The subway car smells like wet wool and someone's breakfast sandwich. I stand near the doors, one hand wrapped around the metal pole, the other clutching my portfolio bag. My reflection stares back from the window—dark circles I tried to cover with drugstore concealer, a blazer I bought three years ago that's worn thin at the elbows. I practice my smile. Professional. Confident. Not desperate.
The agency called this the biggest listing of the year. Thirty million dollars. Upper East Side. If I land this commission, I can finally breathe. Maybe even sleep without calculating interest rates in my head.
I don't let myself think about what happens if I don't land it.
The train lurches to a stop at Lexington Avenue. I step onto the platform and climb the stairs into cold morning air. The buildings here are different—limestone facades, doormen in actual uniforms, trees planted in neat rows along sidewalks that don't have cracks. I smooth my blazer and walk three blocks north, rehearsing my pitch with each step.
The doorman at 945 Fifth Avenue opens the brass-trimmed door before I reach it. I give him Marceline Flores's name. He nods like he was expecting me and gestures toward a private elevator with mirrors on three sides. I watch myself rise—twenty floors, thirty, forty—until the doors open directly into a penthouse foyer.
Marceline Flores stands in the entrance hall wearing a silk robe that probably costs more than my rent. She's seven months pregnant, glowing in that way magazines always promise and real life rarely delivers. Her hand rests on her belly. Her smile is polite and distant.
"You must be Alessia." She says my name like she's tasting something she's not sure she likes. "Come in."
I follow her through rooms that don't feel real. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame Central Park like a painting. The furniture is the kind you see in design magazines—low-slung, expensive, uncomfortable-looking. A Hermès Birkin bag sits on the console table near the door. Another one on the chair. I count three before I stop counting.
"Sparkling water?" Marceline asks, already pouring from a crystal decanter without waiting for my answer.
I take the glass. It's cold and heavy in my hand. "Beautiful space," I say, because that's what I'm supposed to say. "How long have you lived here?"
"Two years." She drifts toward the windows, one hand trailing along the back of a velvet sofa. "My husband bought it as a wedding gift."
Something tightens in my chest. I don't know why.
I follow her through the living room, taking notes on my clipboard. High ceilings. Original molding. Custom built-ins. My voice stays steady. Professional. I've done this a hundred times.
We move down a hallway toward the master suite. Marceline talks about the building's amenities—the gym, the rooftop terrace, the private storage. I nod and write things down I'll forget later.
Then I see it.
A glass display case built into the wall, lit from below like a museum piece. Inside sits a necklace—Art Deco, platinum and sapphires, one of a kind. My grandmother's necklace. The one she gave me the week before she died. The one I wore to my wedding. The one Andrew told me was lost four years ago during our move to the cheaper apartment.
My hand rises toward the glass. I stop myself halfway.
On the side table next to the case sits a framed photograph. Marceline in a white dress, holding a bouquet. A man beside her in a tailored suit, his hand on her waist, smiling at the camera like he doesn't have a care in the world.
The man is Andrew Carlson.
My husband.
The room tilts. I hear Marceline's voice from very far away, saying something about the bedroom's custom closets. I force my hand to move, my pen to write. My thumb rubs slow circles against the inside of my wrist.
I follow her into the nursery. Sage-green walls. A crib that looks like it was carved from a single piece of wood. A mobile with stars. On the desk near the window sits a document—a trust fund statement. Five million dollars, set aside for Baby Flores, due in eight weeks.
I take a photo with my phone. My hands don't shake.
I remember fluorescent lights. Cold metal stirrups. A doctor's voice, kind and tired: *I'm sorry. The damage is permanent. You won't be able to carry a pregnancy to term.* I was twenty-nine years old. I'd worked a double shift at the hotel front desk because Andrew needed money for his medication. The cramps started around midnight.
I close the nursery door behind me.
Marceline is saying something about the building's resale value when the front door opens. A man's voice calls out, warm and easy.
"Babe? I brought those almond croissants you wanted."
Andrew walks into the living room carrying a bag from a bakery I recognize from magazine spreads. He's wearing a cashmere sweater I've never seen. His hair is cut shorter than I remember. He looks expensive.
He sees me.
For one long, suspended moment, we stare at each other across his living room—his second living room, the one I paid for without knowing it existed.
I watch panic flash across his face. Then calculation. Then something smooth and careful slides into place behind his eyes.
Something inside me goes cold. Still. Sharp.
I set down my sparkling water and extend my hand like I'm meeting a stranger at an open house.
"Alessia Torres," I say. My voice doesn't waver. "I'll be handling the listing."
His hand is warm when he takes mine. He holds it a second too long.
