Untitled Part 11
"She said it lightly, but there was a spark in her eyes.
"My brother waited in the parking lot all afternoon.
The second that bastard Brooks came out, Ethan pulled something over his head and beat the hell out of him.
He hasn't gotten into a fight since high school.
First time in years—and it was for you."
I didn't know what to say.
I stepped closer.
"Are you going home?"
He gave a quiet hum of agreement, then suddenly took my hand and stood up.
We didn't speak during the drive back.
But the moment we stepped inside the house, before I even had time to turn on the lights, he shoved me against the wall.
"Are you done fighting me yet?"
His lips brushed my earlobe as he spoke.
"It was a baby, that's all."
"If you want one that badly, we'll have another."
His voice was low, edged with impatience.
"What, is it that I can't have children, or you can't? Is this really worth dragging out for so long?"
Before he could go any further, I said quietly,
"Ethan, let's get divorced."
The kiss at my neck didn't move any lower.
He stilled for a moment, then lifted his head and looked at me.
Just looked.
Then he stepped back a few paces and leaned against the wall.
Eyes lowered, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
When he spoke again, the haze of alcohol had already cleared from his eyes.
"I thought you understood," he said coolly.
"I don't respond well to this kind of threat."
Smoke blurred the sharp line of his features, making him seem even colder, more distant.
"I'm serious."
The cigarette paused between his fingers.
"Why?"
His phone rang abruptly.
He glanced at the screen, and his expression turned even flatter.
"Ethan, you need to come over tonight."
Vanessa.
"Daisy has an assignment. She has to film a video with both parents, and they're showing it in class tomorrow when school starts."
Ethan asked,
"Do you know what time it is?"
Vanessa gave a cold laugh.
"Am I interrupting your nightlife with your sweet little wife?"
"If you don't want to come, fine. It'll just mean everyone in Daisy's class finds out she comes from a single-parent home and gets laughed at by her classmates.
That's obviously not as important as Mr. Sterling spending quality alone time with his wife, right?"
Ethan didn't waste words arguing with her.
"I'm coming now," he said, and hung up.
He walked past me and reached for the door.
I stopped him.
"Ethan. That's the reason."
The reason I want a divorce.
He looked back at me and said,
"Didn't you know I had a daughter when you married me?"
Then he gave me a cool, unreadable glance, opened the door, and left.
I stayed there, leaning against the door exactly as I had been when he walked out.
The vast living room was dim, lit only by a few streaks of moonlight slipping through the windows.
It wasn't an unfamiliar scene.
Every month, Daisy spent a few days at Vanessa's place.
And every time, Vanessa found a perfectly valid excuse to make Ethan go over there too.