Page 52 of Insidious

She snorts lightly. “He said he didn’t realise what he was doing. Which, knowing him, was probably true. Men are dense, Luna. They are built differently. You have to spell things out for them sometimes.”

“Men don’t always see the line until you point at it,” she continues, matter-of-fact. “They don’t always understand what counts as crossing it. It’s not because they don’t care, but because they think very differently from us.”

Lily shifts slightly beside me but doesn’t interrupt.

Mum continues, her voice quieter now. “That doesn’t mean you excuse it. It just means you decide what you’re willing to tolerate and forgive, and you make that very clear.”

I swallow, allowing her words to settle inside me.

“And once you’ve said it,” she adds, looking directly at me, “you don’t keep guessing. You make them answer for what they did.”

She softens, brushing Amelie’s cheek with her thumb. “Your brother’s coming back in two months, by the way. His deputation is finishing.”

That brightens my day.

“Really?” I say, something in my heart lifting despite everything. Tony works for MI5, and there are sometimes long periods when he doesn’t call.

“Yes,” she says with a small smile. “You’ll have him around again. That will do you good.”

It would.

Mum stands after a moment, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You talk,” she says quietly, glancing between Lily and me. “I’ll take her for a bit.”

And just like that, she leaves, the door closing softly behind her.

Chapter 14

Luna

Lily waits a second, then exhales. “Right,” she says, shifting into that mode of hers. “I’m on your side. Always. That’s not changing. He has been a little shit, and I want to kick him in his tiny balls. But I’m going to say a few things you may not like.”

I don’t respond, but she takes my silence as permission.

“You’re in one of the highest-risk periods for relationship strain,” she says “Postpartum, especially with what you went through, is brutal. There’s actual data on this. Around two-thirds of couples report a drop in relationship satisfaction after their first child. It’s not a small dip.”

I frown slightly. “So, we’re just … statistics now?”

“No,” she says calmly. “But it means this didn’t come out of nowhere. A lot of couples experience it. Not as extreme as what you went through, but still …” She leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “When one partner is struggling, like you were, it creates emotional distance. Mind you, this is not intentional. Not your fault. But it happens, and the other partner … feels it.”

I stiffen slightly, but she continues before I can interrupt.

“And before you snap at me, this is not me excusing him,” she says. “I’m explaining something we see very often.”

I look away, but she ignores it and continues anyway.

“Infidelity, especially emotional, rarely starts with sex. It starts with emotional dissatisfaction. Stress. Poor communication. Big life changes. Like … having a baby.” She gives me a look. “And men, especially, are terrible at dealing with that. No joke that we are the stronger sex.”

I glance at her.

“Women tend to have multiple emotional outlets,” she says. “Friends like me. Family. People they can talk to. Men? Not so much. Most of them rely on one person—their partner. How do I put this? You and me? We can talk about sex and how good it was. We can use words like cock and vagina and laugh about it. Can you imagine men talking like that? Isaac talking like that to a friend? Not a chance. You are his person. So, when your connection weakens, even temporarily, he will try to substitute.”

I don’t want to hear this.

“Substitute?” I whisper.

She nods. “Not consciously or maliciously, but yes. They reach for something that feels familiar, low-pressure, emotionally available. Someone who doesn’t require them to deal with their failures at home.”

I swallow.