Chapter 4

"Chloe!" Ethan snatched the manila folder from her hands. "That's enough. Be quiet."

She let out a dry laugh. "You're always like this, Ethan. You beg me for help, and the second things go south, you blame me for speaking up."

I turned to Ethan. "You invited her here?"

"I asked her to drop off the hard copy of the report."

"She couldn't text it?"

"The printout is clearer."

Chloe grabbed her purse from the counter. "Whatever. I'm done dealing with you two. I'm out of here. If Ethan is happy playing the fool and raising someone else's kid in the dark, why should I care?"

Once the front door clicked shut, I tucked the ultrasound picture into my wallet and pulled out the printed divorce agreement.

Ethan flipped through the first two pages, then snapped it closed. "The final lab results aren't back yet."

"This has nothing to do with the results."

"It does to me."

"If the baby turns out to be yours, what do you plan to do?"

He looked at me earnestly. "I'll apologize. I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."

"And if it isn't?"

"Tell me who the man was. And we'll leave it in the past."

I burst out laughing.

Ethan's brows knit into a tight, frustrated knot. "I've compromised this much already, Nora. What more do you want from me?"

"Sign the papers."

"Never."

He shoved the divorce papers into a desk drawer and locked it with a key. "Until you make a full physical recovery, I am not discussing divorce."

"Give me the key."

"Nora, stop this."

I grabbed a glass tumbler off the counter and smashed it against the drawer.

Glass shattered across the hardwood floor, but the lock held.

Ethan lunged forward, sweeping me into his arms to pull me away from the jagged shards. My frantic nails caught his forearm, leaving bright red scratch marks that welled with blood.

Yet he didn't let go. "Hit me. Scream at me. Do whatever you want."

"Just heal your body first."

That night, Ethan stayed in the home office until very late.

I woke up thirsty and went to find pain medication. Through the cracked door, I heard his hushed voice on the phone with Chloe.

"Have you really thought this through?" Chloe was saying. "If the genetic review proves it's not yours, you're still staying with her?"

Ethan sat slumped in his office chair, staring at the crumpled divorce papers in his hands.

"Yes."

"You're unbelievable! You think you'll ever look at her without feeling disgusted?"

"The baby is gone."

Chloe went silent for a few seconds before asking, "And what about the other guy?"

"If she comes clean with me, I won't pursue it."

"Ethan, what are you even getting out of this?"

He bowed his head, his thumb tracing over my signature on the page over and over again. "I've been with her for six years."

"So what?"

"I can't live without her."

Chloe scoffed loudly. "You call this a marriage? You've turned yourself into her pathetic doormat."

"Think whatever you want."

"She's just using divorce to manipulate you. Once the DNA and genetic tests confirm everything, she'll hold this over your head for the rest of your life!"

"She won't actually leave."

"You're that sure?"

"She loves me too much to let go."

Ethan truly did know me.

I couldn't easily let go of our ten years together. I couldn't easily let go of the man I had loved so deeply, nor could I let go of the child who had only lived for nine weeks inside me.

But he forgot one crucial truth: when a person is pushed to the point where only reluctance remains, love is already on its deathbed.

I went back to the bedroom, pulled my suitcase from the top of the closet, and began packing.

The sharp zipping sound echoed down the hall, drawing him out of the office.

Ethan hurried into the room. "What are you packing for?"

"I'm moving out."

He stared at the suitcase, then glanced toward the hallway. "You heard what I said?"

"Every word."

"And you're still leaving?"

Ethan grabbed the handle of the suitcase.

"No matter what the results say, I never intended to abandon you."

I looked into his bloodshot eyes and at the raw scratches on his arm.

He truly was terrified of losing me.

And in his twisted, broken way, he truly loved me.

But the 'Nora' he loved was a woman who had supposedly slept with another man, lied to his face, and now only got to keep her marriage through his saintly magnanimity.

Even though that other man never existed.

"Ethan, you still honestly believe this is about whether you want me or not."

His grip on the handle tightened. "Just give it two more days. Two days for the results."

"If the baby isn't yours, you get to keep a deceitful cheat you generously 'forgave.'"

"I told you I'd let it go!"

"And what if the baby is yours?"

His lips parted, trembling slightly. "I'll get on my knees and apologize."

I let out a bitter, lifeless chuckle. "And then what? I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with a husband who, while I was bleeding from an abortion, was asking if the tissue could be tested for infidelity?"

The color drained entirely from Ethan's face. "My head was a mess..."

"Is it clear now?"

He couldn't answer.

Because the final piece of paper hadn't arrived yet.

I reached out and pried his fingers off the suitcase handle, one by one.

"Whatever that paper says, I have no reason to stay."

Ethan chased me all the way to the elevator. "Go stay with your parents for a couple of days then. Once the report comes in, I'll..."

I held the elevator door. "Ethan. There is no 'later' for us. Not anymore."