Chapter 5: Just the Two of Us
Olivia chose a wine bar in River North.
Quiet booths, low lighting, the kind of place where conversations disappeared into the background noise.
She was already seated when I arrived, a glass of white wine in front of her, her posture composed and deliberate.
She had dressed for this.
Silk blouse, hair done, the diamond engagement ring catching the light just so.
I sat down across from her without taking off my coat.
*You came,* she said.
*You asked.*
She studied me for a moment.
*You're not what I expected, you know.
When Sebastian first described you, I imagined someone fragile.
Someone who needed rescuing.*
*I know,* I said.
*That's what you told him I was.*
Her expression didn't shift.
*I told him the truth as I understood it.*
*You told him I lost the pregnancy.*
*His mother told him that.*
*While you stood at baggage claim and made sure he didn't go back to the hospital to check.*
She picked up her wine glass and set it down again without drinking.
*Eleanor asked me to be there.
I was twenty-six years old and I was in love with a man whose mother had just told me his ex-wife had miscarried and was asking to be left alone.
What would you have done?*
*I would have let him make that decision himself.*
*He had already made it.*
*He was twenty minutes from my hospital room,* I said.
*He had cut a business trip short to come back.
That is not a man who has made a decision.*
Something moved behind her eyes.
Gone before I could name it.
*The recording,* she said.
*Margaret gave it to you.*
*Which one are you asking about?*
Her jaw tightened slightly.
*There's only one recording.*
*There are two,* I said.
*The one I already had.
And the voicemail from the gate that you deleted.*
She set the wine glass down carefully.
*Olivia.* I kept my voice even.
*I'm not here to threaten you.
I'm here because you asked me to come and I want to understand one thing.
The document Eleanor brought to my hospital room — the relinquishment agreement.
Did you know about that before or after she brought it?*
A long pause.
*Before,* she said quietly.
*How long before?*
She looked at the table.
*She called me the night you were admitted.
She said she needed to move quickly while you were still — while you were still recovering.
She said if you signed before you were discharged, it would hold up legally because you would have been counseled.*
*Counseled,* I repeated.
*That was the word she used.*
*I had just had emergency surgery.
I was alone.
My husband was on a plane I didn't know he had boarded.
And Eleanor Carter brought a lawyer and called it counseling.*
Olivia didn't answer.
*Did you tell her to do it?*
*No.* Her voice was sharp.
*I didn't tell her to do anything.
Eleanor doesn't take direction from anyone.*
*But you knew.
And you said nothing.*
*I was twenty-six,* she said again.
*You're thirty-one now,* I said.
*And you texted me last night telling me Margaret was using me to settle a grudge.*
She looked up.
*You're still protecting it,* I said.
*Five years later.
You're still protecting the version of events that keeps you in that apartment and that ring on your finger.*
*That's not fair.*
*Olivia.* I leaned forward slightly.
*Sebastian left me a voicemail saying he loved me.
He was twenty minutes away.
He came back for me.
And you were at baggage claim to make sure he never found that out.*
Her eyes were bright now.
Not with tears.
With something harder.
*He chose me,* she said.
*After everything settled.
After months.
He chose me.*
*He chose the version of me you and Eleanor built for him,* I said.
*The one who had lost the babies and disappeared and didn't want to be found.
That's not a choice.
That's a verdict based on false evidence.*
She stood up.
*I'm not going to sit here and be lectured by—*
*Sit down, Olivia.*
She stopped.
I hadn't raised my voice.
I hadn't needed to.
*I'm not your enemy,* I said.
*I could be.
I have enough to make your life very difficult.
But I'm not here for that.
I'm here because Sebastian deserves to know what actually happened.
And so do my children.*
She sat down slowly.
*What are you going to do?* she asked.
*I'm going to give Sebastian everything,* I said.
*The document.
The voicemails.
The recording.
All of it.
What he does with it is his decision.*
*And me?*
I looked at her for a moment.
*That,* I said, *is also his decision.*
I stood, buttoned my coat, and picked up my bag.
*For what it's worth,* I said, *I don't think you're a cruel person.
I think you were young and you wanted something and someone powerful told you it was already yours.
That's not the same as being cruel.*
*But you let it happen.
And five children — three of mine and whatever you and Sebastian might have had — grew up in the shadow of that choice.*
I left her sitting there with her untouched wine and her diamond ring and whatever she was going to do with the rest of the afternoon.
Outside, the November air was sharp and cold.
My phone buzzed before I reached the corner.
Sebastian.
*I spoke to my mother.*
Then, a second later:
May you like
*Hannah.
She didn't deny it.*
