Chapter 3:
I press a hand to my chest, trying to hold myself together, but it’s useless. The pain is too much, too unbearable. I gave him everything–my love, my trust, my body–and in the end, I was nothing but a secret he could throw away when he no longer needed me.”
I don’t know how long I sit there, crying, shaking, breaking.
Then, with trembling hands, I pull out my phone
The call nings once before my mother picks up. “Claire? What’s wrong?”
My throat tightens. The words won’t come out.
She hears my silence, my choked sobs, and that’s enough. “Come home, sweetheart. Come home now”
That’s all I need.”
I wipe my tears, forcing my broken body to move. I hail the first cab I see and head straight for the airport.
The plane ride feels endless. I stare out the window, my reflection hollow, lifeless. Ethan’s cold words play over and over in my mind. “I don’t know her,”
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block it out, but the pain refuses to fade. What about Liam? What will I tell my son?
The thought of his innocent face, waiting for his father to come back, shatters me all over again. Tears slip down my cheeks.”
By the time the plane lands, I’m barely holding myself together.”
The moment I step out of the terminal, my mother with my son Liam rushes toward me. One look at me, and she knows. She pulls me into her arms, her warmth the only thing keeping me from collapsing completely.!!
“He was never mine,” I whisper brokenly, “Ethan he’s someone else’s husband.”
old you so
My mother stiffens, her grip tightening around me. She doesn’t ask questions. She doesn’t say, I told you so.
Two weeks.
Two weeks of drowning in my own misery.
Two weeks of holding my son close, pretending everything is fine, while inside, I am nothing but a hollowed–out corpse of the woman I used to be
Then, on a stormy evening, the devil returns.!
A sleek black car pulls into the driveway, its headlights cutting through the darkness like a warning.
I freeze on the porch, my grip tightening around the mug in my hands. My mother steps out behind me, already sensing the storm brewing.
The car door opens. And there he is. Ethan Caldwell, The man who destroyed me
The man who made me love him and then threw me out like trash. He steps toward me like nothing happened, like he didn’t strip me of my dignity in front of a crowd.
“Claire.” His voice is calm, too calm, as if my suffering is nothing more than a small inconvenience to him.
I don’t speak. I don’t move. I just stare waiting–because I know hitdidn’t come here out of quilt.
And I’m night
He exhales, running a hand through his perfect hair. “I need to take Liam with me.”3
I blink. The words don’t register at first.
Then-
SLAPI
The crack of my palm against his face echoes through the airl
“How dare you” I whisper, my entire body trembling. “How dare you!“8
He doesn’t even flinch. He just straightens, eyes darkening.!!
“I’m his father“:
I laugh, a sharp, broken sound. “Father? A father doesn’t abandon his child! A father doesn’t lie and humiliate the mother of his son! You have no right. Ethan‘
He sighs like I’m a child throwing a tantrum.!
And that’s when my mother storms down the steps, fury in every movement.
“You have some goddamn nerve coming here!” she spits, shoving at his chest. “You lied to my daughter, used her, destroyed her! And now you want to take her child? You selfish, worthless bastard!”
L–UN.
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.E
“No, you’re not!” I scream, shoving him back with
every
ounce of strength in me. “Over my dead body, Ethon!”
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 I 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 stence.
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”
igrip his shirt, my nails digging into his chest. “And what about me, Ethan? Am I nothing to you? Did I ever mean anything?” He hesitates.
Just for a second.!!
Then–E
“No.” he says.
A breath leaves my lips.
And then I break.
“Mommy?”
A small voice cuts through the suffocating air. I tum. Liam stands at the doorway, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Ethan crouches, his entire demeanor softening. “Hey, buddy,” he says, his voice dripping with that fake, poisonous warmth. “How ould you like to go to Disneyland?”
Liam’s face lights up. “Disneyland?”
I shake my head, panic crashing over me. “No, Liam! Don’t listen to him!”
But Ethan is already winning.X
“Just you and me, bud,” he coaxes. “We’ll have so much fun.”
Liam hesitates
Then-
“Okay!” he grins.
My world collapses.
“No!” I scream, lunging for my son, but Ethan yanks me back
I thrash, kick, claw, but he’s too strong…
“Liam! No! Stay here!”
But my son is already walking to the car, oblivious to the war happening behind him.X
I turn to my mother, desperate. “Mom, stop him! Do something!8
My mother grips Ethan’s arm, shaking with fury. “You will not take my grandson!”
Ethan jerks free, his patience snapping. “Stay out of this, old woman
My mother gasps, clutching her chest.
Then she stumbles.
Her legs buckle
And she crashes onto the pavement…
“Mom!” I scream, catching her just before she hits the ground!
Her face is pale. Her body limp.
Tears blind me. “Mom! Mom, stay with me!”
Ethan stands frozen, his mouth slightly open.
Then, in the distance-
The sound of tires screeching !!
Liam!
Ethan is taking Liam
“No!” I try to chase after them, but my mother’s body goes slack in my arms
I look at her. Then at the car speeding away with my son. And I break. I scream. I sob. I lose everything!
The hospital is cold. Sterile. Dead. The doctor doesn’t look me in the eye.
I’m sorry. She didn’t make it?
link to the floor. Liam is gone. My mother is gone. I have nothing
sink to the floor Lam is gone My mother is gone. I have nothing
l’
At her funeral, I stand in front of the grave, a lifeless shell of the woman I used to be Tears no longer fall Because I don’t have any left
All I have now is rage. Hatred Vengeance
I stare at the grave, my voice cold, empty
“I will get Liam back”
I lift my chin, fire burning in my veins
And then I board the next flight to New
