Eva's brow furrowed. "That's it?"
Brian nodded grimly. "I used my sources to track the number. But it's a burner."
She let out a sigh. "Still… it's the first lead in years, Brian. I'll take anything and everything I get no matter how tiny. Hell, I'd follow a breadcrumb into a war zone if I thought he might be there."
"So I heard Daniel got married."
"Is that all you heard?" Brian raised his eyebrow.
Eva sighed dramatically, lifting her coffee cup. "Oh Brian. I am not that petty. He can marry whoever he wants."
Brian stared at her, unblinking. "Even if she is your best friend."
"Even if she was my best friend," Eva corrected coolly, though a tiny flicker of pain betrayed her in the way her lip tightened and her eyes darted to the window. "I was wondering why she stopped picking my calls…"
Brian's lips twitched into a sympathetic smirk. "It's honestly infuriating to gossip with an emotionally mature person. I was hoping to sit here with you and use my classic 'that bitch!' line."
Eva chuckled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Daniel became fair game after the divorce. It is what it is," she said with a shrug, but her shoulders lingered too high, too tense.
Brian leaned back with a groan. "Fine. Be evolved and gracious. But for the record, if I run into her, I am going to spill red wine on her blouse 'by accident'."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Eva smiled faintly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Brian tapped his fingers on the table. "So... are you staying with me or at a hotel?"
Eva shook her head. "No… I'll just stay at the house."
Brian blinked. "The one you got after the divorce?" He leaned forward slightly, concern etched across his features. "Are you sure? I mean, the memories… Will you be okay? I can stay with you… I don't mind."
"I'll be fine," she said gently. "I need the memories. It's like I'm beginning to forget my own son's face. I used to remember every detail. The little swirl in his hair. His dimple when he sucked on his lower lip. But now…Now I'm scared I'll mistake another boy for him and convince myself it's Leo."
Brian reached across the table, placing his hand over hers again. "Eva…"
She shook her head, eyes distant. "I wonder what he looks like now. Or—God—if he's even still alive." She exhaled.
"Stop talking like that," Brian said quickly. "Come on! He is fine. And I am sure he is in the hands of someone… nice." He smiled with forced cheer, tapping his fingers nervously on the table.
But even Brian wasn't so sure.
*****
When Eva arrived at the house she and Daniel once shared, it hit her like a gut punch. As she stood in front of the door, keys trembling in her hand, the past surged forward. Her chest ached with the memory of laughter in the hallways.
She turned the key.
She took one step inside, and the tears came uninvited. This house was a museum of what was, and what would never be again.
She ran her fingers over the edge of the hallway mirror.
Then she remembered the day they bought the house.
She was barely unpacked when she found out she was pregnant. They danced in the empty living room, feet tripping over loose boxes, laughing. He'd cried when she showed him the positive test and whispered, "We're going to be parents,".
And then… someone, somewhere, decided that wasn't allowed.
In one brutal night, she lost her husband, her reputation, and her son. If she had even an ounce of foresight, consulted a psychic, she'd have chosen differently. Protected Leo.
She wandered upstairs to the nursery.
Time had frozen in that room. The walls still bore the faint imprint of clouds she painted. The mobile above the crib turned lazily.
She dropped to her knees beside the crib, sobbing until her lungs hurt. The pain simply arrived, dragged her under, and left her curled on the floor where she eventually cried herself into a restless, dreamless sleep.
*****
The next morning was no better. If anything, waking up in the nursery felt crueler than anything she'd dreamt.
Still, she forced herself to get up, dressed in silence, and drove to a small cemetery on the edge of town. Mary's grave was tucked in the farthest corner.
Eva stood at the headstone, barely breathing. It was simple. Mary would've hated it.
"I'm sorry," Eva whispered. "For everything."
After the award ceremony scandal, Mary's world had unraveled overnight. The press dug in with talons. Her secret affairs, her orientation. Mary was outed brutally.
And she was married to a man.
The fallout was swift. Her husband left, Twitter tore her to pieces.
"Those photos weren't even real," Eva said bitterly, kneeling.
She sniffled, wiping her cheek. "You idiot. You weren't supposed to die."
Eva stayed a while longer, hand resting on the headstone. "If you can hear me… send me a sign, okay? I need to find Leo. And I need to make this right."
Mary had cracked under all the pressure.
In the end, the public had eaten her alive, and spit out the bones. She took her own life barely a month after the scandal, and she left behind a one-year-old child who would grow up with no memory of her laugh.
Mary had been caught in the crossfire. And Eva couldn't forgive herself.
Someone out there had wanted Eva destroyed. Mary had simply been standing too close to the blast.
Eva closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Mare. I should've protected you. If I'd known…"
"She doesn't get too many guests," a voice said behind her.
Eva turned sharply, half-expecting some nosy reporter. Instead, she found a man standing a few feet away, bouquet in hand, looking as out of place as she felt.
"Hi…" she said, dragging the word.
"Hello," he replied gently, adjusting the flowers in his grip. "I can wait until you're done."