Mia’s social media location tag soon read: The Aegean Sea.
05.09
She posted a picture from a first–class cabin, the caption a smug: Choices matter more than anything.
I opened my messenger app and saw I could no longer view her profile. A quick test confirmed it: she hac blocked and deleted me. A few moments later, a mutual friend forwarded me her latest post. “Lana, is every
thing okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
The post was a sanctimonious ramble about how, even though she was marrying a billionaire, she wasn’t a fool. Some people decided we weren’t friends anymore, so I’m granting their wish. But if you ever find yours
elf in trouble, don’t even think of coming to me. The thought of you makes me sick.
I had to laugh. What on earth went on inside that woman’s head? I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face
when she finally grasped the full reality of her “choice.”
After the wedding, I settled into a comfortable routine of nesting and managing my online investments. So- me of my stock picks were doing exceptionally well; I’d already made more than enough to cover the baby’s expenses for the first year. Julian, meanwhile, was completely immersed in his project. Sometimes he was so busy he wouldn’t look at his phone for days.
Mia must have found my silence unsettling because she unblocked me again. My phone was instantly floo-
ded with a barrage of her messages.
“I hear your husband is barely ever home these days?”
So, she had people watching me.
“If you beg me for forgiveness now, maybe I’ll find it in my heart to throw you a few scraps.”
“My husband buys me gold and jewels every day. He bought me a private cove just because I said I liked the
sunset there!”
Julian’s project was classified, of course. Secrecy was paramount. In the last life, it wasn’t just Mia’s public
