LOGIN"Finish that sentence." My voice cut across hers. A beat passed. A shift crossed her eyes. Then she said it anyway. "Cleaned houses for people like us." The room went completely quiet. "My mother." I stopped. "Worked with her hands for people who believed that made her less than them. People exac
Alicia’s POV The pen was in my hand. I hadn't moved since the door closed. The page in front of me, the same line, and now I knew someone had been observing me return to it, watching long enough to count each return. I had spent three years believing he never saw the parts that weren't performed.
"He also mentioned Vera Sorel has made her attendance at the follow-up conditional on yours," I said, letting the other piece of the weight land between us. "He wanted me to know that." The pen halted in her hand. She took a breath, slow, through her nose, and the line of her throat moved once befo
Edward's POV Phillip arrived at twenty past ten. He settled into the chair across my desk and set his coat on the arm of it. The draft was already in his hand before he opened his mouth. "Signed and filed as of this morning. Your name on the minority position. Clean." He set a single folded page
"I don't know." "You said it to him. Not here." The pause that followed remained too long to be casual. "What are you afraid of?" I didn't rush it. "That I'm seeing it right. And it still falls apart anyway." She shook her head slightly. "That's not uncertainty. That's you refusing to close y
Alicia's POV Elena didn't turn when I came in. She was at the counter, spoon hovering over a bowl she hadn't touched in a while. The kettle had gone cold long enough to feel intentional. My bag hit the floor by the door. She didn't look at it. "You came back wrong." "I came back two days ago."
Edward's POV The meeting with the associate had been efficient, the sort of thing that left no residue. Two hours of facts, signatures, and promises to circulate documents. He'd arrived in a rental with a driver. I had watched him leave before I did. That was all I had needed for now. No dramatics.
“You can get dressed. I’ll be right back.” I wiped the gel away and stared at the image in my hands. A raspberry with a heartbeat. I pressed my hand over my mouth. Don’t cry. Dr. Patel came back and handed me a prescription. “Prenatal vitamins—one daily. Small meals for nausea: crackers, toast
Alicia’s POV I stayed in the kitchen long after the sound of Edward’s car faded. The coffee in my cup had gone cold. I hadn’t taken a sip in fifteen minutes. I’d seen it, the way his mouth opened, the pause, the subtle hesitation before he turned away, then the door closing behind him. That soun
“Thank you.” Thank you. Like I’d done him a favor. Like this was a choice. He moved past me toward the stairs and paused at the first step. “Have you eaten?” The question landed wrong. Absurd. As if we were normal. As if concern meant anything this late, this hollow. “Not yet.” “You shoul







