My husband sent me from Las Vegas

I read it once. My brain refused to process the words.

Then I read it again.

Then a third time, letting the sheer audacity of his cruelty sink deep into my bones.

I didn’t scream. I didn’t throw the phone across the room. I didn’t burst into hysterical tears. Everything inside of me simply went dead still. The ambient noise of the television faded away.

I typed out a reply consisting of exactly one word.