Who was I kidding? It wouldn’t matter what was on the video. Nothing would change how he felt about her. It’d been almost a month, and we had never had a conversation about how this would affect our relationship. Not once. He hadn’t asked how I was doing or what I was feeling. Not a single compassionate comment hinting that he’d thought of how difficult it might be for me during all this. If proving that she was lying and sneaking around our house at night wouldn’t change his perception of her, then nothing would. That much I knew for sure.

I was the replacement wife, and, like any good replacement wife, my time had come to an end. I had never stood a chance once Kate came back into the picture. My services were no longer needed. I wanted to collapse into a heap of tears on the kitchen floor, but I forced myself to get up. I couldn’t be a mess when he got home. I had to hold on to my last shred of dignity.

I let out a deep breath and wiped away the mascara smeared underneath my eyes. What would I do without Scott? I willed my body to move. I’d been through crisis before. The key was to focus on what was directly in front of you at the time and do it. All I needed to do at the moment was pack a bag. I’d figure out the rest from my hotel room.

My luggage was in the garage, stacked next to the plastic containers of Christmas decorations and boxes of old photo albums. I grabbed a suitcase and headed back inside. I didn’t notice Scott’s car in the driveway and almost ran into him on the landing of the stairs.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, with his hands on his hips.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I hadn’t meant to sound mean. It just came out that way. I moved past him and into our bedroom.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t leave.” He reached for my bag, and I twisted away from him.

“You won’t even notice that I’m gone.” The sadness of the moment seeped into me.

“That’s not true, and you know it,” he said.

I turned my back on him and started opening my dresser drawers, trying to keep my emotions at bay so I could think straight. I needed to pack enough things so that I wouldn’t have to come back to the house for at least a week. I needed time to think, and I couldn’t do that here. Not when I had to see him every day or watch how he interacted with Kate. He placed his hand on my back.

“Meredith, please stop,” he said tenderly. “Will you just turn around and look at me? For a second, please?”