My phone started buzzing before seven. Message after message from neighbors.
Claire, have you seen this?
I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to think.
Is this real?
Vanessa had started sending around screenshots of her text conversations with Irvin.
Can you come over? I need you.
Give me ten minutes.
You’re a lifesaver. ❤️
Anytime.
Laid out like that, with nothing around them, his replies looked warm. Too warm. Like a man answering a woman he cared about.
I didn’t believe for one second that he’d cheated on me. But sitting on the edge of our bed, scrolling through those screenshots, I was furious. Furious that he’d kept answering her for so long. Furious that he’d given her so much material to work with before he finally shut the door.
“You knew she was flirting with you,” I said when he came out of the shower. “I told you. Why did you keep going over there?”
