Chapter 4

A few seconds later, my phone buzzed, and an image appeared on the screen.

A screenshot of the county property record. There it was, in black and white.

Two names listed as owners. Lucas. Ella.

Not mine.

I remembered Lucas calling on the day we got the keys. "I've got the keys."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "You stay and finish work. I'll handle the rest. I'll take care of the deed and everything. Don't worry about it."

It made me feel so warm at the time.

He's so good to me, I thought. He doesn't want me running around, so he's handling everything himself.

I hadn't realized that keeping me out of the way made it easier for him to do what he did.

I put my phone away, hailed a cab, and went straight to Ella's apartment.

The door opened.

Lucas was in gray pajamas with his hair sticking up, like he'd just gotten out of bed.

Ella stood behind him in a matching light gray nightgown.

They looked picture-perfect together. I was the one who didn't belong.

Lucas froze when he saw me, then instinctively shifted to shield Ella.

He'd done it so often it had become automatic. I stood there feeling emptier by the second.

"Freya? What are you doing here?"

I looked at him, then at Ella half-hidden behind him. My voice was steadier than I expected. "Don't you have something to explain about the apartment?"

Lucas blinked, then understood. "It's just a name on a document. You came over at this hour to put me on trial for that?"

He shifted half a step forward, shielding her even more.

"Ella has no one here, and she doesn't feel safe. I put her name on it so she'd feel more secure.

"We're the ones living there anyway. She isn't going to take it from you. Why make an issue of it?"

He said it like it was nothing, like I was the one being unreasonable.

I stepped around him and looked at Ella. "Your name is on the deed with Lucas's, not mine. So pay me back what I contributed."

The color went out of Ella's face, and she tugged at the hem of Lucas's shirt.

Lucas's eyes widened. "Freya, have you lost your mind? She works so hard for her money, and now you're asking her to pay you?"

"She took my apartment, so she owes me that money. If she won't pay it back, I'll call the police and let them handle it."

Lucas's expression changed completely. "When did you become so unreasonable? Do you have to push her like this?"

The anger on his face made my throat close up.

It was almost funny. All I wanted was what was already mine.

But he made it sound as if I was the one being impossible.

"Lucas..." Ella's voice came from behind him.

I looked over. At some point while I wasn't looking, she'd crouched down, both hands pressed to her stomach.

"My stomach hurts so much... The baby... Is something wrong with the baby?"

The baby.

A roar filled my head as I stood there.

Those two words hit like a knife to the chest. For a moment, I was too stunned to feel the pain.

Lucas spun toward me and spoke in a rush, as if afraid I'd cut him off. "Freya, it isn't what you think. It was an accident!

"Something's wrong with her. I have to get her to a hospital now! I'll explain everything later!"

He picked Ella up and ran for the stairs. His quick, uneven footsteps grew fainter in the stairwell, then fell silent.

Tears welled in my eyes.

I closed my eyes and forced back the tears. My throat felt full of broken glass.

All these years, he'd supported Ella and looked after her. I'd kept telling myself he was just being kind, that I couldn't punish him over a suspicion.

We'd built a company from nothing and been through so much together. How could what we had change just like that?

Every time, I made excuses for him. I talked myself out of my doubts, buried every little piece of evidence, and pretended none of it had happened.

But standing in that empty stairwell, I didn't want to do it anymore.

I straightened up, went back to the apartment I'd picked out myself, and boxed up the rest of my things.

I stood in the middle of the living room and took one last look. Then I left without looking back.