Chapter 3
Ethan didn’t move.
He stared at Sarah like he was seeing a ghost.
Which, in a way, he was.
Margaret recovered first.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “I told you to stay away!”
Sarah’s hand tightened around mine.
“You told me he was dead, Margaret. You showed me a fake obituary. You made me grieve for seven years.”
The room went deathly quiet.
Ethan finally found his voice.
“Mom? What is she talking about?”
Margaret turned to him.
Her voice changed instantly.
Soft.
Pleading.
“Ethan, she’s lying. This woman is a gold digger. She’s just here for your money.”
“Mom!” Ethan’s voice boomed. “I know Sarah. We dated in college. For two years. What is going on?”
Sarah stepped forward.
Liam stayed close to her side.
“We broke up because your mother told me you were seeing someone else. She said you’d gotten another girl pregnant. I was heartbroken. I left town. Then I found out I was pregnant with Liam. I tried to call you. Your mother answered. She said you’d died in a car accident on your way to see me.”
Tears streamed down her face.
“She sent me a link to an obituary. It looked real. I believed her. I raised Liam alone. I worked three jobs. I never remarried. Because I thought the love of my life was dead.”
Ethan looked at Margaret.
Horror washed over his face.
“Is this true?”
Margaret’s lip trembled.
“Ethan, I did it for you. She wasn’t good enough for you. She came from nothing. She would have dragged you down. You had your future ahead of you. A business to build. A family name to uphold.”
“So you told her I was dead?” Ethan’s voice was barely a whisper.
“I told her you’d moved on. That you didn’t want anything to do with her. But she wouldn’t stop calling. I had to do something drastic to make her go away.”
“You destroyed my life,” Sarah said. “And you took seven years from Liam. Seven years he could have had with his father.”
Liam stepped forward.
He looked up at Ethan.
“Are you really my daddy?”
Ethan knelt down.
He was eye level with the boy.
His hands shook.
“What’s your name, buddy?”
“Liam.”
“Liam.” Ethan tested the name on his tongue. “How old are you?”
“Seven and a half.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The math worked out.
Perfectly.
He opened his eyes and looked at Liam.
Really looked at him.
The same blue eyes.
The same dimple in his left cheek when he frowned.
The same way he tilted his head when he was curious.
“Yeah,” Ethan whispered. “Yeah, I think you might be my son.”
Liam’s face lit up.
A smile that could have lit up the entire room.
He threw his arms around Ethan’s neck.
Ethan held him tight.
I watched them.
My heart broke into a million pieces.
This was supposed to be my wedding day.
I was supposed to marry the man I loved.
Start our life together.
Instead, I was watching him meet the son he never knew existed.
And I was watching the woman he once loved—the mother of his child—slowly dying before our eyes.
Sarah started coughing again.
Deep, wracking coughs that shook her entire body.
Ethan looked up.
“Sarah?”
She leaned against the wall for support.
“I’m okay,” she gasped. “Just… tired.”
I moved to her side.
“Let’s get you somewhere to sit down. Somewhere quiet.”
I looked at Ethan.
He was still holding Liam.
The boy had his face buried in Ethan’s neck.
“I think we all need to talk,” I said. “Privately.”
Ethan nodded.
He stood up, Liam still in his arms.
The boy didn’t let go.
“Mom?” Ethan looked at Margaret.
She was standing alone.
Isolated.
Everyone in the room was staring at her.
Judging her.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. I did what any mother would do. I protected my son.”
“You didn’t protect me,” Ethan said quietly. “You destroyed three lives. Maybe four.”
He looked at me.
Guilt flooded his eyes.
I couldn’t meet his gaze.
I turned and led Sarah out of the ballroom.
Ethan followed with Liam.
Behind us, the wedding guests erupted into conversation.
May you like
My wedding was over.
But the real drama was just beginning.
