Chapter 2 — The Choice He Made
Ethan didn't move.
For several endless seconds, the only sound inside the chalet was the recording still playing through the speaker.
My own voice.
Cold. Calculated.
Confessing to a decision I'd made seven years earlier.
A decision that had destroyed Preston Hartwell Industries—his father's empire.
"I signed the documents myself," the recording said. "If the board discovered the hidden debt, the company would collapse within weeks."
Silence.
Ethan stared at me as though he had never known my face.
"You..." he whispered.
My chest tightened.
"It's not what you think."
"Not what I think?" His laugh was hollow. "I buried my father because of that company. He died believing he failed everyone."
His words cut deeper than the pain spreading through my abdomen.
"You let me spend four years loving you."
"No—"
"You let me propose."
"Ethan, please listen—"
The maid of honor, Vanessa, slowly stepped away from me, suddenly looking frightened instead of furious.
"I only wanted him to know the truth," she said quietly.
I looked at her in disbelief.
"You planned this?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"I found the recording in your father's old files. You lied to everyone."
Before I could answer, another wave of pain tore through my stomach.
Warm blood soaked through my white dress.
I gasped.
"My baby..."
For the first time Ethan looked down.
His expression flickered.
Not with love.
With conflict.
The doctor inside him wanted to help.
The son inside him wanted revenge.
He closed his eyes.
"You should have told me."
"I tried..." I whispered. "So many times."
"You had years."
"I was afraid."
He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Finally, he walked toward me.
Hope flooded my chest.
Until he stopped beside the emergency phone mounted on the wall.
He pressed the rescue button.
"They'll be here in five minutes."
Five minutes.
Then he turned around and walked toward the door.
"Ethan..."
He paused without looking back.
"If our child survives..."
His voice broke.
"...tell them their father wasn't strong enough to forgive."
May you like
The door closed behind him.
And I realized he had chosen hatred over me.
