The Name We Gave Our Son

Chloe's marriage to Arthur Sterling ends when she learns he wants to divorce her for his first love, Lily Evans. Even their son, James, has taken to the other woman, calling her "Mom" and asking to be hers. Heart cold, Chloe signs the divorce papers and leaves the country.

Years later she returns for a gathering of old friends, bringing her young daughter, Evelyn. The friends are stunned; they had assumed she was still single. Then a boy of ten or eleven walks in and timidly calls her "Mom." He is James, Arthur's son, and his eyes are red with hope. Chloe greets him gently but distantly, telling Evelyn she has only one child in this life.

Madison reveals that Arthur now regrets marrying Lily, and that James once defended his stepmother fiercely. Chloe listens, drinks, and says little.