Chapter 3

"No, not yet," Annis said, interrupting Haven' s frantic planning. "I need a few more days. I have to get my passport and my real documents from the penthouse. I have to do this myself."

There was a pause. "Annis, it' s too dangerous."

"I know," she said. "But it' s the only way. Just... be ready."

Dominick visited her again the next day, his mood strangely cheerful. He didn' t seem to notice the new resolve in her eyes. He was too wrapped up in himself.

"Chastity is feeling much better, thanks to you," he announced, as if she should be grateful for the praise. "I' ll be taking her home tomorrow. You can come home in a few days."

He was so sure of himself, so certain she had nowhere else to go. He thought her little social circle consisted of a few wives of his business partners, women who would drop her the second she was no longer Mrs. Reyes. He had no idea about Haven, her one true friend, a man he' d met once at a college reunion and dismissed as a nobody farmer.

In the days that followed, Dominick didn' t visit. He was too busy playing the doting father-to-be. A mutual acquaintance, still unaware of the split, forwarded Annis a link to a society blog. There was a gallery of photos: Dominick and Chastity at a charity gala, his arm wrapped protectively around her; Dominick and Chastity shopping for baby furniture, his smile wide and genuine.

He posted a picture on his own Instagram. It was him and Chastity, their hands intertwined over her belly. The caption read: "My whole world. Can' t wait to meet our little man."

Annis stared at the picture. Then, with a steady hand, she typed a comment.

"Congratulations. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness."

Her phone immediately rang. It was Dominick. She let it go to voicemail. He called again. She silenced her phone.

A few days later, she was discharged. She called a cab and went to the hospital exit, her small bag clutched in her hand.

And there they were.

Dominick and Chastity were just leaving the OB-GYN clinic on the ground floor. A nurse was walking with them, beaming.

"You are going to be such a wonderful father, Mr. Reyes," the nurse gushed. "The way you care for her is just so beautiful to see."

Dominick preened under the praise. Chastity looked at him with adoration.

Annis froze, the air knocked out of her lungs. The scene transported her back five years. She had been in this very clinic, in a different room, bleeding. She had just lost their baby. Dominick had been there. He hadn' t held her hand. He hadn' t spoken a word of comfort.

He had just looked at his watch and said, "Can they hurry this up? I have a meeting."

The memory, sharp and brutal, cut through the fog of her weakness. That was the man the world saw as devoted.

Dominick spotted her then. His smile vanished, replaced by a scowl. "Annis? What are you doing here? I told you I' d send a car for you."

Chastity clung to his arm, looking at Annis with a mix of pity and triumph. "Oh, Annis, you poor thing. You look so pale. Dominick, we should take her home with us. She shouldn' t be alone."

It was a performance of kindness, sharp and cruel.

"Of course, baby," Dominick said, stroking Chastity' s hair. "Annis, get in the car. We' re going home."

Annis looked at them, the perfect happy couple. And she got in the car.

She had to get her passport. It was her only way out.

The ride to the penthouse was silent. Annis sat in the back, Chastity' s expensive leather diaper bag sitting on the seat beside her, a blatant symbol of her replacement. Chastity chattered happily in the front, pointing out things in shop windows, and Dominick responded with indulgent murmurs.

It was a perfect domestic scene. A perfect lie.