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I threw up my hands. "Yeah, it was true. Which is why I eventually cut my parents off. I mean, it took me about six years to do it, but I finally got them out of my life."
Adam's eyes widened. "Your parents are really out of your life?"
"Yeah. Last I heard, my dad died and my mom remarried some scumbag in the Hamptons. I've been on my own for a long time. What's this about? I thought you were going to defend Olive. Or at least defend why you didn't tell me I had a fucking daughter."
Adam stood up and faced me. "You have to understand that I was protecting my sister. And knowing it took six years to cut off your parents, I stand by what I did. But I figured you deserved to know the truth. Back in college, I told Olive that you knew she was pregnant and that you didn't want to be a dad. And I wrote the breakup letter from her that I gave to you."
I blinked, my throat tightening.
Adam sighed. "Hate me all you want, I don't care. Just don't hate Olive. She didn't know. And whatever you do...don't hate Claire. Your daughter is a good kid."
With that, Adam slipped his hands in his pocket and disappeared into the crowd.
9
OLIVE
Ipulled my sweater tighter around me and slid my hands into my pockets. My boots crushed orange leaves that littered the neighborhood on the walk to Claire's school. It was barely September and fall had arrived early, but the normal pleasures I associated with the change in season evaded me.
As we approached the street across from her school, Claire tugged at my hand.
"Mommy, can we get ice cream after school?"
Had that black sedan been parked on the corner the day before or was I imagining that? Even if it had been there, who was to say it was suspicious? Half the kids at Claire's school arrived in non-descript vehicles driven by private valets.
Plus, the school was tucked between a block of locally-owned shops. The wrath of the wigs had petitioned the city to build the unique shops so that the school children could visit them on field trips and learn about the value of self-employment.
Maybe the owner of the car just wanted to buy some candles made out of honey or drink smoothies made out of seagrass.
Or maybe whoever was sitting behind those severely tinted windows was following me, watching my every move..
"Mommy?" Claire squeezed my hand.
"Yeah, honey, we can get ice cream."
Ice cream. I'd been giving her ice cream every day since finding the burglars in Quinn's apartment. I was pretty certain she hadn't seen anything to traumatize her, but in truth, it was I who had been craving ice cream. It made things feel just a little better.
"Mommy?"
"What, Claire?" I snapped louder than I intended.
"Olive, I think she's trying to tell you the light has changed."
My stomach churned at Rachel Carlyle'shigh-pitched voice.
Claire smiled up at me and shrugged. The light had changed, and parents and their children were crossing. Rachel gave me a smug smile as she passed me. She was dressed in a coat made of some animal fur and UGG boots, a spiced peppermint latte in her hands.
The sight of her made me want to vomit.
Not wanting Ms. Stevens to come chide me for the payment I still owed for Claire's scholarship, I stopped half a block from the main gate and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Have a good day, okay?"
"And then we can get ice cream?"
I ruffled her hair. "And then we can get ice cream."
To my dismay, the wrath of the wigs were standing closer to me today than the gate. As Claire skipped off, Rachel broke from the group, her boots tapping as she approached me. I had every intention of spinning around and bolting back across the street when my phone vibrated.
The news story that popped up on my home screen made everything around me disappear.
