Chương 6
“We file.”
The temporary protective order was granted the next morning based on Emily’s sworn statement and the initial evidence.
It prohibited Derek from contacting her, approaching her residence, workplace, or childcare location, and from using third parties to locate or intimidate her.
Paper did not make Emily feel safe.
It gave consequences a shape.
That was different.
Derek obeyed the order directly.
Indirectly, he became creative.
Two former coworkers contacted Emily asking whether she was “okay.”
A woman Emily barely knew sent a message saying Derek had told people she was trying to accuse him of abuse to hide an affair.
Someone reported Emily’s old fundraising page as fraudulent.
A mutual acquaintance posted a vague comment about “people who destroy good men with lies.”
Nothing was explicit enough to prove Derek had ordered it.
Everything felt connected enough to make Emily stop sleeping again.
Mara told her not to respond publicly.
Natalie wanted to respond to everybody publicly.
“I can ruin a Sunday for at least six people,” she said.
“No.”
“Five.”
“No.”
“Four and I won’t use profanity.”
Emily stared at her.
Natalie sighed.
“Fine.”
Then she picked Noah up and spent fifteen minutes explaining baseball to him incorrectly.
Adrian remained silent.
Emily hated him for that too.
A week after Noah’s birth, Mara asked if Emily wanted genetic testing before considering paternity paperwork.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
She was not proving something Adrian doubted.
She was establishing something nobody could later turn into another argument.
Adrian agreed through counsel.
The test was scheduled at an accredited facility.
Emily arrived carrying Noah in his car seat.
Adrian was already there.
He stood when she entered.
He had no overcoat this time.
Gray sweater.
Black trousers.
He looked tired.
Good, Emily thought, and then immediately felt petty.
She let herself feel petty.
He deserved at least some of it.
“Hi.”
Emily nodded.
Adrian looked at the car seat.
“Can I see him?”
“You can see him from there.”
He stopped.
“Okay.”
Noah slept with one fist near his cheek.
Adrian stared at him for several seconds.
Emily watched his throat move.
“You can breathe.”
“I’m trying.”
“That would be embarrassing paperwork if you passed out.”
A surprised laugh escaped him.
Emily nearly smiled.
She resented that too.
A technician called their names.
The collection was simple.
Cheek swabs.
Forms.
Identification.
No music.
No revelation.
No dramatic certainty.
Just fluorescent light and a technician who apologized because the printer jammed.
While they waited, Adrian sat across from Emily.
His knees were angled away so he would not crowd her.
“I resigned my license,” he said.
Emily looked up.
“What?”
“My private-investigator license. I surrendered it pending review.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Yes, I did.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“I know.”
She stared at him.
He almost said it again, realized what he was doing, and stopped.
Emily looked down at Noah.
“Why did you come to the hospital?”
“I was following Derek.”
“You told me.”
“I saw him enter through the maternity entrance. I called security from the parking garage.”
“They weren’t fast enough.”
“No.”
“So you went upstairs.”
“Yes.”
“How did you know what floor?”
He looked uncomfortable.
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“Adrian.”
“I asked the information desk.”
“They told you?”
“I said I was the baby’s father.”
She stared.
He rubbed his jaw.
“It was not my best ethical day.”
Despite herself, Emily laughed.
A woman across the waiting room looked over.
Emily lowered her voice.
“You punched a man and signed a hospital form after disappearing for four months.”
“Yes.”
“You also impersonated a responsible adult.”
“That part is fair.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then her face hardened.
“Why did you leave instead of telling me?”
His humor disappeared.
“I convinced myself that Derek only cared about you because I was near you.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It did to me then.”
“Why?”
“Because he sent me photographs.”
Emily went still.
“What photographs?”
“Us.”
“When?”
“Two days before I left.”
Her stomach turned.
“Doing what?”
“Walking into your building. Leaving a restaurant. Sitting in my car.”
“Why didn’t you show me?”
“I thought you’d be safer if there was nothing left to connect us.”
Emily stared at him.
“And while you were protecting me from being connected to you, I was pregnant with your child.”
“Yes.”
“You see the flaw.”
“Yes.”
“Say something besides yes.”
Adrian looked through the window at cars moving along the street.
“I was scared.”
It was the first time she had heard him say it.
Not concerned.
Not careful.
Not responsible.
Scared.
“Of Derek?”
“Of what he’d do.”
“To you?”
“To you.”
Emily’s anger sharpened.
“So you made my decisions for me.”
“Yes.”
She almost snapped at the word, but his expression stopped her.
He continued.
“And I was scared you’d find out how I met you.”
There.
The uglier truth.
“You were protecting yourself too.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For finally saying it.”
He looked down.
“I told myself leaving was about your safety. Some of it was. Some of it was cowardice.”
Noah stirred.
Emily adjusted the blanket.
“Did you ever plan to come back?”
“Every day.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He rubbed his palms once against his trousers.
“I didn’t have a plan that wasn’t stupid.”
“That sounds more accurate.”
“I thought if I could document Derek violating enough laws, I could bring something usable to police or an attorney and then explain everything.”
“So you were waiting until you had a solution.”
“Yes.”
“Because God forbid you show up with only the truth.”
Adrian lowered his head.
The technician came out with their receipts.
The conversation ended because real life rarely waited for emotional timing.
The paternity result arrived six days later.
Probability of paternity greater than 99.9 percent.
Emily read it while Noah slept against her stomach.
She did not feel surprised.
She felt relieved.
Then angry that she felt relieved.
May you like
Then tired of monitoring her own reactions.
She forwarded it to Mara.
