"Mrs—"
SLAP!
Another one. This time from my mother.
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t react.
"I’m taking Liam," he repeats, his voice final.
"No, you’re not!" I scream, shoving him back with every ounce of strength in me. "Over my dead body, Ethan!"
Something flashes in his eyes. Something dark. "Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be, Claire."
I spit in his face. "Harder? You humiliated me! You threw me out like garbage! You—" My breath hitches as realization dawns. "This was always your plan, wasn’t it? That’s why you never let me meet your family. That’s why you kept us hidden!"
Ethan doesn’t deny it.
And that silence cuts deeper than any knife.
My legs shake beneath me. I thought I had already felt the worst pain in the world. But no—this is worse. This is the brutal truth of my existence.
I was never a wife. I was just a convenience.
I was the mistress he tucked away until he didn’t need me anymore.
"You disgust me," I whisper.
His expression remains unreadable. "Liam deserves more than this, Claire. More than this small-town life. I can give him the world."
I grip his shirt, my nails digging into his chest. "And what about me, Ethan? Am I nothing to you? Did I ever mean anything?!"