When she finally found a halfway comfortable position, she marveled at the breathtaking view from the twenty-fifth floor. The lights of the city shone like in a fairytale.

But this was anything but a fairytale. If someone would have told her that she’d be pretending to be the partner of some rich lesbian brat one day, she probably would have laughed about such a bad joke.

But here she was. And laughing was about the last thing on her mind.

“Mom?”

Sherry sat up. “I’m here.”

His favorite teddy pressed to his chest, Jake shuffled toward her.

“Why are you awake, baby?”

Jake let go of the teddy with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the back of this hand. “Can’t sleep.” When he reached the couch, he crawled under Sherry’s blanket into her open arms. “And then I wanted to come to you, but I was afraid that the monster would get me if I did.”

She caressed his soft hair. “Monster?”

He pointed at Rita Mae’s room.

Sherry tried to hold back laughter but failed. “Honey, that is no monster. Rita Mae’s snoring. That’s all.”

Jake kept silent.

The couch was much too small for them both, but Sherry lay down, taking him with her anyway. A little cuddling was exactly what she needed.

Jake snuggled closer and sighed.

“But you’ve got to go back to bed in a bit, okay?” Sherry asked after a while.

Deep breathing was the answer.

“Aww, my baby.” She kissed his hair.

A few minutes later, she pulled herself up and carried the still-sleeping joy of her life to his room. Careful not to wake Jake, she placed him and his teddy in the bed and covered him. After giving him a kiss on the forehead, she went to the door. There she allowed herself the pleasure of watching him sleep. The little nightlight close to the bed revealed his relaxed features.

When her eyelids became heavy, she forced herself to leave. If she wanted to get any sleep at all tonight, she had to get back to the couch.

Tomorrow—or, to be more precise, later today—they would drive over to Madison’s grandmother’s house. That Madison had waited to tell her this until they said good night made her even more nervous.

Madison had made it clear how important the upcoming evening was. And it was true: for Madison this was merely about a crazy amount of money, but for Sherry this was about everything. Only if she played her role convincingly would Jake keep his room for a while. And only if she proved to be a good actress would he be able to go to a good elementary school and be medically taken care of.

She straightened, determination surging through her. She would do whatever it took to pretend that Madison was the love of her life.

Hopefully, she could be convincing. There was no plan B.