I rang the bell.
A little boy opened it.
Small… and painfully familiar.
A second later, a woman appeared behind him.
“Hello, my money, they—”
She looked at me closely and cut me off.
“Finally, you’re here! You brought the money for Benjamin’s school, right?”
I froze and managed to say, “…What on earth is going on?”
The woman blinked at me, and all the color drained from her face.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The little boy looked from her to me, confused, one hand still resting on the doorframe. Up close, I could see it even more clearly. His eyes. His mouth. There was so much of Tanner in his face that it made my stomach twist.
The woman gently touched his shoulder.
“Benjamin, sweetheart, go to your room for a minute.”
He hesitated. “But Mama, who is she?”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. “Just go on, baby.”
He padded away, and the second he disappeared down the hall, she stepped back and opened the door wider.
“Come in,” she said quietly.
I should have turned around.
I should have walked away and screamed and broken something and called Tanner until my voice gave out. But there was something in her face that stopped me. She did not look smug or defensive. She looked tired. The kind of tired that lives in your bones.
I stepped inside.
The apartment was small but neat, filled with the sort of care that told me a child lived there. Tiny sneakers by the wall. Crayons on the table. A school drawing hung on the fridge with the name Benjamin written in clumsy letters.
She motioned for me to sit.
“I’m Naomi,” she said.
I stared at her. “How do you know my husband?”
The question came out sharper than I intended, but she did not flinch. Instead, her brow furrowed.
“Your husband?” she repeated.
My lips trembled. “Tanner. Tanner is my husband.”
For a few seconds, she looked like she could not breathe.
Then she sat down across from me and pressed a hand to her chest.
“He told me everything was agreed,” she whispered. “He said you knew.”
I felt cold all over. “Knew what?”
“That he was supporting his first family.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “That you and he had some kind of arrangement. He said you had chosen not to meet me because it would make things complicated.”
