"I’ll be waiting," she whispered, the words catching like silk on thorns.
"You’ve made so happy, Mara." His voice cracked a little, a smile she could hear as clearly as if he was standing right there. "I love you."
She closed her eyes, a tender ache blooming in her chest. "I love you too," she said, watching the world blur around her. He blew her a kiss over the line before hanging up.
But across the side, at the corner of the café, soone was watching.
Ethan.
His face was a storm, his eyes glassy and raw as he stepped forward, no longer able to hide the trembling in his hands or the weight in his heart. "Do you... do you love him?" His voice cracked like sothing breaking in the middle of the night.
Vera stiffened in her chair. "Uncle," she muttered, not surprised, not really — but Mara could tell by the look in her eyes that she’d sensed him following them too.
"Answer ," Ethan pleaded, his voice hoarse, a tear sliding down his cheek unchecked. "Did you fall for him? Did you?"
Mara took a deep, steadying breath, collecting the scattered pieces of herself. Calm. Unshaken.
She turned to the nannies nearby. "Take the kids to the van," she instructed gently, then glanced at Vera. "Please... give a mont with your uncle."
Vera hesitated, shooting Mara a look that said be careful, before she left, trailing after the others.
And just like that, it was only the two of them. The air between them was heavy with old ghosts and new betrayals. Mara turned to face Ethan, her chin lifting slightly, the storm in her eyes steady, ready.
Mara hadn’t expected to see him. Not here, not now, not when last night was already heavy with the kind of thoughts that leave a person staring at the ceiling, too tired to cry, too restless to sleep.
But there he was. Ethan.
His na used to taste sweet in her mouth, sothing like honey ward over a fire. Now it was ash, clinging to the back of her throat.
"Ethan... what are you doing here?" Her voice cracked on the edges, a tremor barely hidden beneath practiced indifference. He stepped forward, the light catching the tired lines around his eyes, the shadow of the man she once loved clinging to his silhouette. A broken thing, trying to stand tall.
"Can we talk?" she said quietly, like her voice might shatter if she spoke any louder. "About the twins." Mara’s stomach twisted. The ntion of them was always a knife—Andrew and Audrey. Her heart ached for what could have been, for what was stolen, for what Ethan had taken without asking.
"I know," she went on, her words faltering, her gaze flickering to the floor, then back to him. "I know you’re attached to Andrew... the way I was... to Audrey. But it shouldn’t have been like this. They were never ant to be separated."
A thousand unsaid things clawed at her throat. She wanted to scream. She wanted to curse him for every sleepless night, for every mory that bled into her waking hours. But she saw him then—not the man who’d betrayed her, but a fractured, lost soul. And damn it, so stubborn corner of her heart still rembered the boy who’d made her laugh until she cried.
"If you’ll calm down," Mara pleaded, "we could work sothing out."
Ethan steps closer as she flinched at his proximity, her skin prickling with a thousand ghosts of old touches. Mara wasn’t ready for this. Not now. Not ever, maybe. The words she needed were barbed, waiting to be flung, but sothing gentle and cowardly held them back.
Ethan’s expression shifted, his jaw clenching. There was sothing desperate in his eyes now, a man on the edge of a cliff, begging for a hand to hold.
"I asked if you fell in love with him, Mara," he said, his voice rough and raw. "Have you gotten over so quickly?" He took another step, and then another, until their shadows tangled. His hands reached for hers, his touch both familiar and foreign.
"Could you bear it," Ethan whispered, "for another man to touch you? To co close, to kiss you, to hold you the way only I knew how to?"
Mara’s breath hitched, her chest a battlefield of rage and sorrow and sothing she refused to na.
She swallowed hard, gathering the frayed edges of her strength.
"Shall we discuss the twins?" she said, her voice like ice over glass. "That’s the only thing you and I have left, Ethan. Because unfortunately, you’re their father... and there’s nothing I can do to change that."
She stepped back, creating a distance that felt both too wide and not wide enough.
The world slowed around them. Ethan’s voice cracked like thunder across the quiet street, slicing through the murmurs of passersby.
"I want to hear it, Mara!" he shouted, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and desperation. "Look into my eyes and tell you love him. Tell he’s the one you want, not . That you belong to him, not . Say it, Mara!"
People began to stop, their conversations fading as they turned to witness the unfolding drama. The air was thick with tension, every eye fixed on the pair at the center of the storm.
Mara stood frozen, her eyes wide with unshed tears. Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing the pain etched on Ethan’s face.
"Tell , Mara," he pleaded, his voice softer now but no less intense. "That all these tis you spent with him, you wanted him. That you belong to him. Look into my eyes and say it to my face. Please... admit it."
She opened her mouth, but no words ca. The truth was tangled in her throat, caught between the past and the present, between what was and what could have been. The crowd watched in silence, the world holding its breath, waiting for her response.
Reviews
All reviews (0)