“I was engaged to him. Now he is preparing to marry my sister.”
Lena laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“Of course he is.”
“I have documents. I don’t know whether you divorced privately or—”
“We are not divorced.”
I heard a child speaking in the background.
Lena asked him to finish homework.
Then returned to the call.
“Send me proof.”
“Of what?”
“The wedding.”
I sent the public announcement.
For a full minute, she said nothing.
Then she began crying.
I almost ended the call.
Instead, I waited.
“He told me he was trying to repair everything,” she said.
“When?”
“Last month.”
My stomach turned.
“Did he visit you?”
“He comes every few months. He says the company keeps him away.”
“Does Vanessa know?”
“I don’t know who Vanessa is.”
I sent photographs.
Lena breathed in sharply.
“I’ve seen her.”
“Where?”
“On his phone.”
We spoke for two hours.
