Chapter 4: What Diane Knew
Diane spotted me a second later.
Her expression didn't change.
That was the thing about Diane — it never did.
Twenty years I had known that woman, and I had never once been able to read her face.
She walked toward us at the same pace she always moved.
Measured.
Controlled.
Claire stayed two steps behind her.
"I didn't know you'd be here," I said to Diane.
"Nathan asked me to come."
I looked at Nathan.
"I asked her to tell you herself," he said.
"I thought you deserved to hear it from the person who actually did it."
Diane stopped in front of me.
She was wearing a gray coat, pearl earrings.
She looked exactly like she always did.
Like someone who had never done anything wrong in her life.
"What is he talking about?" I said.
Diane was quiet for a moment.
"Two years ago," she said, "you received a letter.
From a fertility specialist.
It outlined some concerns about Nathan's test results — results that suggested the two of you might have difficulty conceiving naturally without intervention."
I stared at her.
"You never received that letter," she said.
"Because I took it."
The hallway felt very small.
"You were already trying," she said.
"You were hopeful.
I didn't want you to carry that worry on top of everything else."
"That wasn't your letter to take."
"No.
It wasn't."
"We lost that pregnancy, Diane."
"I know."
"And for two years I thought it was something I did.
Something wrong with me." My voice was steady.
I was surprised by how steady it was.
"I went to three different doctors.
I blamed myself every single day."
Diane's chin lifted slightly.
Her eyes were dry.
"I made a mistake," she said.
"You made a choice," I said.
"There's a difference."
Claire stepped forward then.
She was quiet, composed — but her eyes were fixed on Diane with an expression I recognized.
It was the look of someone who had been waiting a long time to be in this room.
"She told me," Claire said to me.
"Three weeks ago.
When she found out Nathan had filed for divorce, she called me.
She said she needed to fix something before it was too late."
"Why did she tell you?"
"Because I'm the one who found the letter." Claire reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope — old, slightly creased.
"It was in a box of Nathan's things she'd been storing.
She didn't know I'd seen it."
She held it out to me.
I didn't take it right away.
I looked at Diane.
"Why?" I said.
"After everything — why would you do that?"
Diane was quiet for a long moment.
"Because I didn't think you were right for him," she said.
"And I thought if you struggled long enough, you might leave."
The words landed without drama.
No raised voice.
No trembling lip.
May you like
Just the truth, finally, standing in a courthouse hallway in broad daylight.
I took the letter from Claire's hand.
