Chapter 4

Her surprise lasted only a second. She lowered her phone.

"Well," she said. "That saves me an explanation. What do you think I should ask him for when I win?"

"Why?"

It was all I could get out.

When we were eighteen, her father had tried to force her to marry an older man to settle his gambling debts. I'd helped her get away. Mom had stretched our money to help pay for Celeste's education. We'd made room for her at our table and in our lives.

She knew all of that. I didn't have to remind her.

"Why do you get everything?" she asked. "A mother who loves you. A nice home. A successful husband. What's so special about you?"

I stared at her. She sounded angry with me for having trusted her.

"We helped you."

"And you never let me forget it."

She stepped close and dug her fingers into my shoulders.

"I'm going to take everything you have."

I pulled free. Behind me, Adrian called Celeste's name.

She glanced past my shoulder. Her grip dropped away, and she smiled.

"Who do you think he'll believe?"

Before I could move, she threw herself backward down the stairs.

Adrian rushed past me, shoving me into the wall. My forehead hit hard enough to leave me dizzy. He was already kneeling beside her when I caught my balance.

"What the hell is wrong with you? She's pregnant."

Celeste curled against him, crying. People gathered at the landing. Someone reached for my arm, then hesitated when Adrian looked up.

"You've been suspicious of us for years," he said. "But this? You pushed a pregnant woman down the stairs?"

"I didn't touch her."

"I saw you standing there."

"Then check the camera."

I pointed toward the security camera covering the landing. A woman in the crowd stopped whispering.

Adrian didn't look at it.

I held his gaze. "Celeste says there's no man in her life. Whose baby is she carrying?"

"Maya." Celeste's voice shook. "You know how much I love children. I decided to have another one through IVF. Why would you say something like that?"

He helped her sit up, careful with her in a way he hadn't been with me.

"You hurt her, and now you're accusing her of sleeping around," he said. "She still calls you her best friend."

Blood trickled toward my eyebrow. I wiped it with the back of my hand.

"Watch the footage, Adrian."

He gathered Celeste into his arms.

"If anything happens to her or the baby, our marriage is over."

I watched him carry her away. Even then, he thought losing him was the worst thing he could threaten me with.

I called the police. They took my statement and reviewed the footage. It showed Celeste going backward without me touching her. The officer told me what they'd seen, and I sat on a bench while the crowd dispersed.

Being believed about the fall didn't make my hands stop shaking.

Mom arrived on her crutch. When she saw the mark on my forehead, her face changed. She sat beside me, and I leaned into her before she could ask what had happened.

"Oh, honey."

I cried against her shoulder until I could speak.

At home, I told her about Adrian, Leo, and what I'd heard outside the stairwell. I told her about the appointment and the fellowship too. She held my hand through all of it. This time, she didn't suggest that Adrian might explain things, or that I should wait until I was less upset.

"We'll get you out of here," she said.

Adrian spent the next two days at the hospital with Celeste. I sent him word that the footage had cleared me. He gave no sign that he cared. I contacted a lawyer and sent Vivian the remaining documents. Mom sat beside me while I worked through the forms, helping me keep track when I lost my place.

On the morning of my appointment, I put the slip in my bag and went to the front door.

Adrian was standing outside. Celeste waited behind him, with Leo holding her hand.