“Don’t play innocent with me.” She stepped closer. “I see women like you all the time. You find a successful man, you trap him with a baby that’s probably not even his, and you ride that meal ticket for the rest of your life.”

My blood was boiling, but I kept my hands steady. Rosie needed me calm.

“Rosie is not Graham’s baby,” I said. “She’s mine from a previous relationship.”

“Even worse. You’re bringing another man’s child into my son’s life. Baggage. That’s what you are. Baggage with a diaper bag.”

I could have destroyed her right then. I could have told her exactly who I was—how much I made, how many doctors begged for my work. I could have watched her face crumble as her assumptions shattered.

But I didn’t, because the test wasn’t over. And Patricia was proving exactly why I needed to run it in the first place.

“Graham loves me,” I said simply. “And I love him.”

Patricia laughed. It wasn’t a nice laugh.

“Graham is infatuated. He thinks he’s rescuing you. It’s a hero complex, nothing more. When the novelty wears off, he’ll see you for what you are.”

“And what is that?”

She smiled, cold and sharp. “Temporary.”

She left me alone in that bathroom, hands shaking with rage, Rosie looking up at me with innocent eyes.

When I returned to the dining room, I saw a text notification on my phone from my colleague at the lab.

Emergency, the Morrison case, the $40,000 full-mouth reconstruction. Dr. Preston says only you can fix it. Triple overtime if you come in tonight.

My heart sank.

Continued on the next page