“The same.”
My father pointed at him.
“You are not answering the real question.”
“What real question?”
“Why her?”
The words landed badly.
Ethan’s expression changed.
My mother whispered, “Martin.”
But my father continued.
“You could marry anyone.”
“So could Clara.”
My father looked ashamed for a moment, but not enough to stop.
“This is not a normal situation.”
“No,” Ethan said. “It isn’t.”
“Then explain it.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation about why another person is worthy of love.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It is what you meant.”
My father looked toward the floor.
My mother held the wedding invitation in both hands.
Clara had made it herself. Small white clay flowers were attached to the front.
“It’s beautiful,” my mother said.
Ethan looked at her.
“She worked on them for two months.”
My mother touched one flower.
“I don’t dislike Clara.”
“No,” Ethan said. “You just don’t believe I could truly want her.”
The words hurt because they were true.
No one in the room answered.
I began researching Dr. Adrian Vale.
At first, I found ordinary information.
He had been a respected pediatric heart surgeon at Saint Orison Medical Institute. He had treated hundreds of children, trained young doctors, and helped create a charity program for families who could not afford surgery.
Then I found an old newspaper article.
The date was twenty-eight years earlier.
The headline read:
LOCAL SURGEON SAVES SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY DURING WINTER EMERGENCY
The article did not name the child.
But the details matched Ethan’s story.
The boy had collapsed at home during a snowstorm. Doctors discovered a rare rupture connected to a congenital heart defect. The operation lasted almost nine hours.
The surgeon was Dr. Adrian Vale.
I printed the article and drove to Ethan’s apartment.
He opened the door wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Boxes filled the living room.
“Clara is moving in?” I asked.
“After the wedding.”
I held up the article.
Ethan stopped moving.
