No Turning Back, Ethan

y wrinkled, when Ethan appeared in the bedroom doorway. He

re doing?" he asked, his

g you, Ethan.

. "Don' t be so dramatic, Ava. You'

ching for my arm. I flin

t tou

er. We are going to get through th

pregnant mistress into our home? The woman who was supposed to be my best friend? You thin

air in a gesture of fake exasperation,

ntrol. I did it to protect Chloe. Her career would have been over. Think about the bab

protector, a man making hard choices for the greater good. My pain, my humiliation, my s

so profound it felt like it would tear me apart. "I' m supposed to welcome her in

ous, as if he were about to propose

hloe needs support right now. She needs a stable environment. She' s going to li

He was asking me to participate in my own erasure. To be a smiling, supportive bystander t

ring at him in utter disbelief. "Yo

of the concerned partner slipped, reve

She' s been having pains. The doctor said any more stress could be dangerous. If anything

as a weapon to keep me in line. He was tr

n a beautiful ceremony just weeks ago. I saw a hollow shell, a person so consumed by his own selfishn

was definitive, a final, sharp punc

y voice steady and free of the trem

of my wa

s realizing, for the first time, that he was losing control.

on' t do

said, my voice like ice. "An