Chapter 3

Adriana POV:

The confirmation message from Emmett's office was a sliver of light in an otherwise black-out room. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I could breathe. It was a shallow breath, but it was mine.

I didn't sleep. I lay in bed, listening to the silence of the apartment. A silence that was somehow more damning than shouting would have been. Bryant never came back to the bedroom. He was probably on the couch, standing guard outside the guest room where his "future" was sleeping.

I imagined him out there, crafting a new narrative. He would tell me in the morning that it was his duty to protect his key collaborator. That her emotional state was paramount to the success of their work. He had an excuse for everything, a rationalization for every cruelty.

I was so tired of his excuses. I was tired of fighting a battle I had already lost.

The fight wasn't about him anymore. It wasn't about our dead marriage.

It was about my mother. It was about survival.

I had my way out. I just had to get through the next thirty-six hours.

I finally drifted into a tense, dreamless sleep just as the black sky began to lighten into its usual sickly gray. I woke to the smell of coffee. Real coffee, a rationed luxury.

When I walked into the kitchen, the scene was one of surreal domesticity. Bryant was at the stove, making eggs. And Katia was leaning against the counter, sipping from a mug.

My mug.

It was a custom-made ceramic cup, a silly birthday gift from years ago. It had a line of code printed on it-the first elegant loop I had ever written, something I was proud of from my university days. Bryant had it made for me. "For my genius," the card had said.

Katia saw me and offered a bright, plastic smile. "Oh, good morning, Adriana! I hope you don't mind. I couldn't find any other clean mugs."

The lie was so blatant, it was almost impressive. The cupboards were full of mugs.

"I was just terrified last night," she continued, her voice filled with a practiced vulnerability. "Bryant was so heroic, letting me stay."

I looked past her to Bryant. He wouldn't meet my eyes. He just scraped the eggs onto a plate. "There's coffee," he mumbled, gesturing with the spatula.

Katia held up the mug. My mug. "It's so unique! Bryant, what does the code mean?"

"It's nothing," he said, his voice curt. He glanced at me, a flicker of something-annoyance? guilt?-in his eyes. He turned back to Katia. "Just some old university project. You can keep it if you like."

My stomach churned. It wasn't a physical blow, but it felt like one. That mug was a relic from a time when he saw me, when he celebrated my mind. Now, he was giving it away like a cheap trinket.

"I'm going out," I announced, my voice flat.

Bryant's head snapped up. "What? You can't. It's not safe. The final lockdown alerts are going out."

"I'm going to get my mother," I said, walking toward the hall closet to grab my jacket.

"Adriana, be reasonable!" he said, following me. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning. There's no point."

"There's every point," I said, pulling on my shoes.

Katia appeared at his side, placing a delicate hand on his arm. "Bryant's right, Adriana. It's dangerous. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you." The faux concern in her voice made my skin crawl.

"I'm bringing her back here," I said, my hand on the doorknob. "We'll wait for our transport together."

"This is ridiculous!" Bryant exploded, grabbing my arm. "She can't come with us! How many times do I have to say it?"

In the sudden movement, his elbow knocked against Katia's hand. She yelped as the ceramic mug, my mug, slipped from her grasp and shattered on the marble floor.

Hot coffee and broken shards of my past spread across the pristine white stone.

Bryant froze, staring at the mess. For a split second, I saw a flash of genuine regret in his eyes as he looked at the broken pieces of code. A ghost of the man he used to be.

Then it was gone, replaced by frustration.

"Now look what you've done," he snapped, as if it were my fault.

I wrenched my arm from his grasp, my last connection to him breaking with the sound of the shattering mug.

"Don't touch me," I snarled, my voice low and dangerous.

I didn't give them another glance. I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, leaving them standing there amidst the wreckage of their own making.