Before Our Divorce I Discovered My Husband Had Loved Me All Along Chapter 01

Before Our Divorce I Discovered My Husband Had Loved Me All Along Chapter 01

On the eve of Westbrook High School’s anniversary celebration,two bombs dropped in the alumni group chat.

First, Avery Sinclair, the former school beauty, was coming back from overseas.

Second, Ethan Grant, once the school’s most notorious playboy, had been invited to cut the ribbon for the new academic building.

They had always been the couple everyone still wished had made it.

Their romance had once been the talk of the entire school, only to end in a heartbreaking breakup.

Now, after eight years apart, they were finally going to see each other again.

The group chat exploded as everyone began rehashing their epic love story, bitter breakup, and everything that had happened between them.

Then someone suddenly asked,

“So… are they both still single?”

I turned to look at Ethan Grant, fast asleep beside me.

And suddenly, I felt something hollow settle in my chest.

***

[Avery’s Instagram makes her look single, but Ethan… does anyone know?]

[He ghosted the whole class right after the breakup. Only shows up in business news now.]

[Come on—zero scandals, zero sightings, works like a machine. Definitely no girlfriend.]

[Yeah. When you’ve loved like that, you don’t settle.]

[Wait, why did they actually break up?]

[Young and stupid. She was leaving, he was too proud to ask her to stay.]

[Oh my God—that’s literally the plot of every second-chance romance. So much to ship.]

They shipped harder. I stayed quiet.

And I started wondering, am I Ethan’s settle?

I turned off the light and tried to sleep.

Then his phone lit up in the dark.

[E, I’m back.]

No contact name.

But only Avery ever called him that.

He was dead asleep, one hand resting on my stomach like always. His wedding band pressed cold through my nightgown.

An uneasy chill crawled up my spine. For a second, I actually thought about deleting the message.

I knew his passcode. 299299.

On a keypad, that spelled out his and Avery’s names together. Even their names fit perfectly.

I stared at the lock screen for two full minutes. Then put the phone down.

Sneaking around was pathetic.

And Ethan would never tolerate me the way he tolerated her.

Back in high school, I saw Avery sulk because some underclassman wouldn’t stop flirting with him. He handed over his phone with that lazy grin, “Jealous? I already shot her down. You gonna let me off the hook, princess? Here—knock yourself out. Scroll through anything. Delete whoever you want.”

That memory kept me awake until seven, when Ethan finally stirred.