Then his voice softened.
“You were always stubborn.”
I laughed bitterly through tears. “And you were always too weak to stand up to your mother.”
Linda winced.
Ethan didn’t argue.
Because he knew I was right.
Another wave of pain crashed over me.
“Push,” Linda instructed.
I screamed.
Everything blurred.
The lights.
The voices.
The pressure splitting my body apart.
Then suddenly Ethan leaned close enough that only I could hear him.
“I looked for you after the divorce.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You vanished.” His jaw tightened. “Your number changed. Your apartment was empty.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You served me papers and expected me to stay?”
“That wasn’t what happened.”
The room tilted.
Pain and confusion tangled together.
“What are you talking about?”
But before he could answer, Linda’s voice cut through the room.
“Full dilation. We need this baby out now.”
Another contraction slammed into me.
“Push, Chloe!”
I bore down with every ounce of strength left in me.
And then—
The monitor flatlined.
For one horrifying second, nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
