CHAPTER THREE — A FAVOR WITH A PRICE

Belinda arrived at seven that evening carrying a laptop bag and a garment cover.
Jonah invited her to sit at the kitchen table.
She remained standing.
“Dorian says Priya was fired for insubordination.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“She’s been approaching clients with false claims.”
“Then the clients can check their rooms.”
“That’s not how commissioning works.”
“Explain how it works.”
Belinda pulled a printed sheet from her bag.
The sheet listed eleven Nestwell installations at offices, warehouses, and hospitals around the city.
Eight had a green completed mark.
Three had a yellow conditional mark.
“See?” she said.
“Those three sites are still pending.”
Jonah looked at the locations.
One was the Hollis Distribution Center, where his sister, Mallory, worked on the night shift.
Mallory had a three-year-old daughter and had applied to work mornings after the company announced the family room and its connected childcare scheduling program.


“Why is Hollis listed in green?” Jonah asked.
“Because the construction inspection was passed.”
“My sister says the door is still locked.”
“Access is a separate process.”
“Then why does the website say employees can book it tomorrow?”
Belinda stared at him.
“You’ve been checking our website?”
“Mallory sent me the link last week.”
Belinda folded the sheet.
“I came to ask you for something.”
Jonah remained silent.
“Dorian’s legal team wants a statement that I wasn’t working from home on Tuesday nights.”
“Why?”
“There’s a question about where I reviewed the project files.”
“Were you working from home?”
“Sometimes.”
“Then why would you make a statement that you weren’t?”
“Because most of the work was done at the office.”
“That’s different.”
She gripped the back of a chair.
“They think Priya downloaded proprietary planning material while she had access to my account.”


“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why is this a question for me?”
“Because Dorian thinks you can confirm that I was with him on certain evenings.”
Jonah looked at her for a long time.
“You want me to provide an alibi for your affair.”
“No.”
“You want me to sign something that makes it sound like I knew where you were.”
“You knew I worked late.”
“I knew what you told me.”
“It’s just a formality.”
“Not to the person you’re accusing.”
Belinda pushed the chair backward.
“You make everything into a moral test.”
“You asked me to sign a statement about events I didn’t witness.”
“You could help me for once.”
“I spent eight years helping you.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Belinda’s eyes filled, but she refused to wipe them.
She opened her laptop bag and took out a dark blue folder instead.
“These are the terms Dorian negotiated for me.”
Jonah did not touch it.
“He’ll cover a rental apartment for six months and help with my legal expenses.”
“What does he receive?”
“He wants the transition to be quiet.”
“Quiet for whom?”
“Everyone.”
“The man who’s sleeping with you wants your husband to sign a false statement, and you’ve brought his proposed transition plan into our kitchen.”
“Stop saying it like that.”
“Tell me how else to say it.”
She sat down finally.
For the first time all evening, she looked exhausted rather than triumphant.
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
Jonah closed his eyes briefly.
“How far along?”
“About nine weeks.”
He calculated the dates without speaking.
There had been evenings together during that period.
He had no way to know the child’s paternity.
“Have you had a medical appointment?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
She looked surprised by the question.
“Yes.”
“Then I won’t press you tonight.”
“Dorian thinks the baby is his.”
“Do you?”
Belinda stared down at her hands.
“I don’t know.”
The truth was smaller and more frightening than either of them had imagined.
Jonah pushed the blue folder back toward her.
“I won’t sign anything about your work or your whereabouts.”
“What about us?”
“We’ll have to discuss that through people who aren’t trying to make us lie.”
Belinda looked at the folder as though it had suddenly become very heavy.
She stood and left it on the table.
After she drove away, Jonah placed it in the hallway closet without reading it.
He did not want another man’s plan becoming the only plan in his house.