I Paid a Stranger to Flirt with My Mom

Harper lost the baby at eight weeks. It started with cramping. Mild at first—the kind that could be normal, that […]

Harper’s period was two weeks late when she finally took the test. She’d been ignoring the signs. The nausea. The

Mason started ring shopping in December. He didn’t tell Harper. Didn’t tell anyone except Caleb, who immediately called him insane.

Harper met Samuel two weeks later at Sunday brunch. He was nothing like Richard. Where her father was corporate polish

Living together was harder than Harper expected. Not because they fought—they didn’t, much. But because sharing space with someone meant

Six months after the gala, Harper’s life had transformed into something unrecognizable. She woke up next to Mason most mornings.

The photo surfaced on social media three months after the gala. Harper was at work when Sienna texted: OMG CHECK

Richard asked Harper to meet him for coffee three days after Claire’s birthday. Not at their usual places. Not anywhere

Harper avoided her mother for three weeks. Not intentionally. Or maybe completely intentionally. It was hard to tell the difference

Two weeks after the dinner explosion, Harper’s life had settled into a strange new normal. Her parents were officially separated.