Adam rings the doorbell to Sarah's house. A news van creeps down the street. They think they're being sneaky, but Adam knows they've been following him for six blocks.

Sarah opens the door, stepping aside to let Adam in. The sunlight pours onto the beautiful hardwood that Adam paid for.

Sarah watches him take his shoes off. He always takes his shoes off when he enters a house, but Sarah never grew up that way. No one ever took their shoes off in a house.

"Sorry about the buy," Sarah says.

Adam glances at her. He hasn't told her about it, but he didn't need to. Stanley, who came around the back of the van to see three cops made into fools, ran to the media before Adam could even understand what happened. Unfortunately, there was a cameraman right around the corner, who snapped a now-infamous picture of Adam holding a Tupperware full of candy hearts. There are close-ups of the hearts—close-ups of Adam's name printed on them. The media has been following Eris everywhere for the last few days—to her car, into Nyx—but she's only placed a hand in front of her face and walked on. In one of the videos, Adam swore he saw a little smirk.

He has no clue how she did it. No clue what gave Brit away. Everything went perfect in Adam's eyes.

"It is what it is," Adam says, stepping past Sarah.

"What does it mean for you?"

Adam turns around to face her. Sarah has no clue what happened or how it happened—she read the articles, but the words were a little too big. All she knows is that girl in all those videos has fantastic eyes and killer style.

"Complete funding cut for the Diakos case," Adam replies. "Of which I'm still the head."

"Well, I'm sorry."

Adam is walking into the kitchen to look for Daphne. "It is what it is," Adam repeats. "I did use ten thousand dollars of police money on candy hearts. Where's Daphne?"

"Oh, she's in her room."

Adam abandons Sarah by the front door and walks down the hallway. He knocks on Daphne's door, then pushes it open.

Daphne is at her desk, putting together a puzzle. Adam hasn't seen her room in a while, but there are little stars on her roof now. Sarah should've had Adam come over so Daphne could be lifted up and do them herself. But Sarah doesn't think.

"Hey, Daph," Adam says, drawing her attention.

Daphne looks up, green eyes wide. Her face splits into that typical four-year-old smile, and she rushes to hug Adam's leg. He leans down.

"You look absolutely stunning, Daph. Is your hair longer?"

Daphne plays with a little curl by her shoulder. "Mommy says it's a nice colour."

"It's a great colour. You ready to go?"

Daphne nods, running to get her shoes. She passes by Sarah, still standing in the foyer.

"I'll have her back by eight at the latest," Adam says.

Sarah nods, and there's a little shimmer in her eye as she watches Daphne open the door. At the last minute, Adam turns around.

"I can come back and get you before dinner," he says. "We can all go to the Thai place."

Sarah nods eagerly, not sure why he changed his mind. She watches them leave. The house feels big with Daphne, and now it feels even bigger. She could clean something, but everything in the house is spotless.

Sarah grabs her purse. Adam and Daphne are going to the zoo in the north end, so Sarah can enjoy a day at the mall in the east end. Adam always says she shouldn't shop in the east end—it's far too expensive—so Sarah always worries he might go by in his cruiser car, see her and scold her for it.

Sarah is about to order a cab, but in the end she decides to drive. It's the east end—everyone is classy there, and although the SUV will look out of place, at least it's better than one of those yellow cabs.

Sarah makes sure to check the gas gauge before she leaves. As she pulls the car out of the garage, she spots the black end of something hanging out of the trash bag on the door.

Something tells Sarah to get out of the car. In the trash bag are both of her chargers.

Now Sarah isn't that smart. She didn't pass her SATs, and she couldn't get into any colleges. But Sarah is pretty sure she didn't throw these chargers out.

Adam often tells Sarah not to tell people that Daphne's father is a police officer. Sarah asked him why, so he told her it's not a good thing for people to know. Bad people might try to mess with him through his family, Adam said. It didn't really make sense to Sarah.

But Sarah is pretty sure she didn't throw these out. She can't remember if she actually filled up with gas, but she's pretty sure she didn't throw these out.

