Page 24

Atlas

I was never the type to let things go, especially when something didn't sit right with me. Kairi didn’t think I noticed she had been dodging my questions about Dion, but I had—and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Every time I brought it up, she'd switch gears, change the subject, or flat-out leave before I had the chance to press her. It wasn’t just in conversation either—she was literally avoiding me. I’d show up at the hospital to check on Ms. Shirley, and Kairi would already be gone, out the door with Dion before I could even say hello.

It didn’t take long for the nagging feeling to grow into something I couldn’t ignore. I thought about going straight to Ms. Shirley or Kairi’s dad. They knew her better than anyone, and if something was going on, they’d be the first to know. But I didn’t want to make it obvious I was snooping. If Kairi was hiding something, I needed to know—especially if it involved Dion and me.

That’s when I decided to call in a favor. I worked in IT, and I knew people who could find information when I needed it. And all I needed was Kairi’s full name and birth date. Lucky for me, I already had that.

I didn’t bother thinking too hard about it. Just pulled out my phone and hit Mason’s number. He picked up on the third ring.

“I need a favor.”

I gave him the details—name, birth date, what I was looking for. He went quiet when I said Kairi’s name.

“You sure you wanna go down that road?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Alright. I’ll see what I can find.”

Click.

Now all I had to do was wait.

The rest of the day, I tried to focus on Ashlen. It was two weeks after the miscarriage. She was doing better. We had a quiet ceremony for our twins. Just me, her, her parents, and my mother. She wanted to go shopping after. I didn’t want to but it was the least I could do. I let her drag me around, following her through store after store. Clothes, shoes, perfumes—I didn’t complain about the prices. The distance that had been there for years between us was hard to ignore or maybe it was just me, distracted, thinking about Kairi and Dion.

At dinner, Ashlen ordered drinks, something she’d been doing more often lately. I declined. That’s when it hit me—I hadn’t had a drink in days. Not since the day I first met Dion in the hospital. I’d lost the urge to drink. Then I thought about the day in the hospital and how Ashlen had confronted me. It had been strange.

I looked across the table at Ashlen, the question spilling out before I could stop myself. “Why did you think Dion was mine?”

She looked surprised, blinking hard. Her hand hovered over her glass, and she gave a light laugh, brushing it off. “When I saw you at the hospital with the baby, my mind went to a bad place,” she said, waving her hand like it wasn’t a big deal. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

The fact that she apologized at all didn’t sit right with me. Even when she was wrong, she rarely apologized. But I didn’t press her.

Later that night, we went home, and the first thing I saw when I sat at my desk was an email from Mason sitting in my secured inbox. My stomach dropped as I opened it. The information I needed was right there—Dion’s birth certificate, his date of birth. He was going to be three in just a few days. No father was listed. He had been born three weeks early. The math I had done before now added up.

I stared at the screen, my hands tightening into fists. It felt like everything I’d been ignoring—everything Kairi had been avoiding—was making sense now. I stormed out of the room, heart racing, and found Ashlen in the living room.

She turned to watch me. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, sitting up from the sofa and pausing her show.

“Is Dion mine?” I asked, my voice cold.

She froze, her eyes wide, her face pale. For a moment, she tried to deny it, shaking her head. “No, Atlas, no—”

But then she broke, bursting into tears, sobbing like I’d never seen before. And that’s when I knew. I didn’t need her to say it. I already knew.

The vase next to the sofa hit the wall before I even realized I'd thrown it. Shards everywhere flew.

Ashlen sobs grew louder.

My chest was tight. Breathing hurt.

I didn’t stop moving. I swung at the wall near the door, fist connecting hard sending a dull pain shooting up my arm, but I barely felt it. I kept moving.

I yanked the front door open, stepped out, and slammed it behind me so hard the frame rattled.

I had to leave before the rage swallowed me whole and I did something I’d regret.