Chapter 3

I opened my laptop, typed up my resignation, and planned to submit it as soon as I finished tying up loose ends.

Mia told me with red-rimmed eyes, "Cecilia's been going around the office all morning saying she and Adrian are the real love story and you're the one who came between them. You got to where you are on your own. They can't match you, so they're spreading lies about your background and your marriage."

I wiped away her tears. "They can't erase my work. All they're doing is exposing their own lack of character. Don't lose your job over people like that."

Adrian and Cecilia soon walked over. He handed me the Tides' End script. "Cecilia is new to the industry and still learning the ropes. Stay on and guide her through the project. Your name will still be on the final credits."

Cecilia smiled with studied innocence. "Evelyn, I didn't mean to take your project. It's just too important for the Roland family. You're so talented. There'll be other opportunities for you."

Adrian took my hand, as though afraid of triggering another episode. "Cecilia and I are just family friends. She had too much to drink last night, and I stayed to look after her. Just trust me this once, won't you?"

The excuse was so clumsy I almost laughed. But I was done fighting him. I nodded calmly. "I believe you. The Hayes and Roland families go way back. I understand."

Adrian visibly froze, then pressed, "Really?"

"Really."

I hadn't started believing him again. I had simply realized that tears and arguments would only make him feel more justified. I was going to leave with Ella. And before I left, I would claim every last thing that belonged to me: the assets, the career, and the credits.

Tides' End was a year of my life, and I wasn't going to watch Cecilia ruin it. Over the next two weeks, I threw myself into post-production. Adrian, as if compensating for his own guilt, made a point of keeping his distance from Cecilia. He brought home a bouquet of blue tulips after work every day and turned down unnecessary engagements to spend time with Ella and me.

I kept playing the part of a gentle, devoted wife, but the tideheart scale didn't heal. It still flared in the dead of night, reminding me that this calm was not love. It was only Adrian's fear of losing his family.

Two weeks later, Tides' End premiered to glowing reviews and soaring box-office numbers. Shares in both Hayes Pictures and Roland Group rose with it.

At the celebration party that night, Adrian had quite a bit to drink. After we got home, he set several documents in front of me, kissed my forehead, and said, "I've transferred two properties and a portion of the company shares into your and Ella's names. Evelyn, I've put you through so much these past weeks."

I went through the paperwork, confirmed the transfers had taken effect, and finally let myself breathe. The financial security I needed was in hand. He owed us that much.

Adrian wrapped an arm around my waist and asked softly, "Is tonight all right?"

Throughout our marriage, he had always respected my boundaries. I didn't answer. I only pressed a light kiss to his lips, then pulled out the documents I had prepared in advance. "I've found a new project I'm interested in. I need your signature."

He didn't read them carefully. He flipped straight to the last page and signed. Between the alcohol and my kiss, his guard was down. He had no idea that what he'd signed wasn't a new project proposal. It was my resignation.

The next morning, I woke to find that a story about me stealing another woman's boyfriend and seizing her film project had shot to the top of social media. Maliciously edited clips painted me as a vicious wife bullying Cecilia. They had even dug up old footage of me working at a dockside bar when I was young.

The cruelest attacks claimed Ella wasn't even Adrian's biological daughter. I came from White Tide Bay, they said, and nobody really knew who I'd had a child with.

I could endure attacks on my background. But I would not let my four-year-old daughter carry that kind of stigma.

At the office, the way my coworkers looked at me had completely changed. Some people knew the truth but didn't dare speak up. Others watched a few edited clips and joined the pile-on. Countless strangers attacked me and Ella from behind their screens, and Adrian still hadn't issued a single statement in our defense.

I sat down at my temporary desk and contacted the company's IT security department to pull the original records. They soon confirmed that the account that first uploaded the videos had connected to the Wi-Fi at a property registered under Adrian's name. The last login before the account was deleted came from inside Hayes Pictures.

Adrian wouldn't stoop to something like this. It wasn't his style. The only person with free access to both his property and his company, and who wanted nothing more than to see me destroyed, was Cecilia.

As if worried I wouldn't figure it out, she walked over to my desk and gloated in a low voice, "Did you like the present I sent you?"

I had already started recording. I baited her deliberately. "You took half my project and spread lies about me and Ella online. Did you really think deleting the account would keep anyone from tracing it back?"

Cecilia smirked. "The account's already deactivated. The videos have been shared everywhere. What are you going to prove, and how? Adrian is mine, and the credit for Tides' End can only be mine. You'd better take the hint and leave. Take your daughter with you."

She turned and walked away. Only then did I learn that she had been living in Adrian's property all along. He told me he was keeping his distance from her while giving her a place to stay. He couldn't let go of his first love, but he also wanted to keep his wife and child at home.

He knew exactly what he was doing. He simply believed I would never leave.

Before long, Hayes Pictures quietly had the story taken down, but it issued no official statement clearing Ella's name or mine — because revealing the truth would have redirected all the attacks toward Cecilia, and Adrian wasn't willing to let her face the consequences.

I handed Mia the recording, the original project files, and the complete meeting footage and scheduled them for release. Then I had my lawyer charter a night boat to Northshore in my name and arrange a short-term rental near the water.

I didn't book a flight. The tidal decay was still active. The dry, sealed air of an airplane cabin would only worsen the dehydration, and a flight would leave a clear trail for Adrian to follow.

Before leaving the office, I gave Mia my now-effective resignation. Back at the villa, I placed the signed divorce agreement on the living room table, crouched down, and asked Ella, "Mommy doesn't want to stay with Daddy anymore. Would you like to go live in another city with Mommy?"

Ella nodded hard. "I'll go with Mommy."

Martha wasn't home. The night boat waited at the private dock beside the villa. The captain's only job was to deliver us to Northshore, no questions asked. Once Ella fell asleep in the cabin with her dolphin plushie, I left the door cracked so I could hear her, then made my way to the swim platform at the stern.

As the boat cleared Greyport's breakwater, the city lights were swallowed inch by inch by the sea fog. I slipped off my shoes and lowered myself into the water, letting go of the glamour. My legs merged beneath the waves, and the silver-blue tail spread open again. I held on to the submerged ladder and swam behind the boat for half an hour, until the seawater seeped back into the cracked tideheart scale. Only then did I tuck my tail away and climb back aboard.

The tideheart scale still ached, but for the first time, it didn't frighten me. Every time I had gone into the sea before, it was to survive the pain Adrian had caused. This time, I went in so I could take my daughter and leave him.

At the same time, Mia released the full evidence. Public opinion swung sharply in my favor.

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