Chapter 5

Five days after the gala, I sat down in front of one camera.

Just the reporter, a lens, and a man who had watched a wife get seated three tables from her own husband and still could not sleep.

The anniversary portrait lay between us: Mason under the banner, Stella at his side, his hand at her waist, her earrings catching the light.

I did not answer the question right away.

I touched the edge of the photo, where the light caught Stella's ears.

"I do not need people to know who I was to him," I said. "I only…