I got into the car.<\/p>\n
Not because I trusted Felix.<\/p>\n
Because Evelyn had been clear that sudden behavior could expose what I knew.<\/p>\n
The restaurant was thirty minutes from our house.<\/p>\n
For the first ten, Felix talked about a client presentation.<\/p>\n
I answered when necessary.<\/p>\n
Outside the windows, storefronts gave way to dark residential streets.<\/p>\n
I counted intersections without meaning to.<\/p>\n
At every red light, I considered opening the door.<\/p>\n
Then I reminded myself that fear could become another form of manipulation even when no one intentionally created it.<\/p>\n
I needed evidence.<\/p>\n
Not imagination.<\/p>\n
Felix had lied to me.<\/p>\n
That was proven.<\/p>\n
Felix had conspired with his family to deceive me.<\/p>\n
Proven.<\/p>\n
Someone had broken into Elise\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n
Not proven who.<\/p>\n
Daniel had called Felix afterward.<\/p>\n
Suspicious.<\/p>\n
Not proof.<\/p>\n
I repeated those distinctions silently until we reached our neighborhood.<\/p>\n
At home, Felix went upstairs.<\/p>\n
I said I needed to finish a work email.<\/p>\n
The moment I heard the bedroom door close, I stepped into the garage and called Evelyn.<\/p>\n
She answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you safe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked through the garage window at the dark backyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Elise is with police and her attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently one folder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA laptop was moved but left behind. Jewelry untouched. Cash untouched.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they wanted the letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Felix know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel called him at dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Felix answer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMinutes after Elise texted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn exhaled slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConcerning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still is not proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated that I knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were in the letters?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElise says most were personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne may matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t remember the exact wording.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral wording.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix wrote about his parents helping him with a house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe thought he meant for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned against the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix told her they were buying a house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly in the affair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fernbrook Holdings.<\/p>\n
Forty thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
Property investment.<\/p>\n
The connections formed instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ahead of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFernbrook.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re checking.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the garage door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if he bought property for Elise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not assume.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNora.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElise photographed some of the letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief came so suddenly my knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all. But several.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCloud backup.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
It was the first good thing I had heard in days.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes whoever broke in know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSend them to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I straightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you do not need another copy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Elise has counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wrote them while married to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not mean you should be circulating evidence before we understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated when Evelyn was right.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did send her attorney one photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix tells Elise his father has created a company so property ownership will be discreet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Fernbrook.<\/p>\n
There was no need for guessing anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho owns Fernbrook?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic records list an agent. Ownership requires more digging.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my thumb into my forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd forty thousand dollars of our money went there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur money paid for property he promised his mistress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost snapped at her.<\/p>\n
Then I stopped.<\/p>\n
Potentially mattered.<\/p>\n
Facts mattered.<\/p>\n
I was learning to respect the difference even while my marriage collapsed inside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaving him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I mean soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we prepare carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow carefully?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need full financial records first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNora.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. No timelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n
A door opened inside the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCall if anything changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Felix appeared in the doorway from the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slipped the phone into my pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrash.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at the empty garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat trash?\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward the recycling bin.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDomestic mystery solved.\u201d<\/p>\n
The joke was ordinary.<\/p>\n
I hated him for still being able to make ordinary jokes.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Felix left before seven.<\/p>\n
He said he had an early meeting.<\/p>\n
I watched from the upstairs window as his car disappeared.<\/p>\n
Then I drove to Evelyn\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
She had printed property records.<\/p>\n
Fernbrook Holdings was incorporated eighteen months earlier.<\/p>\n
The registered agent was a professional service used by Helmut\u2019s firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t prove Helmut owns it,\u201d Evelyn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Fernbrook own?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne condominium.\u201d<\/p>\n
She slid a page toward me.<\/p>\n
The address was in a neighborhood twenty-five minutes from our house.<\/p>\n
I recognized the street.<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the address.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix drove through that neighborhood last fall. He said a coworker wanted to buy there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stopped for coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything unusual?\u201d<\/p>\n
I searched the memory.<\/p>\n
A Saturday.<\/p>\n
Bright weather.<\/p>\n
Felix unusually interested in side streets.<\/p>\n
At the time, I thought he was admiring architecture.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew exactly where he was going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cFernbrook purchased the condo two weeks before that drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor how much?\u201d<\/p>\n
She told me.<\/p>\n
The down payment aligned almost perfectly with the forty-thousand-dollar transfer.<\/p>\n
I sat back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I financed the place where he planned to live with Elise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know that he planned to live there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter says his father created a company for discreet property ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt suggests a connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you still careful?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause careful facts survive angry people.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence stayed with me.<\/p>\n
I looked down at the documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho lives there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we find out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLegally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
She gave me a look.<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Then she slid another page toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trust payment.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
Helmut\u2019s firm had transferred nearly the same amount fourteen days later to a private medical billing company.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSilver Oak Reproductive Services.\u201d<\/p>\n
My body went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cReproductive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re investigating.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could barely hear her.<\/p>\n
A fertility clinic?<\/p>\n
Surrogacy?<\/p>\n
Testing?<\/p>\n
