A flicker of pain crossed Ethan’s face. He
clenched his fists, opened his mouth, then
closed it again.
“I’m glad that child won’t be born into this
world. Because that child wouldn’t have been its
<
10:44
tather’s first priority.”
62
“I kept thinking, what if I had kept the baby?
What if our child and Zach got sick at the same time? Who would you choose?”
Ethan blurted out, “Of course I would…”
“You would choose Zach. Because he doesn’t
have a father, because you think he’s pitiful, because you think Ashley can’t cope without
you. Have you ever considered that Ashley only lived abroad for a few years? Did she forget
everything she learned before that?”
“Maybe you’d feel guilty towards our child at first. But that guilt would fade. Because you’d tell yourself it’s okay, I’m your wife, that’s your child, there’d be plenty of other chances, plenty
of time to make it up to us. But there wouldn’t
be.”
“Disappointment builds up, Ethan. I’m filled with
dicappointment That’s why I’m leaving And I
<
disappointment. That’s why I’m leaving. And I
don’t want our child to go through what I went through.”
“You’d tell our child, ‘You have a father, he
doesn’t. Why can’t you be more understanding? Why can’t you be the bigger person?“”
“You’d say, ‘Zach’s already had a hard life.
Can’t you have a little more compassion?“”
A child with a father, treated like they don’t have one.
Just like me, a wife treated like she doesn’t
have a husband.
Ethan stumbled back, shaking his head. “I would never! How could you say that?”
I looked at him, my heart numb. “Wouldn’t you?
Isn’t that what you’ve been doing to me all
along?”
<
His face paled. He grabbed my hands. “Anna,
I’ll change! I’ll do anything! Just don’t leave
me.”
I slowly pried his fingers off mine, one by one.
Ashley moved faster than I expected. The next
morning, she sent me two photos. Her and
Ethan, naked in bed together.
I forwarded them to Ethan. He stopped trying to
contact me after that.
The divorce was finalized.
