knot of his tie. “She’s just trying to hurt you. You shouldn’t have read them.”

“Well, I did read them, and now I want to read them again.”

“Why?” He began to unbutton his shirt. Their bodies were less than a foot and a half apart. “Haven’t you been hurt enough?”

“More than enough, but reading those texts made me hate you, and I want to keep hating you.”

“Tough.” He shrugged out of his shirt.

“Give me my phone.” She tried to slip her hand into his pants pocket, but he gripped her wrist, taking the phone from his pocket with his free hand, turning his back on her and blocking her with his body as he began tapping on her display.

“What are you doing?” she screamed. She pulled on his arm. “It’s my phone. You have no—”

“Here.” He turned around, gripped the back of her hand and placed her phone against her palm.

Lina stepped out of the closet and looked down at the phone as she quickly opened the texting icon. “You deleted them! You had no right to delete them.”

“You’re letting her win,” he said. “This is what she wants. This is exactly what she wants.”

“This is your fault,” she whispered as she turned from him. “This is all your fault.”

She crossed back to the bed and pulled back the comforter before lying back down. She listened to drawers opening and closing as he changed clothes and then to the sound of the bathroom door closing. She knew Kim sent the messages to create conflict between them, but knowing it didn’t stop the feeling of deep betrayal gnawing at her from the inside.

“Honey, it’s just more details about an affair you already knew about,” Diane said over the phone the next morning.

“I know, but when I think of those texts, I feel like I don’t know him. It’s like the man I thought he was doesn’t exist. I don’t know the Phil who would write those texts.”

“That’s not true. You’ve been with him for twenty-four years, and you want to redefine who he is because of a four-month lapse in judgment. You have to stop fueling it with your thoughts. He’s a good man who made a mistake. You need to forgive him.”

Adele wasn’t as forgiving. “He’s such a selfish bastard. He shouldn’t just get away with this. You need to fuck someone else. I’m serious.”

Lina laughed through her tears. “You’re insane.”

“No. Everyone else is. Phil needs to know what this feels like. That’s the best way to ensure this never happens again.”