Sarah gets a little scared. If someone got in here, it means that they might be able to get in her house, too. They might be able to get to Daphne.

Having worked herself up, Sarah calls Adam. He answers on the third ring.

"What, Sarah? I'm driving."

"I'm sorry. But I just—well, I was about to leave, and I found these chargers in the garbage—the ones you bought for me—"

"I'm driving, Sarah. This doesn't sound important."

"I think it is. Adam, I don't think I threw these out."

Sarah can almost hear him roll his eyes. "You think someone broke into your garage and threw your chargers out? Didn't take the expensive car or any of my expensive tools—but threw your chargers out?"

"Adam," Sarah insists. "I don't think I threw these out. I don't remember—"

"You don't remember a lot of things. Are you sure you didn't just think they were garbage? Maybe they didn't work one time and you thought they were broken?"

Sarah isn't so sure anymore. At first, she thought she hadn't even touched these chargers since Adam bought them, but maybe she did. Maybe she's wrong.

"I'm still driving, Sarah. Is there anything else?"

Sarah shakes her head, then realizes Adam can't see her. She says no and hangs up. She backs the car out the rest of the way, but she sets the alarm today, which she hardly ever does.

Sarah drives a little fast, but that's only because sometimes she forgets to check her speed. She tries to stop for all the red lights, but sometimes they sneak up on her. She pulls into the bulk party store close to ten in the morning, right after it opened. The cars are all beautiful, so she parks the SUV at the back, where no one will see it. They're doing loading at the back, so the only people that will see it are the workers. On the way in, she walks past Audis, Mercedes, even a Maserati.

Sarah has been planning Daphne's birthday party ever since Friday. Daphne is turning five, so Sarah wants to make it special. She called Adam to ask him where he wanted to do it, but he'd been at work.

So Sarah started planning it on her own. She looked up a galaxy-themed party, and the internet sent her to this store's webpage, where they boasted every type of decoration—for parties, for galas, even for big businesses. Sarah was sure she'd find what she'd need.

After loading her cart up with streamers and planet plates, Sarah spots an end display with stuffed planets. They have little smiley faces on them, and Sarah thinks it would be a perfect birthday gift for Daphne, so she sorts through to find the blue one. The only problem is there are two blue ones: One is a little lighter with a bit of pink, and one is solid blue.

Daphne said she liked Neptune, but she didn't mention what the other blue planet was. Sarah looks at the tags, but there isn't a label. She searches Neptune on her phone, but the industrial building doesn't let her service reach.

Sarah holds each planet in one hand. She could buy both and look it up later, but they're thirty-five dollars each, and what would she do with a stuffed planet? Daphne would know if Sarah bought her the wrong planet.

Sarah sighs. Adam would know which planet was Neptune. She looks down the isle. There's a middle-aged man with dark skin and tattoos a few paces away, but he looks like the kind of man that might crush her windpipe. There's a woman leaning against the service counter a few isles down, and the back of her head looks nicer than the man.

Sarah is embarrassed to ask, but she'd do anything so Daphne gets the right planet. She takes a few steps towards the woman and calls out, "Excuse me, sorry. Do you happen to know which of these is Neptune?"

The woman turns around and glances at Sarah. She looks down at the planets in Sarah's hand and nods to the one on her left. "The one without the pink," she says.

Sarah smiles. "Thanks." She makes a little shrug. "My daughter wants that one, but obviously I'm not as smart as a four-year-old." She laughs a little, because the woman's gaze makes her slightly uncomfortable. "It seems everyone knows their planets but me." A little bit of self-deprecation always made Sarah friends.

The woman's face stays deadly still. "Very few people know their planets," she says.

Sarah swallows. She thought everyone knew what Neptune looked like. She thought she was stupid for not knowing that Neptune didn't have a little bit of pink in it.

The woman goes to turn, but as soon as she does, the sunlight from one of the windows catches her eye, and Sarah suddenly realizes where she's seen the woman before.

