“Nina, I’ve got way too much going on right now. I’m swamped and really don’t have the energy to talk
about this.”
Theo’s head was pounding.
Home was a mess, work was relentless, and now Nina just had to add to the chaos.
After storming out of the office, Nina sat in her car, crying until her eyes stung. The more she cried, the more resentful she felt, unable to let things go. She scrolled through her photos, picked out one–her and Theo, lying together on the bed, looking like a picture–perfect couple–and posted it to her social feed, setting it so only one person could see.
Back at the house, Patricia leaned against the kitchen counter with a glass of warm water, watching Jackson and Marian haul boxes out to the car. A small, satisfied smile played on her lips as she checked her phone.
She found Nina’s new post and couldn’t help feeling pleased.
“What’s got you smiling like that?” Marian asked as she walked in, noticing Patricia’s good mood.
Patricia handed over her phone.
Marian glanced at the screen. “When did you change your profile picture?”
Hadn’t it been a grey cloud before? Now it was a cute cartoon. Even the username had changed–now it read “Ruby.”
“Who’s this supposed to be?”
“Nina, obviously.” Patricia explained, totally calm. “I figured she’d crack and post something on her social. So I changed my profile pic and name to match Ruby’s. She must not have noticed and set the post to ‘only me‘–but thinking it was Ruby.”
Patricia took a quick screenshot, sent it straight to a reporter, then switched her profile back, all with the kind of cool efficiency that said she’d done this a hundred times before.
“You actually predicted all that? That’s wild!”
Patricia grinned, clearly enjoying herself. “Girls her age aren’t that hard to figure out.”
Riding the high of her little victory, she decided to call her cousin Chelsea and invite her out for dinner. Chelsea picked up sounding half–dead, her voice flat with exhaustion from endless days in the lab. “If you want to drop off food, I’ll eat it. But don’t even think about making me go out.”
“I thought you were doing research, not serving a prison sentence. Do you need someone to come visit you behind bars?”
“At least prisoners get to sleep. Research slaves like me don’t get that luxury.”
Chelsea let out a dramatic sigh. She’d turned down a cushy family business for this–was this karma or what? Pure, instant karma.
15:42
Chapter 50
At eight–thirty, Patricia and Jackson pulled up at Chelsea’s research institute.
While Jackson parked the car, Patricia waited under a tree, dressed in a pale yellow sundress, leaning on her cane. When she saw Jackson crossing the lot with a food box, she turned to head inside.
She barely took two steps before she had to dodge a banana peel, stumbled, and nearly lost her balance.
“Careful.”
A strong arm caught her just in time.
Patricia’s heart skipped, her breath catching for a second. She steadied herself and gently pushed his hand away. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
The man’s voice was steady and deep. “Why so formal?”
She looked up, surprised. “Do we know each other?”
He was striking–movie–star handsome, with soft eyes and a kind of calm authority that made him both intimidating and strangely approachable. His gaze held a quiet intensity, like he was seeing straight through her.
He just smiled a little at her question, not bothering to answer.
Glancing at the car coming up behind her, he let go of her arm and stepped away, disappearing as quickly as he’d appeared. No lingering, no awkwardness, as if even the hint of surprise in his eyes had been just for show.
“Who was that?” Chelsea asked, catching up just as Patricia muttered to herself. Chelsea raised an eyebrow. “You seriously don’t recognize him?”
15:42
