Chapter 3

My colleague, Ricky Kelly, had scouted the location for me earlier, so I was able to discreetly slide into the booth right behind David's, with my back to them.

The moment I sat down, Ricky placed a giant, human-sized T-Rex plushie on the bench beside me. With his own broad frame sitting across from me, the combination created a decent screen.

I had also changed my hair and makeup. Even if all three of them walked past my table on their way to the sauce bar, it would be difficult to recognize me.

"Thanks," I murmured, squeezing the dinosaur's fluffy arm. "Ricky, you thought of everything."

When David and I first got married, I still had a wide circle of friends. But after Mia was born, she became the center of my universe, and those friendships slowly faded.

I regretted it now, but I knew that reaching out to them suddenly would likely just lead to awkward silence. Tonight was an emergency, so I had no choice but to ask Ricky, the guy I worked most closely with, for help.

"Just doing my part to help a friend in need," Ricky said with a grin.

I managed a small smile. "Still, I appreciate it. Order whatever you want. It's on me."

He didn't hesitate, picking up the menu and getting to it.

I leaned back against the booth, held my breath, and focused on filtering out their conversation from the restaurant's lively chatter.

"Mommy," Mia said, "thanks for letting me have the fried mac and cheese balls. That woman never lets me eat stuff like this."

I restricted her diet for her own good. With her fragile health, overindulging was a one-way ticket to the ER.

A painful realization began to dawn on me. Maybe this was why, despite giving her everything, she preferred David and Olivia.

"Your mom probably means well," Olivia teased, shifting her tone. "But you're still growing, and as a high school senior, you're under so much pressure. She shouldn't stop you from relaxing now and then."

"Exactly. And Mom, since she's not here, please don't call her my mom. She's the impostor who stole my life with you. I don't even think of her as my mom," Mia said, her voice rising with emotion.

Olivia, however, remained calm. "Mia, that's not a nice thing to say."

Mia grew frantic. "Dad, tell her."

David said, "Olivia, Mia's right. It's been so unfair to you all these years..."

Hearing that, I clenched my hands into fists under the table. They stole my daughter from me when I was weak from childbirth, and they had the audacity to talk about being treated unfairly?

"I don't mind, really," Olivia said, her voice dripping with false modesty. "As long as I have you two, nothing else matters. Alright, let's not talk about sad things. It's not every day our family of three gets to be together."

Guided by Olivia, Mia started chattering about things at school.

I pressed the button to stop the recording and slipped the voice recorder back into my bag. Through the rising steam, I stared blankly at Ricky as he cut into his steak medallions.

Listening to them, I was almost certain Mia was Olivia's biological daughter.

So where was mine?

My mood soured my appetite. I took a few bites and put down my fork. Ricky was young and still had a healthy appetite, so he kept eating.

"Dad, can you take me and Mom to the movies?" Mia asked sweetly, likely done with her meal.

"Of course," David said, smiling warmly.

As their table cleared out, the tight knot of tension in my chest finally loosened.

"Do you need my help with anything else?" Ricky asked.

"There's one more thing I need to confirm," I said, looking at his earnest face. "If I wanted to investigate something that happened eighteen years ago, what's the best way to do it? The police? Or a private investigator?"

Ricky's response was immediate. "I know some people. As long as you can pay, I can make it happen."

"Thanks," I replied.

As we were leaving, I stopped him.

He turned. "Yeah, Helen? What's up?"

"The world is about to end," I said, the words tumbling out. "If you believe me, you should start preparing. If you don't, you can just forget I said anything."

The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. In any era, a person who could see the future was cursed.

If Ricky betrayed me, I would either become a tool to be controlled or be silenced as a lunatic spreading panic. But in that instant, the urge to thank Ricky, to give him something real, had been too strong.