His Unwanted Presence

air between us, thick and

d in the silent room. She stared at me, her expression shifting from annoyance to

with disbelief. "What on earth are you talkin

fueled by a decade of suppressed resentment. "I' m done. This isn' t a

wasn' t a happy sound. It

V, you have no financial worries whatsoever. I gave you this life, Ethan

ook, I clean, I fix things. I do everything so that y

r voice rising. "What would you be without me? A struggling artis

d open. Max and Chloe stood there

Chloe asked, her

maternal concern slipping perfectly into place.

e, a silent command to shut up

ng a divorce," I said, look

son, looked from me to his mother, and then a s

"Does that mean we can

the air leave my lungs. My son didn' t want me. He wanted my r

tened up. "Yeah! Can Uncle Liam

lustered, but there was no shock on her face. This wasn' t ne

had just gotten a massive promotion. I had just been rejecte

home front, just for a few years, until the kids are

my studio for a nursery. And the "few years" turned into a decade. I sacrificed my dreams

as the boring, functional, and ultim

yes. "This is your own fault, Ethan. You let yourself go. You beca

d through my shock. I had been a f

," I said, my voic

velope. I had contacted a lawyer a month ago, after a particularly cutting remark from Olivia at a dinner

d it on the coffee table in front o

ed up at me, her face contorted with a fury I had never seen befor

elope, ripped it in half, and then in half again, let

e hissed. "You work for me, E

weren' t scared. They were watching a power

. I looked at the contempt on my wife' s face. I loo

rt. I felt nothing at all for them.

stairs, my broken arm throbbing in its cast. I ignored Olivia shouting my n

locked it. The sound of the click was the f