Chapter 6
The address was a whisper.
Ethan didn’t bother with the elevator, sprinting to his car, tires screeching as he blew through red lights, heart pounding–she can’t be gone, she can’t-
He burst into the hospital room, breath ragged. “Lila!”
Silence.
The bed was stripped, the air stale.
“How could this happen? Where’s Lila? Where is she?”
Ethan screamed, grabbing a passing nurse by the arm, his voice raw.
The nurse recoiled, a scornful look in her eyes.
“You’ve got nerve showing up here. Your wife was wheeled in bleeding out–we almost lost her.”
His grip faltered. “The baby… how did she-”
She stared at him like he was a fool.
“Don’t play dumb. You partied while she was bleeding to death in your house. What kind of husband does that?”
Her words faded into white noise.
Ethan could only hear Lila’s last plea, whispered into the void: “Help me.”
While he’d laughed with her attackers, left her to bleed alone.
He collapsed to his knees, sobs wracking his body. “It’s my fault. I killed our baby. I killed her.”
“Where is she now? Please-”
The nurse sighed, softer now.
“Someone picked her up this morning. I don’t know who.”
Before he could rise, two officers approached, handcuffs gleaming.
“Mr. Ethan? You’re under arrest for multiple red light violations and drunk driving.”
I heard the news while reclined in a luxury postpartum suite, peeling a grape.
My best friend, Luna, hovered nearby, eyeing the scar on my abdomen.
My Reset Button
20.7%
Chapter 6
“What now? Ethan and Lisa are ruined,” she said, voice trembling.
I shrugged, calm as the marble countertop.
“Divorce, of course. I refuse to spend the rest of my life tied to a monster.”
“He’ll never agree. Not after everything.”
I set down my fork, the clink sharp in the silence. “He will.”
Luna hesitated, glancing at the tablet hidden in her lap–still open to the viral video of my assault.
“But the footage… you’re exposing yourself to so much hate.”
I met her gaze, steady.
“My body isn’t a dirty secret. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I hide?”
The truth was, the stares didn’t bother me–not the curiosity, not the judgment.
Let them look.
Let them whisper.
Shame wasn’t mine to carry.
A week later, I stood in the police station visiting room, watching Ethan pace the tiny cell, stubble rough on his
cheeks.
“Lila, I’m sorry–so sorry,” he breathed, dropping to his knees the moment he saw me, hands cuffed behind his back.
“I was a monster. Please, give me a chance-”
“You drugged me, raped me, used me as a womb for your mistress’s baby,” I said, voice flat. “And you think ‘sorry‘ fixes that?”
His handcuffed hands reached for me, desperate. “I’ll do anything. Just name it.”
I pulled a folder from my bag, flipping to the first page: a deed transfer. “Sign over all your assets. Every penny, every property.”
He didn’t even glance at the papers. “Done. Just… come back to me. Please.”
I smiled, cold and sharp–the first real smile I’d worn in months.
I shoved the papers toward him, pressing the pen into his palm, watching as he scrawled his name without
hesitation.
But when I flipped to the next page, his hand paused, eyes narrowing at the bolded title: DIVORCE SETTLEMENT.
