Page 79 of Omega's Formula

“I’m not—”

“I know you’re not, but that’s what it will look like.” She holds my gaze. “If you want to know, grow a pair and call him yourself.”

Call him. The thought makes my chest tight with something I don’t want to name. Three weeks ago I was ready to build a future with him. Now I can’t even imagine forming the words, hearing his voice on the other end of the line.

But she’s right. She’s usually right.

I pull out my phone and scroll to Nolan’s contact. My thumb hovers over the call button for a long moment. Then I press it.

It doesn’t even ring. Just a single beep and then silence, followed by an automated message.

The number you have dialed is not in service or has been disconnected.

I try again. Same result.

“I think he blocked me,” I say, and I’m surprised by the way my voice sounds. Hollow. Distant. “Or changed his number. I can’t reach him.”

Anna exhales. “Okay. Now you can call Sara.”

I send a text instead, because I don’t trust my voice right now.Need to know if Nolan West is pregnant. Discreet. Urgent.

Her response comes within thirty seconds.On it. May take a day or two. Everything okay?

Fine. Just need to know.

We keep walking. The city moves around us, oblivious, and I feel like I’m underwater—everything muted and distant, sounds coming from far away.

A bench appears ahead, weathered wood overlooking the river. Anna steers us toward it without asking, and I sink down gratefully. My legs don’t feel entirely steady.

“The recording,” she says after a while.

“What about it?”

“Have you listened to it again? Since Wallace gave it to you?”

My stomach turns. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because—” I stop, trying to find the words. “Because it made me sick the first time. Hearing his voice admitting everything, saying it was all a lie. I couldn’t—I can’t listen to that again.”

Anna is quiet for a moment. “Play it for me.”

“What?”

“The recording. I want to hear it.”

“Anna—”

“Erik.” Her voice is firm. “You made a major decision based on that recording. I want to hear what you heard.”

I don’t want to. Every instinct tells me to refuse, to leave the recording buried in my phone where it can’t hurt me anymore. But there’s something in Anna’s expression that makes me pull out the phone anyway, scrolling until I find the audio file Alistair sent me.

I press play.

Nolan’s voice fills the space between us, slurred and thick. “I shouldn’t have said those things. About the research.”

“I understand.” Alistair’s voice, smooth and sympathetic. “It was a difficult time for everyone involved.”