006 What Is Happening?

(Maya)

I have the coffee tray balanced and I’m about to turn the handle and go in.

“Cole. Marrying her wasn’t a mistake. You needed a child and you needed to keep that child close.” Jade’s voice comes through the door loud and clear.

“No. I should never have married Maya,” he says. Calm. Businesslike. “I just needed someone stupid enough to get pregnant and think I loved them.”

“It isn’t your fault. She was more than willing. Just what we needed. You don’t have to feel guilty for her stupidity, Cole.”

I stand in the hallway with a tray of coffee going cold in my shaking hands and I don’t breathe.

My stomach heaves and I want to vomit. What? What are they saying? What am I hearing?

“I could’ve just gotten a surrogate. If you hadn’t slipped me something, I would’ve been thinking straighter that night. I would not have been getting married.”

“I needed to make sure you didn’t overthink it and change your mind.”

“It’s a disaster, this marriage. A surrogate would have been more straightforward.”

“Surrogates take time. We didn’t have time. Look, no harm done. We get what we need, you can divorce Maya any old time.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Jade hums, low and pleased. “You did what you had to do. Owen needs what he needs. And as his parents, we have to do whatever we need to do to give it to him.”

“What he needs, yes,” Cole repeats, like a contract clause. “And she was convenient. She got was pregnant right away. And that baby’s bone marrow is a match and what’s needed for Owen’s condition.”

Bone marrow? Are they saying Lucy was conceived as spare parts?

“And do you think she is pregnant again yet?” Jade asks. “We may need a back-up if something goes wrong.”

“I tried. We’ll see.”

Oh my God! I’m nothing more than a baby incubator?

I carry the tray back to my kitchen and set it down to stare at my shaking hands.

I tell myself I misheard.

I tell myself stress twists words. I tell myself Jade would never mean any harm.

She’s my mentor. She’s the woman who held my newborn baby and said, I’m proud of you, you’re going to be an incredible designer and mother.

She’s the one who made me go to the doctor for my postpartum depression. She cared. She insisted even when Cole looked at me like I was lying.

Like I wasn’t trying hard enough. She said, here, take this, it’ll help you sleep. You’re so strung out with classes and night feeds, let me take care of you. Maybe you need a gap year.

But I know what I heard just then, and I’m shattered.

What do I do?

***

Cole never came back near me yesterday and neither did Jade.

But I need answers. I went to her design studio to ask about what I heard.

She brushes off my question like it’s nothing.

She’s all smooth tone and careful eyes. “You know how men talk. They never want to admit feelings,” she says, touching my arm. “Especially billionaires who are used to controlling everything.”

“You’re lying. You’ve been lying to me all along. What exactly is this autoimmune condition Owen has?” I challenge.

“Go home, Maya. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask Cole? He’s sure to be home again soon.” She gives a cold smile.

“I will. And know this, I will never let you touch my Lucy.”

But Cole doesn’t come home that night. No call. No message.

The next day, he showed up with Jade trailing behind.

He looks hurt and angry. He looks livid.

“Cole, what is it?”

“You lied. Lucy is not my daughter. I have a report that proves it.”

Jade is behind him, watching smugly.

“Cole.” My voice is sand. “Those results are wrong. You know they’re wrong.”

“I know you embarrassed me,” he says, jaw tight. “I know you lied. I know you won’t drag my name any further.”

“I didn’t—”

“Sign.”

“You promised me forever,” I whisper. “You were my first, my only. She’s your daughter.”

He laughs, dead and ugly. “All I needed was a match for Owen. You even tricked me out of that. I’ve wasted eighteen months on you and your kid.” He grabs my wrist and sticks the pen in my hand.

“Sign, so I can be rid of you for good.”

“No, Cole. You loved me. You love me. I know it. Why would you be so hurt and angry otherwise?”

He falters a little. “I was a fool. I will never be that again. Sign!”

I look at the signature line.

My hand shakes again. I steady it with the other.

I sign because what else can I do?

Right now, I need to get out of here with Lucy. I need to leave. Cole has lied. Even though I know he does love me. I felt it. He is in deep denial.

No matter what crap Jade fed him… He knows Lucy is his, he has too.

How could he believe this report is true?

I look at Jade smiling and I hate her. I hate her so much. She’s taken over my life.

I thought she was my friend.

She was helping me with my interior design degree. She gave me advice.

She’s one of the first female celebrity designers in the city. I looked up to her. She was my hero.

Now the man I loved is looking at me like I’m filth.

He turns and walks away without one look back. That should be the bottom.

It isn’t.

Cole leaves and Jade hangs back.

“Why? Why are you doing this?”

Jade doesn’t say anything. Just gives a cruel smile. “Cole and Lucy are better off without you. He will take her. You’ll never see Lucy again. This is your fault.”

“No. You did this. Somehow. I know it.”

She gets in closer. Her word sharp, “And we will take what we need for Owen. Then we won’t need her anymore.”

Something breaks in my brain. I feel the snap. I hear the voices.

Get Lucy, run!

So I do. I grab her out of her bed. She crying but it’s not as loud as the voice.

Get her away. They are coming for her. Don’t let them get her. You have to end it.

Take her with you. They can’t have her.

I head for the bridge. I’m standing there at the edge with her in my arms.

***

Voices talk around me like I’m not there.

Where am I? I open my eyes.

Nurses? Why?

Then memories come back hard and fast. There’s the bridge. I have Lucy. I’m at the edge. The voice says just do it, jump before they get her.

I sit bolt upright. They both step back.

“Where is Lucy? Where is my baby?” Panic rises inside me.

“Stay calm, Maya. You know where she is. You remember?”

I search back inside my foggy brain. Jade’s voice. Cole has Lucy. Jade and Owen moved into the mansion…

“I need to… I need to see her.”

“Here take your medication. We’ll organize it if you take your medication and eat something today, okay?”

“Okay.”