The records showed that Lorraine had instructed assistants to intercept correspondence and had urged Callum’s former lawyer to treat my pregnancy as a tactic.

One assistant had written a note beside a medical summary: THREE FETUSES CONFIRMED.

Lorraine’s reply was brief: DO NOT DISTURB CALLUM WITH THIS BEFORE THE MERGER.

The merger had closed shortly before my delivery.

The timing was no accident.

I read that message sitting at Nadia’s table, my hands so still that she asked whether I wanted a break.

“Eleven years,” I said.

“I spent eleven years trying to be good enough for a woman who wouldn’t even let her son know he had children.”