For several seconds, she seemed torn between continuing the argument and tending to her daughter.
Naya looked toward the baby.
"Your daughter needs you."
The mistress frowned.
"Don't tell me what my child needs."
Naya took a breath.
"I'm not trying to fight with a baby."
The words landed more heavily than she'd intended.
Her husband's expression tightened.
The mistress looked away.
Then moved toward the car seat and crouched beside it.
She checked the infant, spoke gently, and lifted her carefully into her arms.
For a moment, the room became quieter.
Naya watched the little girl settle against her mother's shoulder.
The baby's tiny hand opened and closed against the teal fabric.
Naya felt tears gathering.
The child hadn't chosen any of this.
She hadn't asked to be brought into a confrontation.
She didn't know her father had been lying to two women.
And she certainly didn't understand that the house around her had become the object of a struggle between adults who were supposed to protect her.
Naya looked toward her husband.
"Why did you bring her here?"
He frowned.
"The baby?"
"Yes."
He shrugged.
"Because she's my daughter."
Naya felt her heart tighten.
"So is the child I'm carrying."
For a moment, he looked toward her stomach.
Then away.
She continued.
"Did you think bringing a newborn into this would make me too ashamed to say no?"
He didn't answer.
Naya looked toward the mistress.
"Your daughter deserves a peaceful home. But you don't create one by walking into another woman's house and slapping her."
The mistress lowered her eyes.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked toward Naya.
"You're acting like he didn't tell you the marriage was over."
Naya stared.
"He told me this morning."
The woman's face changed.
She turned toward him.
"What?"
Her husband exhaled.
"Naya knew we were having problems."
The mistress frowned.
"That's not what I asked."
He looked irritated.
She continued.
"You told me she signed the separation papers three weeks ago."
Naya felt her stomach drop.
Her husband looked toward the ceiling.
"That's not exactly what I said."
The mistress stepped away from him, holding the baby close.
"You told me you were already divorced!"
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Naya gave a small, humorless laugh.
"Apparently we've both been getting different stories."
The mistress stared at him.
Her confidence was beginning to collapse.
She had arrived expecting to take possession of a beautiful house, install her belongings upstairs, and begin a new life with a successful businessman who promised he'd finally ended his unhappy marriage.