Chapter 9
Lisa clawed at his wrists, mascara streaking down her cheeks.
“I had no choice, Ethan! Zack threatened me you know how he is!”
Her voice hitched, fake tears pooling at her lashes.
Ethan’s grip on her throat tightened, his eyes bloodshot, a man teetering on the edge of sanity.
“You think I’d fall for that again? You’re the reason I destroyed my marriage, the reason Lila left me with nothing but a grave for our child.”
“I loved that baby too!” she gasped, nails breaking skin.
“I’ll give you another–please, let’s start over-”
He backhanded her, the slap echoing in the silent room.
“You’re not fit to carry my blood.”
His voice dropped to a growl.
“You’re a disease, Lisa. And diseases get eradicated.”
Her eyes flickered with terror as his madness sharpened, a switch flipped in his brain.
“You’re the hypocrite!” she screamed, seizing her chance as his grip faltered.
“You used Lila as a broodmare! You let Zack violate her while she carried my embryo–don’t pretend this is my fault You loved the power, the control. You broke her.”
Ethan froze, her words a knife to his gut.
Images flashed: Lila’s tear–streaked face, the blood on the nursery floor, the way she’d looked at him like he was a
stranger.
She was completely right.
“No…” he whispered, but she kept going, relentless.
“You married her for her family’s wealth, then pitied yourself when she fought back. You never loved either of us–you loved the version of yourself that played loving husband‘.”
She laughed, hysterical, blood trickling from her split lip.
“Admit it: you’re the monster here.”
Something snapped.
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Ethan grabbed her by the hair, slamming her head into the marble coffee table–crack–shards of glass embedding
in her scalp.
She screamed, but he pressed his boot to her chest, pulling a switchblade from his pocket.
“Pain fixes people,” he murmured, tracing the blade over her abdomen.
“You want absolution? Let’s carve it out.”
Her panicked babble cut off as the knife bit in–until she shrieked, “Lila’s at the orphanage! The one on Willow Road–she’s with the kids, please”
His hand stilled.
The blaze devoured the villa by dawn, flames licking the sky like a final goodbye.
Ethan stood in the ashes, face blank, before turning toward the suburbs.
The orphanage came into view at sunrise, children’s laughter a sharp contrast to the night’s violence.
Lila stood in the yard, a little girl on her hip, her gaze soft as she wiped a boy’s tears.
“Mommy Lila, do you have a baby?” a toddler lisped, tugging her hand.
Lila’s smile faded, her palm resting on her stomach.
“I did once. But he went to be an angel.”
Ethan hid behind a tree, breath ragged.
Her words tore at him, a raw wound he couldn’t staunch.
She was healing.
Without him.
“Mommy Lila,” the child persisted, “will he come back?”
“Some angels stay gone,” she said, voice steady but eyes glistening.
“But they leave love behind.”
Ethan didn’t realize he was crying until a seagull’s cry jolted him.
He wanted to beg, to kneel, to undo every choice–but her peace was a mirror, reflecting the monster he’d become.
He turned away, footsteps heavy, as the first rays of sun crested the horizon.
The ocean roared its welcome as Ethan approached, waves crashing like distant applause. Behind him, sirens wailed–too late, always too late.
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Thapter 9
Tihany
He frove
Her voice, young and hopeful, echoed from the pet fet engagement day, the cows a meant to keep the lite
he’d shattered.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the wind, to the ghost of her 1 loved you 1er for how?
The police arrived as he stepped into the surf, salterater singing his cars, memories writing like the sta
“Ethan, you’re under arred
He didn’t look back
The last thing he heard was her laughter, faint and faraway, before the waves swallowed him whole.
