Chapter Five: Tuesdays used to be simple

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• Ex-change    Chapter Thirteen: Red Lights and Mixed Signals

  "She was the kind of person who leaves a mark on every soul she meets."I didn’t need a follow-up to know Damien was talking about his ex.We were still sitting on the hill, the city spread out beneath us like a painting. Maybe it was the quiet, maybe the view—but something about the moment cracked him open.“Her name was Elena,” he said, softer now. “Gentle as her name. Fierce at heart.”He didn’t wait for a response. Just kept talking, like the words had been waiting for an escape route.“I met her while covering a case like the one at the clinic. Her father was involved, but she never flinched. She stood her ground.”He paused.“We started dating not long after. And every moment with her felt like poetry.”He wasn’t looking at me anymore. Just out into the skyline, like the past was painted there.“She moved in. I thought maybe forever was real. Then one night, I came home and—she was just gone. Like someone scooped out part of me and left a ghost behind.”His voice wavered. Not en

• Ex-change    Chapter Twelve: Soft Edges

  There’s nothing scarier for an employee than getting summoned to their boss’s office alone. Especially when there’s nothing scheduled.That was my first thought when the intercom buzzed and Mr. Callahan’s voice said, “Adrianna, can you come to my office?”Callahan isn’t the kind of boss who invites you in for casual chit-chat. If he calls, it means something has either gone very right—or very, very wrong.“Maybe you’re getting promoted,” Jenna said, trailing behind me like my personal anxiety soundtrack.I didn’t bother replying. We both knew there was zero chance of that. Fired? Maybe. Transferred? Possible. Doomed? Likely.“Or maybe,” she continued, trying to match my long-legged panic pace, “he’s assigning you to something big.”“Go back,” I said, cutting her off. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”She lingered at the hallway corner like she didn’t trust me to survive. “Don’t panic,” she whispered, more to herself than to me.I took a deep breath and opened the door to Callahan’s off

• Ex-change    Chapter Eleven: Mistakes in Suits

  The next time I met Eric was nothing short of a scene ripped straight from a romcom.It was a Saturday—the kind meant for staying in, binge-watching trash TV, or complaining to Jenna about our boss over greasy takeout. Or, if duty called, stalking a celebrity for a scandal. Anything but this.Instead, I was stuck in a high-end restaurant on a blind date my mother set up.My date was going on (and on) about a high-profile case he’d won for some CEO, and I was seconds away from using the woman at the table behind me as a mental escape hatch.She was telling her friends how her ex had posted another girl with a heart emoji caption, claimed it was her birthday, and said they were cousins—except she knew the girl. She was a senior back in her school days, and definitely not family.I was this close to turning my chair around to hear the full gist when he walked in.Eric.Wearing a perfectly tailored suit—his signature look—he walked like someone who knew the world watched him and didn’t mi

• Ex-change    Chapter Ten: Repeating History

  Do you think it is okay like thisI used to love my job. It kept me just busy enough to ignore the fact that my personal life was on fire.Wake up. Chase scandals. Expose secrets. Rinse. Repeat.Rich people’s drama always felt safer than my own. But today? Not even a cheating billionaire or a PR crisis can save me from yesterday’s emotional ambush.“You need to end it,” my mom had said.“No,” I’d shot back, like that one word was strong enough to hold back an avalanche.“You don’t want to end up like me, Adrianna.” She only ever used my full name when she was mad—or when she was right.And that’s when I made the mistake of asking the question that didn’t need an answer.“What’s so wrong with ending up like you?”Cue dramatic silence. The kind that echoed with all the things I already knew.She had me young. Unmarried. Loved a man who didn’t—or couldn’t—stay. And when he died, we got nothing. Not a name. Not a dime. Just a life she had to build from scratch.And now I’m out here… pregn

• Ex-change    Chapter Nine: Burden of Secrets

  "What did the doctor say?" "Is she going to be alright?" "They're still running some tests." The voices swirled around me, muffled and distant. I couldn’t tell who was speaking or where I was. My eyelids felt like they were weighed down with lead, and trying to open them was like pushing against a wall. I wanted to move, but my limbs wouldn’t respond. Panic crept in—was this what being paralyzed felt like? My fingers tingled faintly, giving me a flicker of hope. "I'm going to give her a shot," someone said, their voice clinical and detached. My heart pounded. I hated injections—wanted to scream and push them away—but my mouth wouldn’t open, and I felt trapped in my own body. The world around me started to blur even more, voices turning into whispers that faded into silence. Darkness swallowed me whole. When I woke up again, I wasn’t lying down. I was somewhere else—a room that felt both strange and familiar. A warmth lingered in the air, the kind that reminded me of old memories I

• Ex-change    Chapter Eight: When the Past Walks In

  “What do you mean?” I asked Damien, stopping myself from falling back into thoughts of Eric.“You don't really have a choice,” he started, holding up a document I hadn’t noticed before. “I took permission from Mr. Callahan.”If I’d been drinking anything, I would have choked.“You took permission to stalk my ex?”He gave me a look like I was being dramatic. “Correction—our exes. And it’s not stalking if it’s for work.”I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed. On one hand, it wasn’t something worse—like some new twist involving Eric. On the other hand, it meant I’d have to confront reality. And that reality was Eric.Still, some part of me was relieved. Because not knowing anything about the man who might be the father of my child? That was scarier than facing him.“So, do I have your consent to start our field trip tomorrow?” Damien drawled.I rolled my eyes. “Like you care about consent.”He just smirked. “You’re right. I don’t. See you tomorrow.”I didn’t respond, and he s