Chapter 3
It was Rachel.
She had been my classmate in college, and a devoted follower of Jonathan's.
Of course I remembered her.
"Is there something you need?" I asked, and my tone was flat.
"Well, you're as cold as ever. I saw Jonathan on TV. My god, he's huge now. The top national award!"
Rachel's voice was sharp and thrilled.
"Did you see it? He made national news."
"I saw it," I said.
"I can't believe he actually did it. Back in school he said he was going to change the world, and we all laughed. Now look at him."
She paused, and her tone shifted.
"Emily, be honest. Do you regret it?"
There it was.
This was the real reason she called.
"Regret what?" I said.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me. If you hadn't been so stubborn back then, if you'd given in a little, you'd be the one standing next to him. Wife of a famous scientist. Do you know what that's worth?"
She wanted to talk about prestige.
I looked at Nathan, who was deep in his book, and the word grated on me.
"I'm fine," I said.
"Fine? I heard you're still at that little media company. How much can that pay? Look at Jonathan. He's somewhere you will never reach."
Every sentence she said was aimed at a soft spot, and she knew it.
"I have to go," I said.
I hung up before she could say anything else.
The living room was full of warm light.
Nathan looked up with concern in his eyes.
"Mom, who was that? Are you upset?" he asked.
Children always picked up on it.
I shook my head and smiled at him.
"Nobody important. Go back to your book, and don't stay up too late."
"Okay," he said.
He quietly went back to his book.
I picked up my phone and found a new text sitting under the call she had just made.
Rachel: [Come on, let's talk about Jonathan.]
I blocked her number.
Then, I opened an encrypted document.
It held every record of Nathan's life from the day he was born.
On his birth certificate, and on every school form and insurance form I had ever filled out for him, the line for the father was blank.
Legally, he had no connection to Jonathan.
But what about blood?
Jonathan was a public figure now. What if, one day, he got curious and decided to dig into my past, to find me?
What if he discovered Nathan?
With his personality, what would he do?
Would he take away everything I had spent ten years protecting?
No.
Absolutely not.
I looked at Nathan's quiet profile, and my chest tightened.
Ten years ago, I didn't have the strength to fight back.
Ten years later, I couldn't lose again.
I needed a plan.
A plan to cut Jonathan out of our lives for good, to protect Nathan.
My life couldn't be disrupted by him again.
I started typing furiously in the document, listing every possible risk and how to deal with it.
First, cut every remaining tie to Jonathan.
Second, build a future for Nathan far from the city where Jonathan lived.
A sharp burst of the doorbell cut off my thoughts.
Who could it be at this hour?