She bites her bottom lip, her eyes blinking furiously. “You knew who I was,” she says. “You came to our house, pretending to be someone else. You were stalking us...” Her voice rises in crescendo.

I need her to be calm and logical, to really listen to me. I nod. “You’re right. I did come to your house. I was curious about who you were. I knew that Seth had relationships with two other women outside of our marriage and I wanted to see...you.”

Her head jerks like I’ve slapped her. “What are you talking about?” She glances at Seth, then back at me.

“Seth and I are still married,” I say.

“You’re insane.” Her voice shakes.

I look at Seth, straining my eyes so wide it feels like they’re going to pop out of their sockets.

“This is what you told her?” I ask him. “She never knew anything about a plural marriage. So was that story just for me, then?”

A muscle jumps in his jaw. I can see by the look in his eyes that I’m right.

“We were living together as husband and wife, in every way,” I say, turning to Hannah.

Hannah starts to cry. Seth reaches for her, but she pushes him away, her sobs filling the apartment.

“Look what you’ve done,” she says to him. “Look what you brought into our lives.”

I look at him for the first time. His mouth opening and closing. Brought into their lives? Seth brought Hannah into mine. I was here first.

For a minute I’m in shock. I picture him as my husband and not this monster. The man I loved, who would kiss me gently on the lips and rub my neck after a long day of work. I cooked him meals and he praised my ability; when something broke in the condo he’d get the toolbox and fix it with me standing over him, feeling pride at how good he was at everything. The hurt rushes through me and then all of a sudden it’s gone, replaced by anger. How dare he. How dare he love me one minute and discard me the next.

Seth’s attention isn’t focused on me. It’s focused on Hannah.

“She’s not well,” he says. “She just got out of a mental hospital. I’m sorry, Hannah... I love you, only you.”

“Not well?” I say. “I was there because you put me there, because you were afraid of what I could say about you.” I turn my attention back to his trembling girlfriend. “He was good to me—or so I thought—and I believed everything he told me. When I lost the baby, I became useless to him. Is that the type of man you want to be with, Hannah? Someone who lies to you, who hits you, who finds other women to meet his sick, insatiable needs. It wasn’t only me,” I say. “He’s been with Regina, too.”

“That’s why you came here?” Seth hisses. “To accuse me of hitting the woman I love? Are you insane? You’re the violent one. You attacked me when I tried to end things with you. We had to move to get away from you.”

“There were bruises on her arms,” I yell at him. “I saw them!”

“I told you what those bruises were from,” Hannah interjects. “I bruise easily.”

I shake my head. “Your eye...you had a black eye that day...”

She looks to Seth, uncertain, and for a moment I think I have her, that she’s going to admit what happened. But then she says something that shocks me.

“We were having sex when it happened. I didn’t want to say that at the time. You and I had just met, and it was embarrassing to say. Seth accidentally elbowed me in the eye.”

I stare at her in disbelief. Why is she still lying? “He shoved me once, when we were fighting. I hit my ear. Maybe he didn’t directly hit you but—”

“Thursday, you came at me, pounding at my chest. I tried to hold you off...you fell...”

Seth’s voice is exasperated, a deep line sliced between his eyebrows. What an actor! Hannah is looking from me to him like she doesn’t know who to believe. I latch on to that, knowing getting her to believe me is the only way to get her away from him.

“No, that’s not the way I remember it.”

He laughs bitterly. “There seems to be quite a lot you’re not remembering,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Why is my name on your house?” I ask. I turn to Hannah. “The house you were living in belongs to me.”

Hannah turns her face away, but Seth’s eyes bug.

“Because it’s your house, Thursday! Your grandmother left it to you.”

“No!” I scream. But somewhere, deep in my mind, I know it’s true. I’d already owned the condo when my grandmother passed away, and I’d offered Seth use of the house while he commuted back and forth from Portland to Seattle. He told me he’d do the renovations I wanted for free, in exchange for staying there while in Portland. A cry escapes my throat. I lift my hand to my neck. My breath is coming out in jagged gasps. How had I not known it was my house—my grandmother’s? Hannah had given me a tour and I’d followed her around the rooms like a stranger.

“Your estate manager put it up for rent,” he says.

I hate the way he’s looking at me: pity and disgust mar his features.

“You’re crazy,” he says. It’s dismissive, a shake of his head. He’s glad to be done with me, he sees me as something to get rid of; he always has.

“No, I’m not.” I’m shivering so hard I can hear my teeth rattle.

He laughs as I stare at him. “Of course you are. You’ve always been crazy. You were obsessed with my ex-wife, just like you’re obsessed with Hannah. We were a mistake, Thursday, that’s all. I liked fucking you, are you hearing me? That’s all you were to me.”

He turns to Hannah just as I grip the side of the sofa with one of my hands. The pain is frightening; I can feel it in my toes...my chest...my eyes.

“Baby,” he says to her, “I made a mistake. Please...”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was her house?” Hannah is backing away slowly, shaking her head.

“I was going to...after I ended it with Thursday. I didn’t want to upset you. The baby... Please, Hannah, it was all a mistake. I’m so sorry.” He’s been caught in another lie. I take a hopeful step toward Hannah and Seth screams at me. “Don’t you come near her!”

“A mistake with what?” I scream. “I’m your wife!”

The room goes quiet as both Seth and Hannah stare at me in horror.

“No, Thursday,” I hear from behind me. “You’re his mistress.”

I freeze, my blood running cold. Turning around, I see Regina standing in the doorway, her purse slung over her shoulder as she looks around uncertainly. Our eyes meet for a second before she locates Hannah crying near the kitchen. She steps inside.