And she was caring for Maggie. While the tall, angular girl wasn’t warm or nurturing, she was competent. She had three younger siblings, so she knew the baby drill. She knew when to feed Maggie, when to change her and put her down for a nap. Freya was clueless. And selfish. The child would be in jeopardy if not for Low’s capable presence.

The bell above the door jingled then, and I closed my laptop anticipating a customer. But it wasn’t a patron. It was a seething ball of fury with pale-blond hair and a pristine white outfit. It was Freya, and something had enraged her.

“You fucking cunt.”

I was rendered speechless by the venom and vulgarity. Had Low told her that I’d submitted Maggie’s DNA sample? But Low couldn’t have outed me without revealing her own complicity. Could Freya have discovered it some other way?

“Your plan backfired,” she sneered at me. “They found nothing of concern.”

A moment of relief was chased away by confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Freya.”

“You called Child Protection Services on me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You’re delusional, Jamie. You know, that right? The fact that you’re barren has fucked with your head.”

Anger heated my belly. “I didn’t call them,” I snapped. “I guess someone else knows you’re a terrible mother.”

She came at me then, and I thought she was going to attack me, but she stopped just short of where I stood. “You and Brian will never get near my daughter,” she spat. “You will never be her mother.”

“Maggie is Brian’s child! He has a right to be in her life!”

Freya stepped back and I thought I sensed the slightest softening, a receptivity in her posture.

“We were friends once,” I tried, my voice gentler. “I—I loved you like a sister. We can work this out. For Maggie’s sake.”

She cocked her head slightly to the side. “Why would I want someone like you in my daughter’s life? You’re so basic. And boring. You’ve wallowed in self-pity for so long that you’ve lost any semblance of a personality. You’re pitiful.”

“At least I’m not a narcissist,” I shot back. “At least I’m not so shallow that I crave the constant validation of a bunch of online strangers.”

She smiled then, a mirthless grin, and narrowed her eyes at me. I hadn’t thought my rebuttal through, and I felt a sudden flicker of panic. And fear.

Freya’s tone, unlike her words, was calm and casual. “Even if you prove that Maggie is Brian’s, even if the courts take your side, I’ll run. I’ll take Maggie and I’ll disappear. I’ll take her and I’ll drive off a cliff. You will never, ever be a part of her life.”