Chapter 1

On my way to my in-laws', I picked up a rideshare fare, and the address turned out to be in the same building as my mother-in-law's.

The passenger was a bright, cheerful girl who kept stroking my expensive car and gushing over it.

"You drive something this pricey and still do rideshare? Renting a car like this must cost a fortune. Can you even break even?"

Driving was just a hobby of mine. I smiled and said nothing.

For this trip back to my in-laws' I had over six hundred miles to cover on my own, so I picked up a fare to have some company along the way and pass the time.

The girl chatted with me the whole drive, until her boyfriend called, his voice full of concern.

"I told you I'd come get you, but you insisted on coming by yourself. It's such a hassle for you."

The girl stuck out her tongue. "It's fine. I ran into a driver who was headed the same way. Honestly, her husband won't even come pick her up over a distance like this. What a heartless man."

The man's soft laugh was familiar.

"Then he doesn't love her. If you really love someone, how could you let her drive all that way alone?"

"Send me the plate number, and don't hang up while you're on the road. I worry about you."

I slammed on the brakes.

The voice on the other end of that call was one I could never mistake. It was my husband's voice.

……

The girl jumped and let out a startled little scream.

Miles Sanchez immediately asked, anxious, "Ollie, what's wrong? Was there an accident?"

The girl turned the video toward the window so he could see outside, and only then did Miles let out a breath.

"It's nothing, the driver just isn't very good. I told you not to ride with women drivers, but you wouldn't listen. Where are you? Should I come get you?"

The girl patted her chest and said with a playful grin, "No need. Just stay home with your aunt and uncle. You've done enough. Don't bother running around."

"Besides, I only took a woman driver so my little jealous baby wouldn't get jealous. Otherwise you'd end up like last time, chasing down some male driver to pick a fight with him…"

I didn't hear the rest.

Because following the angle of the girl's video, I saw Miles Sanchez's face, clear as anything.

He was still wearing the clothes I'd bought him, lying on the bed back at his family home.

I remembered that bed. I'd slept on it during our wedding, when my mother-in-law made a point of tormenting me by pulling out the mattress pad, so the frame dug hard into my back.

After I got home, it took a week of chiropractic work, acupuncture, and physical therapy before it eased up.

The girl's boyfriend was the man I'd just married.

On her end, she hung up and looked at me with nothing but kindness.

"Are you okay?"

I wiped a hand across my face, no longer able to tell whether it was the sweat that had beaded on my forehead or the tears.

I turned the air conditioning down two degrees and started the car again.

"I'm fine. I think it was a little morning sickness just now. It's passed."

The girl's face lit up. "You're pregnant! Congratulations!"

I twitched the corner of my mouth. The thank-you wouldn't come.

After all, for the woman I was right now, there was nothing worth congratulating.

The girl pulled out her phone to swap numbers with me.

"Give me your number. My name's Olympia Galloway. Don't worry, if the platform comes after you, just send them to me. I won't let them dock your pay!"

"A pregnant woman having to go out and earn a living is hard enough, and your husband treats you like this? He's really no kind of man!"

I let out a cold laugh and echoed her without thinking.

"Yeah. No kind of man at all."

Olympia looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry, I don't have a license, so I can't help you. How can you drive while you're pregnant? Maybe you should just call your husband and have him come get you."

"You're already off the highway anyway. It's only the last sixty miles or so."

I clenched my palm and, as if pulled by some unseen hand, sent Miles a message.

"Honey, I'm not feeling well. Come pick me up."

The reply came fast. "Nessa, don't you always love driving? I couldn't bring myself to take away one of your few hobbies!"

"Besides, my wife's the best driver there is. I wouldn't dare show off in front of an expert."

Cheerful tone, capped with a smirking little sticker.