Keeley still wasn't sure she believed the woman Aaron had gotten engaged to was actually Aiden. She tried to ask her neighbor, but no one answered the door after several attempts. Maybe he really was out of the country.

She texted him while waiting for class but didn't receive a reply for two hours. The text read: "'That traitor!! He promised not to tell!!!!'"

This confirmed her suspicions. He wouldn't have used so many exclamation points unless genuinely upset. He had been telling the truth.

But did it matter? He'd still lied about countless things. She couldn't trust him. And yet, he was oddly dependable in other ways. This week, all three items she'd requested before leaving for California had arrived at her lab on time. Today, it was a calzone.

"You have the best boyfriend," Erica said dreamily, returning from eating it in the hallway. "I wish mine were nearly as considerate. He hasn't visited me at the lab once."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Her coworker looked at her incredulously, hands on hips. "No regular friend would go that far for a girl. If he isn't your boyfriend yet, he wants to be."

Keeley couldn't refute that. Aaron had made his intentions clear. He wanted to be a better husband than before. But pigs might fly first—she wasn't falling for that again.

He didn't genuinely want to be with her; he was assuaging his guilt. She doubted he'd ever truly wanted her around. It was stubbornness and rebellion against his father.

"He feels obligated to make sure I'm eating properly, that's all," she said flatly. "He feels guilty about something from long ago."

Erica raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be so sure. Guilt only goes so far."

"Change of subject. How's your research coming?"

She sighed dramatically, unwilling to drop it. "Slowly but surely. You're much further along than I am."

She was a year behind Keeley in school, just beginning her dissertation research on whether genome sequence data could be used to understand the evolution of the influenza virus. She wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue this permanently; it was the first idea she'd come up with, desperate, two days before her proposal was due. Not everyone could be as focused as Keeley.

"You'll get there," Keeley said confidently. "We're both going to graduate on time and become rock stars in genetics."

Erica snorted. "Sure. Rock stars."

Believing in her success was the only thing that got her through the endless hours in the lab and late nights studying. Otherwise, none of it would be worth it. She had to find a cure for kids like Kaleb, even if it took her life. That thought sustained her through the rest of her shift. She was ready to go home and relax for an hour before tackling homework.

Valentina was in the living room when she arrived, waving excitedly. "Ooh, you're here just in time! Your telenovela's first episode airs in eight minutes! I was worried you'd miss it!"

She'd completely forgotten it was airing today, though she was sure Valentina had mentioned it. Her brain was a mess these days.

Rico y Reencarnado had been in production for months. She still couldn't believe there was a TV show based on her life. No one would ever know.

Well, Aaron might find it a strange coincidence if he watched it, but when would he ever watch a telenovela? The odds were incredibly slim.

Keeley settled onto the couch next to her roommate and waited for the opening credits. This should be interesting.

The opening song lacked subtitles, so she didn't understand the lyrics, but there were dramatic shots of the main characters with windblown hair, interspersed with the actors' names.

It looked like her father, Alistair, Max, Jeffrey, and Lydia had made it into the show. Lacy also had a large posse of mean girls, unmentioned in her original proposal.

She immediately disliked seeing Luz and Aaron kissing passionately in their school uniforms in the intro.

Great. So it would be a romance, not a revenge story.

Submitting the proposal had been a mistake. Valentina would expect her to watch the whole thing, not realizing it would reopen old wounds.

Near the end of the opening credits were the words "Personajes creados por Keeley Hall"—Characters created by Keeley Hall. They had included her.

The first scene took place in a grand Spanish-style villa, after a shot panning the estate. Older Luz and Aaron (played by different actors) were arguing in the living room.

Keeley needed subtitles to understand, but the conversation followed a familiar script—her last conversation with her ex-husband before she died.

The difference was that when Aaron mentioned Lacy's character's pregnancy, Lorena appeared. How had she gotten into the house? Telenovela logic was strange.

Lorena kissed Aaron's neck, laughing evilly as Luz ran out crying. The actress was overly dramatic.

Luz ran into the street without looking (Keeley hadn't been that stupid) and got hit by a delivery truck.

Keeley was surprised by this change until she saw Max's counterpart, Ignacio, driving the truck. Why was he posing as a deliveryman?

This was weird. So weird. She wanted to stop watching but was oddly hooked.

The final sentence was removed as it was an advertisement.