Chapter 3

Marlene was the first to recover, her eyebrows snapping together. "Conditions? What conditions?"

The air in the living room was thick, heavy with their shock. The only sound was the crackle of the logs in the fireplace.

Adelina looked directly at Marlene, then at Walter. "I want a cash payment," she said, her voice clear and steady. "And I want legally binding documents drawn up by a lawyer. Severing our relationship."

Walter stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, the grinding sound harsh and violent. His voice was a low growl. "What did you just say?"

Beryl set her coffee cup down on its saucer with a sharp clink.

Adelina's heart was a frantic bird beating against her ribs, but her face remained a calm, cool mask. This was it. The point of no return.

"You want Beryl to have Garret and the life you planned for me. Fine," she said. "But I will no longer be a daughter of this house. We'll make a clean break."

Marlene's face flushed with anger. "Is that a threat?"

"No," Adelina said, shaking her head slowly. "It's a transaction. You get what you want. I get what I want."

Walter stood up. He was a big man, and he used his height to intimidate, a tactic that had always worked on her before. She had to tilt her head back to meet his furious gaze.

"We took you in," he snarled. "Fed you, clothed you for twenty-one years-"

"You fed me?" Adelina cut him off, her voice rising for the first time, sharp with the bitterness of a lifetime. "Or you used me? As a maid. As a scapegoat. As Beryl's shadow."

The words struck home. She saw it in the way Marlene's lips pressed into a thin, white line. Marlene knew it was the truth.

Beryl, ever the opportunist, suddenly chimed in, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "Oh, let her go, Mom. It's not like she wants to be here anyway. It'll be better for everyone."

Adelina glanced at her adoptive sister. Beryl was so desperate to get her out of the picture, so focused on locking down Garret, that she had just become Adelina's greatest ally.

Walter and Marlene were looking at each other, a silent, furious argument passing between them. Adelina saw them wavering. It was time to push.

"The amount of money is negotiable," she said quickly. "I'm not asking for a fortune. Just enough to start over." She paused, then played her final card. "But if you refuse, I'll go to the Steins myself. I'll tell them all about this little arrangement. About Beryl's baby and-"

Beryl shot to her feet, her face pale. "You shut your mouth!"

Adelina stopped herself. She had almost said too much. She couldn't let them know that she knew the baby wasn't Garret's. Not yet.

She quickly corrected course. "-and I'll tell them how you're forcing me out of my own engagement. How will that look for the Terry family's reputation? For your precious 'decency'?"

That was the word. Reputation. In a town this small, it was everything.

Walter's big hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He was trapped. The thought of public shame was more terrifying to him than writing a check.

After a long, agonizing silence, he spoke, his voice raspy. "How much?"

Adelina named a number. It wasn't astronomical, but it was enough. Enough for a security deposit on an apartment in D.C. and three months of living expenses.

Marlene gasped, but Beryl was already pulling at her arm, whispering frantically. "Just give it to her, Mom! Get her out of here! Please!"

Walter stared at Adelina for one last, hateful moment. Then he turned and walked toward his study.

"I'll call the lawyer."

The words hung in the air. Adelina stood her ground, her spine straight, even as she felt her knees start to tremble. She had done it.

She turned and looked out the window at the gray March sky hanging over the small Pennsylvania town.

The cage door was finally, finally open.