chapter two - THE Truth we buried

They tried to keep their distance.

They failed.

Coffee turned into dinners. Dinners turned into late-night talks that stretched until morning. They circled each other carefully, afraid of repeating the past, afraid of stopping.

One night, sitting on opposite ends of her couch, Ava finally asked the question she had avoided for years.

“Why didn’t you fight for us?”

Ethan stared at the floor.

“I was drowning,” he said. “My company was collapsing. I was in debt. I didn’t want you to see me weak.”

“So you left?” she asked bitterly.

“I thought you’d be better without me.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”

He looked up then, eyes red. “I know. That’s the truth I buried.”

She swallowed hard.

There was another truth she hadn’t spoken yet.

“Ethan,” she said slowly, “there’s something you don’t know.”

His body went still.

“What?”

She stood, pacing the room, heart pounding. “After you left… I found out I was pregnant.”

The world seemed to stop.

“You—” His voice broke. “What happened?”

“I lost it,” she whispered. “Two months later.”

Silence shattered around them.

Ethan stood abruptly, crossing the space between them, pulling her into his arms as she finally broke.

“I should have been there,” he said over and over. “I should have been there.”

She clung to him, sobbing.

That night, they did not promise forever.

But they promised honesty.

And sometimes, honesty hurts more than lies.

Outside, the city lights flickered like warnings.

Because love, once awakened, never comes without a price.

The first crack appeared quietly.

Ava noticed it the night Ethan’s phone rang while he was in the shower.

She was not trying to snoop. The phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, lighting up with a name she did not recognize.

Lena

Her chest tightened.

She told herself it meant nothing. People had lives. Past and present. She had no right.

But the phone buzzed again.

And again.

When Ethan walked out, towel slung low on his hips, she was sitting on the edge of the couch, the phone untouched but the tension undeniable.

“Someone keeps calling,” she said calmly. Too calmly.

He froze.

“Who is Lena?” Ava asked.

His shoulders dropped slightly, like a man bracing for impact. “She’s… someone I dated. After the divorce.”

The words stung more than she expected.

“How serious?” she asked.

He hesitated. Just a second too long.

“She wanted more,” he said. “I couldn’t give it.”

Ava nodded slowly. “But you stayed.”

“Yes,” he admitted. “Because I was lonely.”

The truth hurt. Because she understood it.

“I ended it before I came to Chicago,” he added quickly. “Seeing you again made it clear.”

She looked at him, searching for lies, for uncertainty, for anything that said she was making the same mistake twice.

“I don’t want to be your second chance,” she said quietly. “I want to be your choice.”

He crossed the room, kneeling in front of her. “You’ve always been my choice. I just didn’t know how to be the man you deserved.”

She cupped his face, tears slipping free. “Then don’t disappear when it gets hard again.”

“I won’t,” he promised.

And that was when Lena showed up at Ava’s door.

Consequences Don’t Ask for Permission

Lena was beautiful.

That was the first thing Ava noticed. Effortlessly so. Tall, composed, wearing confidence like armor.

“I’m looking for Ethan,” she said politely.

Ava stepped outside, closing the door behind her. “He’s busy.”

Lena studied her for a moment. “You must be Ava.”

Her stomach dropped. “He talks about me?”

“He never stopped,” Lena said honestly. “That’s the problem.”

The silence between them was thick.

“He told me he was done with the past,” Lena continued. “That he was finally ready to move forward.”

Ava’s chest ached. “And?”

“And then he vanished,” Lena said. “Now I know why.”

Ava swallowed. “I didn’t plan this.”

“Neither did I,” Lena replied softly. “But loving someone who still belongs to someone else is a losing game.”

The door opened behind Ava.

Ethan stopped short when he saw Lena.

“I asked you not to come,” he said.

She nodded. “I needed to see her. To understand.”

Lena turned to Ava. “Be careful. He’s good at loving deeply. He’s also good at running when fear wins.”

Then she walked away.

That night, Ava lay awake beside Ethan, staring at the ceiling.

“What if we fail again?” she asked.

He turned toward her. “Then we fail trying. Not by walking away.”

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

An email notification from her doctor.

She hadn’t opened it yet.

She already knew.

Her period was late.

Ava pressed a hand to her stomach, heart racing.

One night had changed everything.

And this time, there was no undoing it.