I feel like I’ve been slapped, but at the same time, anger makes my nails bite into my palms. That fucking liar told his wife I tried to sleep with him. Is this some crazy dream? Am I still in bed with Easton? Maybe I fell asleep and only dreamed about making excuses to leave. Maybe I haven’t actually left for Chicago yet. But I swallow, lift my chin, and say what I have to say as clearly as I can. “I don’t know what your husband told you, but I’m only here because I thought you deserved to know the truth. George and I have been sleeping together. Until last week, we were in a relationship.”

“Sure you were.” She sighs. “You’re a lovely girl, and I know why you’d be interested in my husband. I wasn’t surprised when he told me you came on to him. You’re not the first student to get romantic delusions.”

My face is so hot, and I can’t decide if I’m embarrassed or angry or some other emotion that strikes in the middle of this Bizarro World alternate universe I’ve found myself in. She truly believes that George turned me down and I’m here because I’m jealous.

“I know it can be intense to finish a dissertation, and I’m sure you’re dealing with a lot of emotions right now. But I’m not sure what you hoped to accomplish by barging in here and trying to ruin a good marriage. Do you think this will make him want you?”

I grab my purse off the floor and slip it onto my shoulder. “I’ll leave now.” I stomp toward the door but stop when my hand is on the handle. Slowly, I turn around. “If you knew the truth, if you’d listen, you’d be as angry with him about this as I am.”

“Child—”

“No. You don’t get to treat me like a little girl. I’m thirty years old. This isn’t about me having some crush on your husband. The problem here is that he never told me he was married. Not when he started sleeping with me. Not after. I didn’t know about you until last week.” Her jaw drops, and I think I’ve finally shocked her, but I push past my mild satisfaction at that and keep going. “If you were wise, you’d hear me out. We both deserved to know the truth, especially considering he and I were having sex without condoms. By keeping the full truth from me, he denied me the choice that should’ve been mine to make, and now I’m pregnant with a married man’s baby.”

“You’re . . . pregnant?” She’s pale. She actually looks like she might be sick.