From a hotel room three time zones away, I flicked our living room lights on and off just to make him laugh. He didn't laugh. He called me screaming.

She swore every long afternoon was spent at her mother's kitchen table. The tablet she left behind kept a quieter, more honest record.

He started tracking his sleep to fix his snoring. One quiet Tuesday morning, I pressed play on the night's recording out of plain curiosity.

He blamed late shifts for the empty side of the bed. The navigation app remembered every turn he swore he never took.

She told him it was a grow lamp for her fig tree. He believed her completely. Three nights later, the motion alert buzzed at 4 a.m.

My wife told me over a half-eaten sandwich, the way you'd mention rain on the way. Then she explained what the dinner parties had really been for.