Influenced by Eva Robinson (best free ebook reader TXT) 📗

else think Rowan looks like a bloated weasel sometimes? LOL

She totally ripped off her style from other influencers, never credited. She straight up SUCKS.

Wow, great role model for high school kids. Get trashed and strip for the cameras! Whoever she’s trying to thirst trap here must be disgusted. It’s kind of sad at this point.

The charity crap is so transparent. As if she cares about inequality. Her entire feed promotes privilege. SHE DOES NOT CARE.

Do you actually think people are interested in your empty, shallow life?

Hannah clenched her teeth, a surge of anger rising in her. But they were interested, because they were always watching. And what kind of pleasure did they get out of being so mean? Imagine putting that much effort into making someone feel terrible.

On the last brutal comment she’d read, she started typing out a reply. You obviously DO care, since you’re all watching every single thing she does. Then, for extra punch, she added, Loser.

Her thumb hovered over the Post button.

But no, this was a bad idea. She’d get drawn into the drama.

She flicked off her phone, and only at that point did she notice the timer beeping.

“Make a noise!” Nora shouted from the floor. “Hear a noise.”

Nora had somehow found a corkscrew, which she’d opened up and was about to jab into her leg.

“No, Nora!” Hannah lunged, snatching it out of Nora’s chubby hand. No wonder the girl had been quiet—she’d been doing something dangerous while Hannah was immersed in her phone.

Nora stared at Hannah, alarmed. “Not touch, Nora. Not for baby.”

“That’s right. Not for little kids.”

Hannah turned, grabbing a dishcloth and opening the oven. The smell made her mouth water, and she grabbed a knife from the countertop to slide it into the brownies. They seemed perfectly done.

Breathing in the scent of chocolate, she dropped the brownies onto the stovetop, frowning at the mess around her. She’d been so intent on Rowan’s comments, and texts from Daniel, that she’d forgotten to clean anything up. The remnants of Nora’s dinner lay all over the countertop—bits of bread, an open jar of peanut butter.

At least she’d finished her baking. It was hardly a homemade fruit tart with berries picked from her garden, but she thought she should bring something to Stella’s that evening.

Though now that she’d made the brownies, she thought they seemed a bit childish, like something you’d bring to a kids’ party.

“Eat a brownie!” shouted Nora.

Hannah shook her head. “No, sweetie. Not for you.”

Nora’s screech of rage made Hannah’s stomach twist with guilt. She turned around, scooped Nora up, and pressed her forehead against her daughter’s.

Nora touched her cheek. “Mama’s cheek.”

Warmth surged, and Hannah pressed three kisses against her daughter’s cheek.

“Mama kiss.” Nora pointed to her dress. “Mama dress.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? At least, I hope it is. It was expensive.”

With her earnings from testing Rowan’s sister, Hannah had bought a black sundress with a plunging neckline and a delicate floral print. She’d never spent three hundred dollars on a dress before, but she already had two more test cases lined up.

She’d accessorized the ensemble with a little black velvet choker, and already she couldn’t wait to see Daniel.

Hannah dropped Nora in the high chair.

“Hungry?” said Hannah.

“Animal crackers!” Nora agreed, smiling.

Hannah turned, standing on her tiptoes to reach for a box of animal crackers from the top of the fridge, and pulled them down to grab a handful for Nora. As she dropped them on Nora’s tray, a few crumbs dropped on the floor.

Hannah spun, trails streaming from the corners of her eyes.

Crumbs… This place was swarming with ants.

That was the whole problem here. Hannah gritted her teeth and dropped to her knees, staring as a line of three ants raced for the crumbs.

Her hands clenched. The ants were winning.

She wanted to move out of Somerville, somewhere with a yard.

Like where Stella lived, where she could string fairy lights across the bushes and plant an English garden. She’d have her own parties, with Daniel in attendance. Peter would not be invited. Soon, her own garden would be filled with Daniel’s sculptures. She could almost see Daniel’s handsome face, lit up from the side by the warm light of a lantern…

“Eat brownie!” Nora’s voice snapped Hannah out of her daydream, and she realized she was still on her hands and knees, watching the ants.

Maybe it was time for the ant traps after all. She grabbed a little wooden footstool and set it down before the sink. She reached for the plastic bag of ant traps, each one filled with poison. She pulled out two of them and stepped off the stool.

As she cut the two traps open, she was already thinking about how she would clean the scissors, scrubbing the blades clean so there would be no traces of poison that could find their way to Nora somehow.

She dropped the scissors in the sink, then crossed to the fridge. If she did this right, slid the trap deep enough under the fridge, Nora would never be able to reach it. Hannah would never have to live with the guilt of knowing she’d poisoned her only child.

The animal crackers were keeping Nora quiet, and Hannah rested for a moment on the floor. After the late night with Daniel had been another night of sleeplessness, and she felt time speeding up again.

Where had the day gone? She vaguely remembered dressing up for the party while Nora had played with the iPad. Hannah tried to recreate her makeup just like Rowan had done it—the swoops of eyeliner, the shimmering cheeks. As always, she wore her charm bracelet. She’d sent a few caption revisions to Rowan to help with the charity marketing. Already, the donations had come rolling in. And that made up for her pseudo-diagnoses side gig.

“Milk!” Nora shouted. “Wanna milk.”

Hannah blinked. She was standing by the counter now. She felt like she’d just lost the past few minutes, and she didn’t remember standing up.

She needed to put out the second trap before she forgot. But as