Svetlana Shuts Down Her Computer and Prepares to Leave—But an Unexpected Visitor Walks In Claiming t…

Evelyn shut down her computer, gathering her bag and preparing to leave.

Miss Bennett, theres a young lady here to see you, called her assistant. She says its a personal matter.

Let her in. I suppose Ive got a few minutes.

Into the office wandered a petite, curly-haired girl in a short skirt.

Evening. My names Daisy. Ive come to propose a deal.

Good evening, Daisy. A deal? You and I dont know one another, do we?

Not personally, no. But I know your husband, Tom, rather well. Here.

She strode to the desk, tossing a folded piece of paper onto the polished surface. Evelyn picked it up, scanning the words:

Daisy Holloway, pregnancy: 5-6 weeks.

What is this? I dont understand Why are you showing me this?

Whats not to understand. Im pregnant. With your husbands child.

A chill ran over Evelyns skin, a surreal humming in her ears. This was something unexpected. Had she wandered into a different world?

And what are you hoping for, Daisy? Congratulations?

No. I want money. If you value your husband, of course

Money? For what, precisely?

I have an abortion and disappear from Toms life. He doesnt know Im pregnantcame to you first. If you refuse, hell come to me in the end. After all, you cant have children yourself. I know that much about you. So, what do you say?

Evelyns head swirled. None of this made sense, like a painting dreamed by a madman. She pressed her palm to her brow.

And how much are you expecting me to pay for your silence?

Only thirty thousand pounds. Peanuts to someone like you. Then you and your beloved Tom can grow old together.

My, how noble of you! Thank you for the opportunity. Her words tasted of iron and thunder. Leave your telephone number. Ill think it over, get back to you.

Dont take too long, yeah? The clocks ticking; if Im to get rid of it, best not delay

Daisy scribbled a number on a scrap of paper, then sauntered out, hips swaying in a way that seemed out of joint with the atmosphere of the room.

Leaving now, Miss Bennett? The caretakers waiting, you know, piped up Angela, the desk clerk, from the corridor.

Evelyn folded the note, tucking it into her handbag as if it were a secret from another realm.

Yes, Angela, Im off. See you in the morning.

Once outside, she slipped into the drivers seat of her car. The London rain tapped on the windscreen like a chorus of skeptical ghosts. What had just happened? Who was this Daisy? Had Tom truly strayed and fathered a child? The city looked all wrong, the edges softened like an unfinished oil painting.

Back at her Hampstead home, Evelyn laid the paper on the kitchen counter, staring at it as if it might rearrange itself, explain everything. Soon, Tom would be home.

Evening, love! Whats that wonderful smell? His voice drifted in, warm and soft.

Come find out

Tom appeared, wiping his hands and looking pleased, only to freeze at the steely look in her eyes.

Whats wrong? Youre looking at me like Im something out of a nightmare

Tom, who is Daisy Holloway?

She works at a company we deal with. Why?

She claims shes pregnantwith your child. Here, read this.

He took the note, bemused, his eyes darting back and forth.

This cant be I havent been with her. Not at all. How is this even possible?

You tell me. She wants thirty thousand pounds, or else. She says youd come running to her, since I cant bear children. So she claims.

I dont understand He raised his arms helplessly. I swear on my old cricket batI dont know what shes talking about! Its lunacy.

Thats what I think, too. I never assumed you were an angel But I can sense people. Shes lying. She just wants easy cash.

Test me, search me, whatevernothing to hide, I promise. Shes fantasized the whole thing! I need no one else, Evie. Just you.

Fine, I believe you. Lets have supper.

The next day, Evelyn dialled the number on the scrap but her fingers felt unfamiliar on the keys, as if she managed someone elses life.

Daisy soon arrived, her perfume over-sweet, clothes sticking out at odd angles.

Listen, Daisy. Tom cannot possibly be the father. I trust him. You wont get your easy money here. You can sort yourself out as you like.

Youre a peculiar woman, arent you? Why trust him so implicitly? Surely youve looked in the mirror lately? Youre forty, darling. No matter how well you preserve yourself, therell always be someone younger and prettier.

Is that all?

Not quite. Id like to offer you a chance to buy this child. Test the baby if you wishToms the father, Im certain. Without a doubt.

You say he never slept with you. How on earth?

Fine. The truth, then. A month and a half ago we had a company do, cocktails flowing, you know how it is. Your husbandTomshows up, and a little bird tells me hes married to a well-off woman who cant have children, not even with all the science in the land. Seemed like a golden opportunity, really.

Ill admitI tried the usual methods. Flirting, hints. He didnt give me the time of day. Men usually chase after me like dogs after bangers. Young, pretty, curvy. But he didnt. So I turned to other means. My sisters a pharmacist; she gave me somethingnothing serious, just a little powder that muddles the mind a while.

