The coffee shop was mostly empty. Adelina sat by the window, a cup of black coffee untouched in front of her. It was a prop. A shield.
The bell over the door chimed, and Garret Stein walked in. He scanned the room, his handsome face marred by an impatient frown.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked, not bothering to sit down. "What is it, Adelina?"
She looked up at him. This was the face she had once cried over, the man whose approval she had craved like a drug. Now, looking at him, she felt nothing but a cold, clinical disgust.
"Sit down, Garret," she said, her voice even.
He hesitated, then slid into the booth opposite her.
"I wanted to talk," she said. "About why we can't be together."
A flicker of guilt, or maybe just annoyance, crossed his face. He thought this was about Beryl.
She reached into her handbag and pulled out a folded piece of paper. A copy of the infertility report she had retrieved from her medical file. The lie. She slid it across the table.
"My medical records," she said.
He picked it up, his expression shifting as he recognized it. He knew what it was.
"The report says I can't have children," she said, her voice flat. "So really, you should thank Beryl. She can give you a family. I can't."
Garret's throat worked. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked trapped.
Adelina leaned forward, lowering her voice. "But I wanted you to know something. I had another doctor look at this report."
She saw his fingers tighten on the edge of the table. A small, telling movement.
"He told me," she continued, her eyes locked on his, "that a report like this... it can sometimes be misinterpreted."
She didn't say the words. She didn't have to. It's you. The problem is you. His face told her everything. The blood drained from it, leaving his skin a pasty, sick-looking white. He knew. Or at least, he had always suspected.
She stood up, the legs of her chair scraping softly against the floor. "Our engagement is over."
He shot to his feet, his voice tight with panic. "Adelina, what are you trying to do?"
She gave him a small, cold smile. "Nothing. I'm just setting you free."
She walked toward the door. He reached out to grab her arm, but she sidestepped him easily.
Just as she pushed the door open, she paused and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"Oh, and Garret?" she said, her voice light, almost conversational. "Beryl's baby... are you sure it's yours?"
His face crumpled. He looked like she had just shot him.
She walked out into the cold March air, a feeling of grim satisfaction settling in her chest. Another chain, broken.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. A text message.
From: Douglass Ward
Travel to DC arranged for this Saturday. Will forward details.
She stared at his name on the screen, her heart giving a hopeful leap. But it wasn't enough. He thought she was coming to be a nanny. She needed more than that. She needed a guarantee.
An idea, bold and terrifying, took shape in her mind.
Her fingers flew across the screen.
To: Douglass Ward
Before I confirm, we need to meet. There are conditions I need to discuss in person.
She hit send before she could lose her nerve.