The room seemed to narrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it for Elise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo charge appears under your medical records that matches it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I touched the edge of the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix knew she was pregnant by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on her timeline, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would his father\u2019s trust account pay a reproductive medical company after Elise became pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a question worth answering.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of all the fertility clinics Felix and I had visited.<\/p>\n
The waiting rooms.<\/p>\n
The forms.<\/p>\n
The private grief.<\/p>\n
Had he used money from our accounts for some hidden reproductive service while I continued injecting hormones into my stomach?<\/p>\n
The possibility was too ugly to hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need air.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn walked me to the small balcony outside her conference room.<\/p>\n
Cold wind moved between the buildings.<\/p>\n
I gripped the railing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to solve everything today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent years thinking the problem in my marriage was that we couldn\u2019t have a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if the real problem was that I didn\u2019t know my husband?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat question will not become easier by answering it quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at the street.<\/p>\n
Cars moved below like pieces on a board.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that lawyer wisdom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDivorce lawyer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
It came out as a breath.<\/p>\n
That afternoon, Elise called.<\/p>\n
Her voice sounded exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny fingerprints?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you staying somewhere else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
Then she said, \u201cMy attorney told me about the condo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned against my office window.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix showed me pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you were pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he was considering buying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor himself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer still hurt even though I expected it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told you he was leaving me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept saying after your next treatment cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay that again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he couldn\u2019t leave while you were going through treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told you about my treatments?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNora\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me the dates.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a moment, I could not speak.<\/p>\n
My medical appointments.<\/p>\n
My injections.<\/p>\n
My procedures.<\/p>\n
My miscarried hope.<\/p>\n
Felix had taken those private things into hotel rooms with another woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t ask,\u201d Elise said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my fingers to my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy after the treatment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if it failed, he could leave without looking like he abandoned you while you were pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cruelty was so calculated that anger gave way to something almost empty.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if it succeeded?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise did not answer.<\/p>\n
I lowered my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had gotten pregnant, what would he have done?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never asked?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said we would figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the blank wall.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
There were always women expected to figure out the consequences of Felix\u2019s choices.<\/p>\n
I changed the subject before my voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have photos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else important?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t understand it at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnderstand what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wrote that if the clinic confirmed what he suspected, everything would become simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hair rose on my arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat clinic?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled up the timeline.<\/p>\n
January.<\/p>\n
Elise became pregnant roughly a month later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he suspect?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he mention Silver Oak?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wrote the name anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSend the photo to your attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nearly ended the call.<\/p>\n
Then Elise said, \u201cNora?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
My body tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix asked me a strange question before I got pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat question?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether I knew my blood type.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said we were talking about medical history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wrote it down without knowing why.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily diseases. Genetic things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like normal conversation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at my notes.<\/p>\n
Blood type.<\/p>\n
Genetics.<\/p>\n
Clinic.<\/p>\n
Suspicion.<\/p>\n
Payment to reproductive services.<\/p>\n
A terrible idea formed.<\/p>\n
Not an answer.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
But enough to frighten me.<\/p>\n
I called Evelyn immediately after.<\/p>\n
She listened without interrupting.<\/p>\n
When I finished, she said, \u201cDo not speculate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what you\u2019re going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need to know what Silver Oak does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whether Felix used them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whether it has anything to do with the pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice remained calm.<\/p>\n
Mine did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Elise becoming pregnant wasn\u2019t an accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I regretted saying it immediately.<\/p>\n
Then Evelyn answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find facts before we decide what anything means.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, I returned home to find Felix sitting in the dark living room.<\/p>\n
No television.<\/p>\n
No laptop.<\/p>\n
Just Felix.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
I stopped inside the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you sitting in the dark?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The question was too direct.<\/p>\n
My pulse accelerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left the office at three.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything inside me went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
He realized the mistake.<\/p>\n
Too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy desk phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt three?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I set my handbag down slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why call?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stepped toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNora.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was softness in his voice.<\/p>\n
The dangerous kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like something is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He searched my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re different.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held his gaze.<\/p>\n
For the first time, Felix was no longer testing the edges of my ignorance.<\/p>\n
He was questioning whether it still existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only one I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me for a long time.<\/p>\n
Then he smiled.<\/p>\n
Not warmly.<\/p>\n
Almost sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked upstairs.<\/p>\n
I waited until I heard the bedroom door close.<\/p>\n
Then I looked at my phone.<\/p>\n
One new message from Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Silver Oak is not a fertility clinic.<\/p>\n
My thumb hovered.<\/p>\n
A second message appeared.<\/p>\n
It specializes in private genetic and paternity testing.<\/p>\n
I stared at the words until they blurred.<\/p>\n
Felix had paid a genetic-testing company shortly after learning Elise was pregnant.<\/p>\n
Which meant my husband had doubted something.<\/p>\n
And whatever the result had been, his family had immediately begun planning to take the baby.<\/p>\n
I got into the car. Not because I trusted Felix. Because Evelyn had been clear that sudden behavior could expose what I knew. The restaurant was thirty minutes from our … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19332,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19297\/revisions\/19332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}