“We needed it, Dad.”

“Our whole life was about to fall apart.”

“If we lost the house, I wouldn’t have been able to show my face at the ladies’ auxiliary.”

“I would have been nothing.”

The General stood up straight.

He adjusted the cuffs of his service uniform.

His face was hard as granite.

“You valued your country club membership over the honor of this family,” my father said to Claire.

“And over the law,” the General added.

Claire buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

My mother stood beside her, frozen, looking from Claire to me.

For the first time in my life, my mother did not move to comfort her favorite daughter.

She looked at me, her eyes filled with a mixture of shame and confusion.

“Emily,” my mother whispered.

“I didn’t know.”

“I swear I didn’t know they were doing this.”

“You didn’t want to know, Mom,” I said.

“You just wanted to believe everything Claire told you.”

“You wanted to believe Andrew was the successful officer.”

“And that I was just the difficult one.”

My mother did not answer.