“You’re not serious.”
“I am,” I said.
His eyes sharpened.
“You think this changes anything?”
I tilted my head slightly.
“I think I should’ve done it sooner.”
Behind him, Sophia let out a quiet sob.
Ethan didn’t look at her immediately.
Then, irritated—
“Stop crying.”
The room stilled again.
That tone.
Controlled. Cold. Familiar.
Not loud enough to draw attention. Just sharp enough to remind you where you stood.
Sophia shrank.
And for a brief second, something inside me softened—
Then I remembered the messages.
The ones she sent me.
Telling me to “let him be happy.”
Telling me I should have “taken better care of myself.”
Memory has a way of correcting misplaced sympathy.
Ethan turned back to me.
“You went to the authorities?”
“Yes.”
“The bank?”
“Yes.”
“My partners?”
“Yes.”
His jaw locked.
“You’re trying to destroy everything.”
“I’m trying to protect what you were already draining.”
“Our children are part of that,” he snapped.
The word felt misplaced.
“Our children?” I repeated quietly.
He realized too late how it sounded.
Margaret stepped in quickly. “Not here, Ethan.”
Not here.
As if location mattered more than truth.
A doctor appeared at the end of the hallway, composed but firm.
“We need to continue privately with the patient.”
Sophia wiped her face.
Ethan let out a short, bitter laugh.
“The patient can discuss it with whoever the actual father is.”
Her eyes shut tightly.
And just like that—
Whatever illusion they had built collapsed completely.
I looked away.
Not because I cared about their relationship.
But because the child had nothing to do with any of this.
“I’m not here for that,” I said.
“No,” he replied. “You’re here to humiliate me.”
I let my gaze move across the room.
His family. The staff. The strangers watching.
“You handled that yourself.”
His grip tightened on the envelope.
For a moment, it looked like he might tear it apart.
Instead, he stepped closer, voice low.
“You’re making an enemy.”
I met his eyes without hesitation.
“I was your wife. You turned me into everything else.”
A small pause.
“Being your enemy is just the first honest role you’ve given me.”
Olivia made a quiet sound beside me, something almost like a suppressed reaction.
Ethan stepped back.
And for the first time—
He didn’t look in control.
Not of the room.
Not of the story.
Not even of himself.
