Chapter 5

It was dark by the time I pulled up to my parents' house in North Seattle.

Mom froze when she opened the door.

"Ev? What are you doing here?" She looked behind me. "Where's Claire?"

I stood there for a long time before I finally spoke.

"I'm getting a divorce."

The living room went dead quiet.

I sat down and told them everything. The online harassment, the preliminary compatibility test, the kidnapping, Lily.

I told them about lying in the hospital bed, listening to Claire's hurried footsteps as she left me again.

I spoke calmly, like I was recounting someone…