Chapter 2

Ethan piled on. "Yeah, say sorry to my mom, or everyone's going to think you've lost your mind."

He grabbed my arm and started hauling me across the floor, ignoring the wine soaking through my clothes and my sharp cry of pain.

I stood my ground in front of the whole crowd and spat three times in their direction.

"Rachel, drop the act. You were loving every second of it. What happened? Can't keep going?"

Before she could answer, Derek lit up his phone screen.

A naked photo of me stared back at everyone in the room.

He leaned in close, voice low and threatening. "Vivian. Unless you want these pictures everywhere, you're going to sign the divorce papers. Right now."

"Give up custody, leave with nothing, keep your mouth shut, and I'll let you walk away with your dignity. Otherwise..."

His breath was warm against my ear.

Every vein in my body went cold.

The whole room was watching, soaking up every second.

I smiled. "Fine. Let's do it."

My easy agreement seemed to catch Ethan off guard.

Derek practically dragged me into a corner, giddy. The emcee was still up front doing damage control.

"Our Ethan really is extraordinary. Everyone wants a Harvard scholarship kid for a son!"

When I signed the last line, I looked up at Ethan and Rachel.

Derek, satisfied, made a show of generosity and invited me to say a few words.

"You raised Ethan for years, so you're practically his adoptvie mother. Say a couple words before you go."

"I never had a son."

I walked out laughing to myself. Outside, a thin rain was already falling.

My phone buzzed with a number I almost didn't recognize anymore.

For the first time in years, I made a different choice.

The voice on the other end was worn, hesitant.

"Vivian? Is it really you? Are you actually answering?"

My voice cracked. I nodded hard.

"Mom. It's me."

"I want to come home."

---

Meanwhile, Ethan was celebrating with Rachel and Derek.

"Mom, that woman who was in the way finally got what she deserved. After all these years, I'm finally back where I belong."

Ethan was practically glowing, sitting between the two of them, raising his glass again and again.

Rachel dabbed her eyes and pulled a Rolex out of her bag.

"Baby, you worked so hard to get into a Fortune 500 company. When you're out there in the world, a man needs to look the part. Consider this your internship gift from mom."

Ethan slipped it on and couldn't stop calling her mom.

Derek was beaming, laugh lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. The three of them traded warm words by candlelight.

The image on the tablet, this perfect little family reunion, hit me like a punch to the chest.

My mother came over with a glass of warm milk. "Sweetheart, your father and I tried so hard to stop you from running off with that broke nobody when you were fifteen. You just wouldn't listen."

"And then he turned around and used the antiques he stole from our house to reinvent himself as some collector, and tricked you into raising his love child. At least now you can see who these people really are. Maybe some good will come out of it after all."

My mother stroked my hair. My father slammed his cane on the floor.

"That son of a bitch. How dare he treat my daughter like this. I'll have his gallery shut down so fast he won't know what hit him."

Years ago, I had fallen stupidly in love and walked out on everything, a wealthy family and a real life, to follow Derek and eat ramen in a basement apartment.

And all I got for it was total, absolute betrayal.

The anger was still burning when I quietly arranged for a company-issued black card to be sent to Ethan's office, framed as a reward for his internship.