Chapter 1 1

Her eyes hardened. The sadness in her chest began to crystallize into something colder, something sharper. The leather chair in the VIP waiting room was cold enough to seep through the fabric of Felicity's skirt, chilling the back of her thighs. She sat with her knees pressed together, her hands clutching the small Chanel purse in her lap like it was a lifeline. The silence in the private fertility clinic was heavy, broken only by the rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall and the distant hum of the air conditioning.

She checked her watch for the third time in five minutes. Forty-five minutes past her appointment time.

A nurse walked by, her rubber-soled shoes squeaking faintly on the polished tile. She glanced at Felicity, and for a second, their eyes met. It wasn't a look of professional reassurance. It was pity. A soft, curdled kind of pity mixed with a sharp edge of curiosity. Felicity looked away, fixing her gaze on a potted orchid that looked too perfect to be real.

Her chest felt tight, a physical pressure that made drawing a full breath difficult. She unlocked her phone, her thumb hovering over the messaging app. The screen was empty. No messages from Garold. No "Good luck." No "Let me know what the doctor says." Just the blank white space of their digital silence.

Two nurses were standing near the reception desk, their voices low but not low enough in the acoustic vacuum of the room.

"Chandler," one whispered.

"I saw it on Page Six this morning," the other replied, a hushed thrill in her voice.

Felicity's fingers stiffened around her phone. Her heart gave a painful thud against her ribs. She didn't want to look. She knew she shouldn't look. But her thumb moved of its own accord, opening the browser and navigating to the gossip site that had become her morning ritual of masochism.

The headline was bold, black, and screamed at her: "Garold Chandler Spotted with Mystery Woman at OB-GYN – Heir on the Way?"

Felicity felt the blood drain from her face. She tapped the photo. It was grainy, taken from a distance with a telephoto lens, but the silhouette was unmistakable. The woman had long, blonde extensions and was clinging to the arm of a tall man in a charcoal suit. Jenilee Shaw.

A wave of nausea rolled through Felicity's stomach. The room tilted slightly to the left. She closed her eyes, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat.

"Mrs. Chandler?"

The door opened, and Dr. Evans stood there. His voice was hesitant, lacking his usual booming confidence.

Felicity stood up. Her legs felt like they were made of water, trembling under her weight. She forced them to stabilize, locking her knees. She smoothed the front of her skirt, plastered a neutral expression on her face, and walked toward him.

The exam room smelled of antiseptic and latex, a sterile scent that made her lightheaded. Dr. Evans shuffled the papers on his clipboard. He looked at the chart, then at the wall, then at his shoes. Anywhere but at her.

"Well?" Felicity asked. Her voice sounded thin, like it was coming from someone else.

Dr. Evans cleared his throat. "We've run the full panel, Felicity. Everything looks... pristine. Your hormone levels are optimal. There is no structural reason why you shouldn't be able to conceive."

Felicity stared at him. "Then why? It's been three years."

"In cases like this," Dr. Evans said, finally meeting her eyes with a look of profound discomfort, "when the female partner is healthy, we have to look at the male partner. Or..." He paused, adjusting his glasses. "Or the frequency of intercourse."

Felicity let out a laugh. It was a short, sharp sound, like glass breaking. It startled the doctor, who took a half-step back.

It wasn't medical. It wasn't her body failing her. It was simply the math of a loveless marriage. You can't conceive a child with a husband who treats your bed like a sleeping bag he's forced to share.

"Thank you, Doctor," she said. Her voice was hollow now, detached.

She walked out of the exam room. As she passed the reception desk, the two whispering nurses fell abruptly silent, pretending to be engrossed in their computer screens. Felicity didn't look at them. She pushed through the heavy glass doors and stepped out into the harsh Manhattan sunlight.

The brightness stung her eyes. Her phone buzzed in her hand. She looked down. A calendar notification: "3rd Anniversary Dinner."

She stared at the words. The irony burned.

A black SUV pulled up to the curb. Her driver, a stoic man named Henry, got out and opened the rear door. Felicity slid onto the backseat. The leather here was cold too. It seemed she couldn't escape the cold today.

She typed a text to Garold: We need to talk.

Her thumb hovered over the send button. She watched the cursor blink. Once. Twice. Then she backspaced, deleting the words one by one.

She stared out the tinted window as the city blurred past-gray concrete, flashing billboards, people rushing nowhere. A single tear escaped, sliding hot and fast down her cheek. She didn't let it dry. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, an aggressive, angry motion.