Two months after divorcing my wife, I found her sitting alone in a hospital hallway wearing a patient gown

have.

“After the last miscarriage,” she said slowly, “the doctors found something.”

I looked down at the file again, even though the words were blurring.

“What kind of something?”

“A tumor.”

The word landed with a weight I wasn’t ready for.

I heard it, understood it, and still my mind refused to accept it.

“A tumor,” I repeated, because it was the only thing I could say.

Dr. Keller’s expression softened. “It was discovered during follow-up testing after the pregnancy loss. At first, we needed more imaging to understand what we were dealing with.”

I stared at Sophie.

“You knew before the divorce?”

She flinched.

That was my answer.

A cold, hollow ache opened in my chest.

“You knew,” I said again, quieter this time.

Sophie lowered her eyes.

“I found out around the time you asked me for the divorce.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, that doesn’t