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“Do the raccoons know how to laugh now?”

He paused. “The what?”

“Raccoons. Jackie keeps them as pets. They also live in the—hang on, why the fuck am I talking to you? You’re an asshole!”

The dumpster opened and two children popped out. “He is!” one of them said.

“Really? There?” Gabriel sighed. “Now you both need baths.”

“Let me live in filth, villain!”

Since when did Gabriel talk like that? Since when did he care about kids at all?

I took a closer look. She was five. Maybe a small six-year-old. She had wavy, dark brown hair and the same tan skin as Gabriel. The other girl looked strikingly similar, and I knew I’d have a hard time picking them out from one another in a police lineup. The only difference was that her hair was a touch straighter than her sister’s.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered before walking over to the dumpster. He grabbed one, who immediately started kicking.

“You can’t do this to me!” the girl yelled, trying to escape. “I have rights, you know!”

“Agnes!” Gabriel snapped. “You cannot run naked through the streets and then hide in a dumpster.”

I blinked. She wasn’t wearing pants.

Quietly, I pinched my own skin, wincing when I felt pain. I was awake, so what the hell was happening?

“And you.” He looked at the other one. “You can’t climb trees either.”

“I do what I want!” she yelled. “You’re not my dad!”

I expected Gabriel to storm off or laugh. Of course he wasn’t their dad. There was no way he could be.

Then he said the last thing I ever expected.

“I am your dad, whether you like it or not.”

I felt like I’d been punched.

He had kids. With someone else.

I thought about what he was up to way more than I wanted to. I figured he was in a coding hole, making more games that I’d secretly obsess over. Or that he was out with other women every night.

This was worse. So much worse.

A shaky breath escaped me and I shook my head.

I had no words for him. I only needed to get the fuck out of here.

“Jade, wait⁠—”

“Don’t!” I yelled. “Don’t say a fucking thing to me! Not now. Not ever.”

I was gone before he could follow. Since one of the kids was still in the dumpster, I imagined that he was busy with them.

I lost it when I got to my apartment.

This was one of those times where I knew I wouldn’t be leaving the house for a while. Everyone was used to it. I disappeared a lot, and anyone with a lick of sense knew not to bother me when I was like this.

So much for this being my year.