“We each had our demons. We each had our way of trying to escape them,” he said.
Sasha sipped her own tea, waited for more.
“Angeni’s mother ... she had mental issues. Killed herself—think I already told you that. Angeni and Aurora, they saw it happen.”
“Oh my god,” Sasha said.
She’d had no idea. It explained a lot—Erik’s concern about Angeni’s recent episodes, the bond between Angeni and Aurora, Angeni’s dedication to being The Best Mother for her own daughter.
“I just feel like I’m losing her,” he said.
He started crying again.
Sasha pushed herself up from the floor, went to him, put a hand on his back.
“Taking her to the hospital right now, that was like another trauma for her,” he said.
“Trauma?” Sasha asked.
He was looking at the ground in front of him when he said, “Nobody knows this, but she didn’t give birth to Freya at home. She had to be rushed to the hospital. The same hospital she’s at now.”
Sasha suddenly felt like she was on a boat in rough waters. Her vision blurred as the room seemed to spin around her.
“What?” she said.
Sasha tasted the tang of bile in her throat. She removed her hand from his back.
“She lied?” Sasha said.
Erik looked up at her. He appeared confused by her tone, the gravity of it. The Sitka he knew wouldn’t have cared so much how Angeni Luna had delivered her baby.
“She didn’tlie, not outright. She always phrased it as that she labored at home, in the tub. She just didn’t mention that Freya was born in the hospital,” he said. He would always come to her defense. That was why Angeni had chosen him, wasn’t it? “Honestly, I think she’s blocked out the hospital ... but being there now, I don’t know what’s going to happen to her mentally.”
Sasha closed her eyes.
Daphne, are you hearing this? Are you?
When she opened her eyes, the room was no longer spinning around her. She took deep breaths, focused on counting her inhales and exhales. She needed to be alone, to think through this new information. Should she text Jay or wait to tell him in person?
“People think she gave birth in a stupid tub,” Sasha said, unable to control the vitriol in her voice.
Erik furrowed his brow, clearly still confused by how much it mattered to her.
“Do you have any idea how many people have decided to have babies in tubs at home because of her?” Sasha was nearly screaming now.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this would be so upsetting,” Erik said. He seemed genuinely apologetic, clueless as to how this revelation had rocked Sasha’s world.
“She’s a fake. And she’s dangerous,” Sasha said, words bursting forth before she had a chance to censor them. “You have to tell people the truth.”
He nodded slowly, his eyes locked on hers as if he was trying to assess the extent of this breakdown she was having.
“Isn’t that what you two always preach—the power of the truth?”
She thought of the recording in progress on her phone, how she now had the ability to share the truth with the world. She could post it on social media. It was sure to go viral, with Angeni Luna’s millions of followers realizing how they had been deceived. People were vicious—they would never let it go. They would call her a fraud, a phony. At first, Sasha would feel a rush of satisfaction. But then what? Sasha knew Angeni Luna well enough to know she would be destroyed by this—emotionally, financially. She had seen the womanlose consciousnessover less. At some point, whatever satisfaction Sasha felt would turn into remorse. As she realized this, her anger at Erik’s revelation dissolved, replaced by despair over all that had happened and couldn’t be changed. She started to cry, big heaving sobs that made her whole body shake.
“Sitka, I’m sorry,” he said.
She chose to think he was sorry for everything—for going along with Angeni’s lies, for Daphne, for little Theodore.
