Chapter 4
Leah took photos of my cheek.
The broken birth control box.
The scattered pills.
The medical report.
Ryan kept saying, “This is unnecessary.”
Leah ignored him.
Patricia kept saying, “Families handle things privately.”
Leah ignored her too.
I stood in the middle of my kitchen feeling like I had stepped outside my own life.
Everything looked familiar.
The blue mugs.
The wooden table.
The little plant on the windowsill.
But the home I thought I had was gone.
Maybe it had never been there.
Leah touched my arm.
“Pack a bag.”
Ryan snapped, “She’s not leaving.”
I turned to him.
“Yes, I am.”
His face hardened.
“You walk out now, don’t come back.”
The words should have frightened me.
Instead, they freed me.
I nodded.
“Okay.”
That made him panic.
“No, Maya, wait.”
Patricia grabbed his sleeve.
“Let her go. She’ll come crawling back.”
Leah looked at her.
“Women don’t crawl out of burning houses. They run.”
Upstairs, I packed quickly.
Jeans.
Sweaters.
Medication.
Documents.
My passport.
Leah stood at the bedroom door while Ryan paced behind her in the hallway.
“Maya, please. I lost control.”
I folded a shirt.
“You revealed control.”
He flinched.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re scared I’ll tell people.”
“That’s not fair.”
I looked at him.
“I showed you a report saying pregnancy could kill me, and you let your mother call me selfish.”
His eyes filled.
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“You never do when she’s wrong.”
He had no answer.
I opened the nightstand for my charger.
Inside, beneath a stack of old receipts, I found a small orange prescription bottle.
My heart stopped.
Not mine.
The label had my name on it.
But the pills were not my medication.
Leah saw my face.
“What is it?”
I picked up the bottle.
Ryan lunged.
“Give me that.”
Leah blocked him.
I read the label.
Folic acid.
High-dose fertility supplement.
Prescribed by a doctor I had never seen.
Filled three weeks ago.
My stomach turned.
“Ryan,” I whispered.
“What is this?”
May you like
Patricia appeared in the hallway.
For the first time that night, she looked truly afraid.
