I don't let Ksyusha's words hurt me. I don't take them seriously. From any other woman, maybe he would take it to heart, but not from her. My blonde is not like that. She wouldn't leave me because I can't give her healthy children, even if we originally wanted them. And, of course, I would not hide everything from her either, if I had known before.

Now, more acutely than ever, I understand that I just chickened out. Even during this conversation, I lied to her about Alice, and on the way home I told myself that I would tell everything.

“This conversation is not over, Ksyusha,” I tell her,...