I slipped it into his drink, took him homehe was all docile, did whatever I asked, no memory at all. Lucky for me, I was ovulating. VoilàIm pregnant. He doesnt remember a thing. Yes, it sounds mad. Nonetheless, I know Im right. I even have a video.

Daisy placed her phone before Evelyn, playing a brief, colourless footage: Tom, barely conscious, blank-faced, sprawled on rumpled sheets.

Oh, its nothing to me to have an abortiona doddle. What can I say, I like money, especially when it comes easy. I doubt youll go to the policeyour jobs too important for tabloid nonsense.

Thought shed cornered Evelyn, but the dream refused to turn.

But if you really insist, Ill carry the child for you, for the right price. Ill go to every prenatal appointment, eat the right food and everything. Thirty thousand pounds, and the babys yours.

Evelyns chest hurt. The world felt bent; gravity had gone astray.

Daisy, I dont know what to say. You belong in prison for fraudblackmail!

Needs must, mlady. Got debts. My rich patron pegged it on me suddenly. Got to make do. Think about it, wont you? Ill call in three days.

With that, Daisy faded away like a ghost at cockcrow. Evelyn gulped water, head throbbing, and watched the city slip in and out of focus through her window.

That evening, she recounted the dreamlike tale to Tom. He gaped, eyes wide.

Shes tricked me Ill take her to court

These days, anything can happen, she said. Look at it another way. I read online, theres a testthe hospital can determine paternity via a blood test after seven weeks. Lets do that first.

Well see All of this is mad. What if it is my child? But its blackmailpaying for a child conceived this way? Outrageous

Tom stormed out, lost for words, his form blurring as if she still dreamed.

Evelyn remembered a time ten years past

She and Tom met at Oxford, two students in the same department. Love at first, shy glancethe kind that blossoms quietly but fills the whole day. They married, took a flat in Camden. After graduation, Evelyns uncle helped her start her company, lending the first sum. When her business thrived, she repaid him twice over. Tom opened a shop; life felt charmed. But they could never have children.

One humid London night, walking home from dinner, the worlds seams unravelled. Out of the shadows, a gang of drunkards sprang. One lunged at Tom with a knife. Evelyn, without thinking, placed herself before him and was stabbed. She nearly died. They saved herbut her womb and ovaries could not be saved. The word mother became an old door slammed shut. Evelyn wept for months, Tom by her sidetender, sorrowful, cradle of her pain.

She often visited the local church, giving to the poor on her way out. Once, she handed coins to an old woman beside the gate.

Thank you, dear, the woman rasped softly. You look sorrowful, but dont despair.

Oh, its nothing, Evelyn replied. Its just Ill never have children. Hard to accept.

Ah, I know that pain, love. The old womans voice echoed weirdly. But you will have a childin the most unexpected way.

Evelyn smiled, moving on, forgetting the womans words until this day, as reality seemed to coil upon itself.

At last, the paternity test came back, confirming Tom was the father, leaving Evelyn in the middle of a carnival shed never bought tickets to.

So? Proven I wasnt lying? Daisys smirk split the silence. Ready to pay for your precious baby now?

Let me tell you something. We could pay a surrogate far less to bear Toms childif we wanted to do things dishonestly. But, since were here, well take the child. Well pay you fifteen thousand pounds. Not a penny more. Itll all be arranged properlylegal, documented. That, or we walk away and you get nothing.

I said thirty thousand, why the haggling? Daisy pawed at the air.

We call the shots now. Take it or leave it. Consider yourself lucky we havent reported you. Were far kinder than you deserve.

***

Tom, Ive sorted it. Well have a child.

Evie, why do this? Why pay her?

Perhaps fate handed this to usstrange as it seems. Sometimes thats how life works, isnt it?

Throughout the pregnancy, Daisy played her partdoctors visits, vitamins, the works. When the time came, a strapping, healthy baby boy arrived into the world.

Daisy gave up all rights. Tom, legally the father, brought their son home. Daisy disappeared, her brief, crooked shadow retreating back into the fog. The paperwork said surrogate.

Thank you for bearing my husbands child, Evelyn said at the end, voice both cold and oddly grateful.

Little Charlie found his place in the house of Evelyn and Tom.

Tom, lookhe has your eyes

Really? Cant say I know much about babies. Though I suppose he is rather dashing, like his old man

Remember that old woman outside the church? She told me, years ago, a child would come to usstrangely.

Tom and Evelyn gazed at their son, unsure what lay ahead, but wrapped for a moment in peculiar happiness.

The universe, it seemed, answered their wishesthough always in the most peculiar, topsy-turvy way.

***

Months later, on a drifting evening, Evelyn caught the local news: Daisy had been found dead in her Battersea flat. Authorities sought answers. Destiny had turned out stranger, darker, thicker than night.