Eight Years Of Love, A Wedding Ring For Another Woman Chapter 02

Eight Years Of Love, A Wedding Ring For Another Woman Chapter 02

For those three days, I never left the apartment.

I kept the curtains drawn, and after a while I could barely tell day from night.

My stomach was still flat, but I knew something was growing inside me.

When I finally turned my phone back on, I found forty-seven missed calls and ninety-three messages, all of them from Ethan.

The first few were voice messages, but I never played them. Later, he switched to text.

[Claire, listen to me. I’ll take care of things on that front. Just give me some time.]

[She and I really are married in name only. When the time is right, I’ll sort it out.]

[The baby is innocent. Please don’t do anything rash.]

After that, the tone of his messages started to change.

[Do you really have to push me this far?]

[I already told you I’d handle it. What else do you want from me?]

The last message came that afternoon, and it was only one line.

[Your procedure is tomorrow, right? Don’t regret it.]

I stared at it for a long time.

He was waiting for me to give in, but I never replied.

On the day of the procedure, I sat on a bench in the hospital hallway with my appointment slip clutched in my hand, my palm slick with sweat.

Ten minutes before I was supposed to go in, I heard hurried footsteps from the other end of the hall.

I looked up and saw my mother. Her hair was messy, her eyes were swollen, and she was moving fast.

“Claire!”

She rushed over and grabbed my hand.

“Mom? Why are you here?”

Breathing hard, she said, “Ethan called me.”

“He said you two had a fight and that you were going to get rid of the baby. He asked me to come talk some sense into you.”

“Claire,” my mother said gently, trying to reason with me, “couples fight all the time. Don’t take it out on the baby.”

“Mom, let go of me first.”

She still didn’t let go.

That was when I really looked at her. Her eyes were swollen, the dark circles underneath them stark, and her lips were so dry they had started to crack.

“Mom, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Her expression faltered.

“Nothing. I was just worried about you. I didn’t sleep all night…”

“No.” I stared at her. “Tell me the truth.”

She parted her lips, but no sound came out.

Then her eyes reddened, and when she finally spoke, her voice had gone low and unsteady.

“Your dad… there’s been trouble at his company.”

“The project collapsed. The investors pulled out. The penalties… we may have to sell the house.”

“I didn’t want to tell you. I was afraid you’d worry too.”

My whole body went cold.

“Mom, wait here for a second. I need to go to the bathroom.”

I walked into the stairwell at the end of the hallway.

The door closed behind me, and everything went quiet.

I called Ethan.

“So you finally made up your mind?” he said, his voice calm and steady, as if he had been expecting this call.

“What happened to my dad’s company was your doing.”

It was not a question.

He gave a quiet laugh, not smug exactly, but the kind that said I’d finally figured it out.

“I just heard your father’s project had run into some trouble. I was going to help, but you insisted on cutting ties with me.”

His voice was warm, almost casual, as if we were discussing something ordinary, but it sent a chill down my spine.

“Ethan, you’re threatening me.”

His tone finally dropped. He stopped pretending.

“You stay, and the baby stays. If that happens, I’ll keep your father’s side afloat.”

“But if you insist on breaking up with me and aborting the baby, then I have no standing to interfere.”

“What about her?”

There was a second of silence on the line.

“I’ll deal with that side of things. Just give me time.”

I closed my eyes.

The stairwell was dim, lit only by the sickly green glow of the exit sign.

“Fine. I’ll keep the baby.”

On the other end of the line, he let out a long breath.

Then he said, “Claire, thank you. I’ll arrange everything right away. Your father’s situation will be stabilized tonight.”

I said nothing.

He continued, “I know you hate me right now. But one day you’ll understand. Everything I’m doing is for us.”

I hung up and stood there in the stairwell, phone still in my hand, unable to move.

For us?

I lowered my head and looked at my stomach.

It was still flat, with nothing to show yet. But I knew a life had already begun to take root there, a life he had forced me to keep.

I let out a small laugh, and before I knew it, tears were slipping down my face.

He said he would handle that side of things.

He told me to wait for him, but from beginning to end, he never once said he would divorce her.

My phone buzzed again. I did not look. I did not need to know who it was.

From that moment on, I stopped believing a word he said.