On Our Fifth Anniversary My Husband Begged Me Not to Leave Chapter 14

On Our Fifth Anniversary My Husband Begged Me Not to Leave Chapter 14

For the next few days, Ethan followed me everywhere.

Same hotel.

Same scenic spots.

Same restaurants.

I knew the best move was to treat him like air, so I did.

I looked at the views and took my photos, pretending he didn’t exist.

Liam, however, was reaching his limit.

At dinner, he set down his chopsticks with a sharp clack.

“Ex-husband. Are you sure you don’t have a stalking problem?”

Ethan didn’t even look up.

“Traveling with my wife. That’s not stalking.”

Liam smiled, but his eyes stayed hard.

“Ex-wife. Let me correct that again. Ex. Wife.”

The air between them crackled.

I pressed my fingers to my temples.

“Can both of you shut up?”

They both stopped.

And then they both looked at me.

—

The whole scene was so absurd I felt like I was traveling with two toddlers.

I dropped my fork and walked out.

That afternoon, we stopped at a viewpoint.

Mountains towered into the clouds.

A sea of white mist rolled beneath us.

I raised my camera.

This was why people drove Route 66.

Standing here, all the love and hate and regret felt as small as dust.

I was about to press the shutter when my phone rang.

A relative from back home.

“Stella? It’s your mother. She collapsed. The hospital says it’s bad. You need to come home. Now.”

—

The camera lowered in my hands. The view in front of me blurred.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I hung up and stood there for a long moment, staring at nothing.

Liam appeared at my side, his voice quiet.

“Everything okay?”

I shook my head. “My mother. She collapsed. I have to go back.”

Before I could say anything else, Ethan walked over, his expression shifting from curiosity to concern. The moment he saw my face, he asked, “What happened?”

I didn’t have the energy to push him away. “My mother is in the hospital.”

Ethan immediately pulled out his phone. “I’ll book the earliest flight back. We’ll go together.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Stella. I’m coming.”

Liam stepped forward. “I’ll come too. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”

I looked between them. For once, neither of them was arguing.

Maybe they could read the exhaustion on my face. Maybe for the first time, they understood this wasn’t about them.

I just nodded. “Fine. Both of you can come.”

On the flight home, I stared out the window at the clouds beneath us. My mother and I had never been close. Not really. But she was still my mother.

Ethan sat beside me, unusually quiet. Halfway through the flight, he reached over and gently placed his hand over mine.

I didn’t pull away. I was too tired to care.

“Whatever happens,” he said softly, “I’m here.”

I didn’t answer.

Because the one time I’d needed him the most—when my father died—he hadn’t been there. And no amount of “I’m here now” could erase that.