“This is a mistake,” Rebecca added, her eyes burning into mine. “You don’t know what you’re doing, Jonathan. Back away from her.”

I gripped the children’s hands tighter until Liam whimpered slightly.

“He knows exactly what he’s looking at, Rebecca,” I said.

“Mariana, please,” Jonathan said, trying to bypass his wife’s shoulder. “Let me talk to them. Just for a second.”

“Stay away from my children, Jonathan,” I said, my voice rising.

Rebecca grabbed his sleeve, her manicured red nails digging into the dark wool of his coat.

“We are leaving, right now,” Rebecca hissed to him. “You are jeopardizing the entire board meeting.”

Jonathan shook her hand off with a sudden, sharp jerk of his arm.

His face was pale under the yellow streetlights, his jaw tight.

He looked at me, a desperate plea in his eyes that I hadn’t seen since the day our marriage fell apart.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I swear to you, Mariana, I never knew the truth.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” I said.

Liam looked up at me, his small brow furrowed in confusion. “Mommy, who is that man?”

The question hung in the cold air between us.

Jonathan took another step forward, his chest rising and falling rapidly under his coat.

Rebecca reached into her designer purse, her fingers wrapping around her buzzing phone, but she ignored it.

“He is nobody, Liam,” I said, backing toward the corner of the wet block.

“Mariana, don’t do this,” Jonathan pleaded. “Let’s talk. Just the two of us. I have the medical records now.”

“There is nothing to say,” I said.

“I know what they did,” Jonathan said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “I know the tests were faked.”

Rebecca gripped his arm again, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous threat.

“Jonathan, shut up,” she warned. “You are playing right into her hands.”