Episode 12: The Lie Gets Complicated

ETHAN

I sat in the passenger seat and looked straight ahead.

“That night,” I said to Daniel.“The hotel. The wrong girl—it was her.”

Daniel glanced at me through the mirror.

“Sir?”

“Sofia Brennan. She was the one who ended up in my room.”

Daniel went quiet.

“Boss.” He said it slowly. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“So that means the baby could be—”

“She told me Brandon was her boyfriend.”

“But, sir, the timing—”

“Daniel.”

He stopped.

“Yes, sir.”

We drove in silence.

A few minutes passed, but I couldn’t focus. Nothing was registering properly.

“Turn around,” I said.

“Sir?”

“The hospital. Take me back.”

He turned the car around.

CLAIRE

I found her room and pushed the door open.

Sofia was lying in the bed, looking pale and tired.

“Claire—”

“Don’t talk yet.”

I sat beside her and took her hand.

“What happened to you?”

“I got sick at dinner. Then I fainted.”

“You fainted?”

I stared at her.

“Sofia—”

“I’m fine now.”

“You are NOT fine. You’re lying in a hospital bed!”

I lowered my voice.

“How did you even get here?”

“Ethan brought me.”

I blinked.

“Ethan Cole.”

“Yes.”

“Ethan Cole carried you to a hospital.”

“Apparently.”

I sat back and looked at her.

“How did you even know am here? ”

a guy use your phone to call me

that means Daniel called you

well I don't know

She looked at me carefully.

does that mean Ethan knows something?

The door opened.

A doctor walked in with a tablet and a pleasant smile.

“Ms. Brennan. Good to see you awake.”

She looked around.

“And where's Mr Ethan? I’d like to go through your results with both of you.”

Sofia blinked.

the gentleman who brought you in. Mr. Ethan.”

Sofia and I looked at each other.

“Yes, he—”

The door opened again.

Ethan walked in.

His eyes went to Sofia first.

Then to me.

Then to the doctor.

“Mr. Ethan, perfect timing.”

The doctor turned to him with a smile.

“I was just about to go through Ms. Brennan’s results.”

He moved to stand to the side of the room and said nothing.

The doctor opened her tablet.

“Ms. Brennan, your blood work came back, and the baby is fine—no immediate concern there.”

She said it casually, like everyone already knew.

“However, your iron levels are low, your blood pressure is elevated, and you are severely exhausted. If you continue at this pace, you are at serious risk of miscarriage.”

She paused.

“Your body needs proper rest—not two hours less sleep, not working through lunch. Actual rest.”

Silence.

Sofia stared at the doctor.

I stared at Ethan.

Ethan stared at the wall beside Sofia’s bed with an expression I had never seen before.

“Any questions?” the doctor asked.

Nobody spoke.

“I’ll give you a moment,” she said.

Then she left.

The door clicked shut.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Sofia looked at me.

I looked back at her.

Neither of us looked at Ethan.

But I felt him standing there—completely still, alone with whatever was going through him.

“I’ll get some water,” I said.

I stood up and walked to the door.

Before leaving, I glanced back once.

Ethan hadn’t moved.

Still standing there.

Still looking at the wall beside Sofia’s bed.

But his hands were not steady.

I closed the door and stood in the corridor.

Everything was about to be different.

SOFIA

Claire left, and I wanted to scream.

Of all the moments to go get water—of all the times in our entire friendship to suddenly develop an interest in hydration—she picked this one. Right now. With Ethan Cole standing six feet away from me in a hospital room, only God know what on his mind he told me to let him know if anything will distract my work o God Claire why did you leave.

Come back, I thought desperately at the door she had just walked through. Come back right now, Claire. I will never complain about anything you do ever again. Just come back.

She did not come back.

I looked at Ethan.

He looked at me.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said automatically.

My phone buzzed on the bed beside me.

I glanced at it.

Brandon: Hey you. What are you up to tonight?

Something loosened slightly in my chest. wow right timing ohh God

“I’m good,” I said to Ethan, my eyes on my phone as I quickly typed.

Sofia: Actually, I’m at St. Matthew’s Hospital. Room 204.

I hit send and turned my phone face down before he could see the screen.

He was still looking at me.

“The doctor said you need rest,” he said.

“Yes.” I shifted against the pillow. “Early pregnancy symptoms. You know how it is.”

A pause.

“Congratulations,” he said. “Who is the father?”

I kept my face completely still.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said. “Definitely his.”

Ethan looked at me for a long moment.

“Hmm,” he said.

Just that.

Like he was filing something away rather than accepting it.

I held his gaze and said nothing else.

The door opened, and Claire walked back in with a cup of water, Daniel one step behind her. I had never been so relieved to see two people in my life.

“Here.”

Claire handed me the water, then sat beside me and looked between me and Ethan carefully.

Ethan straightened.

“I’ll head out,” he said.

He picked up his jacket and turned to me.

“Rest,” he said simply.

I looked at him.

“I will,” I said.

He nodded once and moved toward the door.

Daniel and Claire exchanged a glance.

The door opened before Ethan reached it.

The door opened again.

Brandon walked in.

He stopped when he saw Ethan—surprise crossing his face—but recovered quickly.

“Mr. Cole,” he said pleasantly.

Ethan looked at him for exactly one second.

“Whitfield,” he said.

Then he moved toward the door.

Brandon crossed the room toward me, and I looked at him. Something in my brain made a decision that the rest of me had approximately zero seconds to approve.

“Bby.” I called him