He Didn’t See Our Son Suffocate, He Saw Her Concert Tickets Chapter 05

He Didn’t See Our Son Suffocate, He Saw Her Concert Tickets Chapter 05

“Fiona? Fiona!” He called my name twice. Nothing but hollow silence.

He set the things down and walked slowly to the bedroom. Pushed the door open.

“Fi—”

All the little bottles and jars — gone. The stroller that used to sit in the corner — vanished.

“Fine.” Ethan planted his hands on his hips, staring at the empty room. “You really want to play these childish games? You’re a mother now, and you’re still acting like a little kid.”

He felt helpless. But at the same time, this was the Fiona he knew. She’d always had a temper. Always gave him the silent treatment. But every time — every single time — all it took was him sweet-talking her a little and she’d come right back around.

Thinking about that, he couldn’t help smiling to himself. He pulled out his phone and dialed my number.

But that mechanical voice just kept repeating, over and over. [The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.]

That had never happened before.

“Fine. You really want to be this way?”

He clenched his jaw, pretending he couldn’t care less. Then he fired off a text: [We’re leaving for overseas tomorrow. You’re not even going to say goodbye?] [Fine. Don’t see me now, don’t ever see me again.]

Silence.

He tossed his phone aside, unconcerned, and started packing for the move. He rummaged everywhere but couldn’t find his tie case. Before, Fiona had always laid out his clothes, his ties, his shoes — every single day.

He started typing a message to ask her, then deleted it, word by word.

This time, he wasn’t going to be the one to give in.

He threw some clothes together in a suitcase and called Vivian. “You ready? I’ll come get you and we’ll head to the airport.”

Vivian was lounging on her sofa, her voice pointed. “How’s your wife? Is she mad at me? Should I go apologize or something?”

Ethan stared at the half-empty closet, his jaw tight. “Don’t worry about her. I’ll be right there.”

It was only when he was dragging his suitcase out the door, still fuming, that he spotted the divorce agreement sitting on the table. My name was signed across the bottom, sharp and unmistakable.

He picked it up. His heart thrashed against his ribs.

“Divorce? Fiona, you didn’t even talk to me about it — divorce…”

His voice trailed off until he couldn’t make a sound.

And then it all came rushing back. How off I’d been the past few days. How indifferent. How easily I’d agreed to let him take Vivian overseas. How I hadn’t even asked whether he came home last night. Countless shards of memory flooded his mind. He crumpled the divorce papers in his fist.

“Why should I?”

After a long, stretched-out silence, he forced four words through his teeth. “I don’t agree.”

He tossed the papers aside and headed straight to Vivian’s place.

He was about to let himself in with his spare key when he heard voices inside.

“Vivian, that was freaking genius. Fiona looked totally shell-shocked. She took the fall and nobody believed a word she said.”

“Right? Her face was priceless — she was like two seconds from bawling!”

Vivian was on the sofa, sorting her luggage. “Couldn’t have done it without your acting skills.” Then she waved them off. “Okay, okay, you guys gotta go. Ethan’s gonna be here any minute—”

She glanced up and saw a shadow in the doorway.