She looked at Piper’s face. It was definitely, definitely Piper. She looked happy but slightly uncomfortable. How long were they together? How was she just finding out about this now? Lauren’s mind flipped back to the Welcome Breakfast; Graham had come with her willingly . . . and he’d said nothing about the director of their school being an ex. But Graham had remained in the car during the breakfast. Claimed he had a work meeting. Had he hid out to avoid seeing Piper?

It hit her like a punch to the throat. Lauren had made him read the school literature. She’d leaned over him as he perused it on his laptop, scrolling through all the pictures of the staff. Piper’s name, her picture—she was everywhere on the site. And yet Graham hadn’t let on. This place looks great, he’d told Lauren. I’m in.

Then something else hit her, something more sickening. She thought of the impassioned speech Piper gave at the breakfast. The story of how she’d come to Silver Swans after a bad breakup with her son’s father. And the principles she’d instilled and how she wished that her own child could have attended the school when he was young.

Her brain was muddy. She wasn’t sure she was thinking straight. She grabbed a notepad from the bedside drawer and scrawled the dates on a piece of paper. If the kid was thirteen, he’d been born in 2008. Piper and Graham had gone to Italy in 2007.

Her stomach heaved. She rose quickly and made it to the bathroom just in time to vomit in the toilet. She felt her stomach empty, tears springing to her eyes. When she stood, her head whirled. She grabbed the edge of the sink and took a deep breath. The lie felt like a physical wound.

She stared at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror. Her mouth was a slant. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Her husband had a secret ex-girlfriend and a secret son. Too many thoughts came at once. Why hadn’t the police dug into this? Did Piper know that Graham was here? Why did the relationship end badly? And had she been in touch with Graham all this time?

Lauren took deep breaths. Graham couldn’t have another son. It was one thing to hide an ex, but a thirteen-year-old boy? Lots of people had children from other relationships. Lauren wouldn’t have lost her shit had she known Graham had a family before her. There was nothing to be ashamed of.

And yet there was shame. Lauren could feel it oozing out of her pores. And then another pinprick blinked in her brain—weak at first, but then stronger. Shame came with a whole lot of complicated, heavy feelings. Shame could make you do irrational things. Shame could make you hide things. Shame could make you want someone gone.