“You mean your wife,” I tell him, and it suddenly hits me. I mean, it hit me four months into the relationship when I found out he had a wife. But he promised me he was leaving her. She was his high school love, and it would take time, but he loved me. And only me. It. Was. All. A. Lie.

He continued to woo me with exotic vacations when he knew I was fed up, but I can’t blame him. I have to take the blame myself.

“Mon amour.” My love. He uses my nickname, and I shake my head. “You know I’m working on it.”

“Really?” I ask him. “From the looks of it, she’s about eight months pregnant, so you must really be working on something,” I tell him. The color drains from his face, and I laugh bitterly. “I mean, the writing was on the wall really.”

“I can explain,” he says. I push him away from me and stand. Going to the window, I look out, refusing to show him how much he just hurt me. I won’t give him that. I blink it away and push it down, then turn to look at him. He stands there with his hands in his pockets, wearing his gold Rolex—a birthday present from me—on his wrist. I wonder how he explained that to her, or maybe he didn’t have to.

“What can you explain?” I ask him but then just continue talking. “How, for the past eighteen months, you strung me along by saying you were leaving her?” My voice rises a bit. “How, for the past fucking eight months, she was pregnant with your child, and you didn’t bother to mention it? Nothing!” I shout the last part. “I waited for you and believed you.”

“I love you, Vivienne, with every—” He starts to talk, but I stop him.

“Would you just cut the bullshit?” I finally snap angrily. “For once, why don’t you just admit it? Just admit I was your mistress.”

“You know you’re more than that,” he says. “You have to know.”

“I’ve been sitting here for the past four hours thinking about what excuse you must be giving her. Wondering if she suspects that you’re a liar and a cheater, or are you just that good?” I put my hands up. “I mean, I believed you every single time you walked away saying it was almost over.”

“She got pregnant by accident,” he says, and I suddenly see how fucking stupid he sounds.

“By accident, you mean your dick fell into her vagina or what …?” I shake my head.

“You know that isn’t what I mean,” he says. “I was going to leave her, you know that, and then she got pregnant, and I didn’t know how to tell you.”