"Wait," Sarah says. "Are you that girl in the news?"

Eris turns again. She's never seen Sarah before—never actually been the one to jerk Adam's slightly-to-extremely-stupid ex-fiancé around, so she doesn't know who the planet-obsessed woman is until she says, "My ex had something to do with that."

Eris blinks. Sarah's pretty, but in a conventional sort of way. Eris knows she's twenty-three, but she looks a lot younger. Eris never would've picked her out as the type to date a man seven years older than her. Or Adam at all.

"Oh," Sarah says suddenly. "I mean, I guess that means you're the one with the candy hearts, then." She realizes a little too late that the scary woman is the one that caused Adam's problems—not just the woman with the great style in the news.

"That's me, yes," Eris replies.

"So then you must be like...a drug dealer."

Eris squints at Sarah slightly. There's something amusing about her. Eris lowers her voice to a whisper. "Cocaine," she says. "Fentanyl and ecstasy. But if your ex asks, just candy."

Sarah sputters out a genuine laugh, then stops herself. She thinks suddenly of her chargers.

"Did you break into my house?" Sarah asks tentatively. "Did you make sure I wouldn't be able to meet Adam that night?"

Eris tilts her head slightly. Maybe Peter had been a little messy. Or maybe Sarah is just slightly more intuitive than anybody gives her credit for. She's a mother, and mothers have that instinct.

"Not me personally," Eris answers.

Sarah feels her grip tightening on Neptune a little. "I don't know what you did that for, or why you do any of the things you do, but I do know that I have a daughter, and she lives in that house, too. She's only four."

Eris doesn't move. Her face is still, her fingers are still. She could play this in a thousand ways. Threaten Sarah so she'll leave Adam—move to another city. Leave Adam without his family, leave him lonely, to the point where he'll spiral and turn to Eris.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt your daughter," Eris says.

Sarah nods. She likes that answer. She looks down at the planets. She forgot which one the woman said was Neptune, and now she doesn't want to ask again.

"Do you think you'll get married?"

Sarah looks back up again. She doesn't know why the drug dealer would ask her that. "Me and Adam?"

Eris lifts her chin. "You and Adam. Do you think you'll get married?"

Sarah knows the answer. She knows what Adam wants, so the only way it doesn't happen is if she decides to change it.

"I think so," Sarah replies. "He wants Daphne to have a family."

Eris searches her eyes. The only thing Sarah will gain from a marriage to Adam is more self-hate. Sarah, and everyone in her life, thinks she's a functional idiot. She failed nearly every course in high school except music, which her parents didn't take seriously. She could barely read at a grade seven level when she graduated, but she could play any sheet music given to her on the first try. People assumed she couldn't read because they were making her read the wrong thing.

Eris has an IQ of one hundred eighty-six. Like Sarah, she failed every one of her courses in high school. The system classified both Eris and Sarah as function idiots for being unable to adhere to their definition of intelligent.

Unconventional people like Sarah are an essential part of the world, no matter how much they're degraded by others. And as a truly brilliant person, Eris knows that she holds the same importance in society as any minimum wage worker or eccentric struggling artist. Adam is too smart to tolerate Sarah, but not smart enough to appreciate her.

"Many kids grow up fine without married parents," Eris says. For her own benefit, or maybe for Sarah's.

"Adam doesn't think so."

"What do you think?"

Sarah blinks, trying to decide. "Well, I just—I suppose I don't—"

"Think for yourself?"

Sarah searches Eris' form. She guesses whatever Eris says, she's probably right—even if Sarah doesn't understand why.

A man comes from behind the counter and hands Eris an envelope. She takes it and pushes off the counter. "Children are best off with stable parents that are content with their own lives," Eris says as she walks closer. "Anything else is irrelevant in comparison. Trust me on that. I hope she likes Neptune." As Eris says the last part, she points to the planet again and walks away.

Sarah silently thanks her luck that Eris happened to confirm the planet again, which she had forgotten. But she only thanks her luck because she doesn't know the difference between luck, coincidence and Eris.