I lift my fist to knock on the wooden door, but it opens before I can, and I’m suddenly standing in front of the woman I saw George kissing in his front yard. Her long blond hair is tied back today, and the glasses on the tip of her nose rise higher when she scrunches up her face in a frown.

“Can I help you?”

“Um, yes. I’m . . . Yes. Dr. Reddy, my name’s Shayleigh Jackson. I was wondering if we could speak privately?”

Sighing, she rolls her shoulders back and presses her office door open, gesturing me inside. “I was going to get some coffee, but I suppose that can wait.”

“Thank you.” My voice shakes and I fear I might throw up on the lovely blue and gray rug covering her office floor. So, this is what it feels like to destroy a family. I’m a walking, talking time bomb, and she’s just invited me into her office.

She waves to the gray armchairs just inside the door and waits for me to sit before she takes the one opposite me. “You’re George’s PhD candidate, is that right? I understand you’ve really blown away the whole committee with the work on your dissertation. George is very proud of you.”

Bile rises in my stomach. She’s not making this any easier. “I’m surprised he talks about me at all,” I admit.

“Oh, of course he does. George lives and breathes for his graduate students. You’ve been a bit of a passion project for him the last couple of years.”

You have no idea. “Have you and he . . . been together long?”

She smiles. “It’s all relative, I suppose. We’ve lived together for ten years or so, been married for five. Our daughter is four.”

I feel lightheaded, and the room feels like it tilts sideways. I gulp in air.

“You look a little pale, darling. Can I get you some water?”

“No, I’m fine.” I just want to get this over with. “I’m really sorry to come here like this, Dr. Reddy. I want you to know that I thought a long time before I decided to come.”

She arches a brow. “Okay.”

“Before I say anything else, I want you to know that regardless of what you decide to do, I don’t like being in this position. Family is everything to me. But I had to come.”

She folds her hands in her lap and studies me with a tilt of her head. “Maybe you should start at the beginning. You’re not making much sense.”