“Yeah,” I said, lifting him into my arms. “We can get pizza.”
Chloe appeared in the doorway, all perfume and smugness, her designer sunglasses pushed up into her hair.
“You’re really doing all this over a car?” she said. “God, Elena. You act like I murdered someone.”
Noah leaned his head on my shoulder.
I looked straight at her.
“No,” I said quietly. “You just spent the last thing my husband left for his son.”
For the first time, her smile slipped.
I carried Noah outside. My father moved like he wanted to block my path again, then thought better of it.
“Don’t do something stupid,” he muttered.
Too late, I thought.
All of you already had.
I buckled Noah into his car seat. Chloe clicked the remote and the sapphire-blue sports car flashed its lights behind me.
“Enjoy it,” I said, shutting Noah’s door.
She laughed a little too loudly. “Oh, I will.”
I looked at the car one last time.
“It won’t be yours for long.”
Then I got in my car and drove away.
I didn’t go home.
Ms. Patel had told me not to, not until we understood how deep the damage went. If my parents had access to one account, they could have access to more. So I drove to the apartment of my friend Tasha from work.
Tasha opened the door in scrubs and socks, took one look at my face, and didn’t ask a single question. She just moved aside and said, “Come in.”
Noah got his pizza. Tasha put on cartoons. I sat at her kitchen table with my laptop, my phone, and a numbness that felt almost holy.
