The name "Phyllis" was a dagger that pierced Alice's heart. She had first heard it from the woman Raymond had brought home that night, a woman who had looked at her with a blend of smug satisfaction and condescending pity—as if she were some pitiful creature oblivious to her own misfortune.
"Oh, you poor thing," that woman had said, her voice dripping with condescension. "You don't actually think you're Raymond's one and only, do you? Let me tell you something, his heart left you long ago. Phyllis is his true love now."
And now, Alice heard the name again from another woman, with the same condescending tone, the same pity-filled gaze.
Juliana, with her perfectly styled waves and polished demeanor, delicately lifted her ornate coffee cup and took a sip before saying, "I'm surprised he di
