Lahat ng Kabanata ng He Divorced Me On Our Anniversary: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

Lena's POVI used to think preparing another nursery would break me and maybe that sounds dramatic but after losing Ethan there were certain things I convinced myself I would never survive and building a space for another baby without him sat somewhere near the top of that list.I stood outside the spare room holding a box of folded baby clothes while Eli sat beside my feet hitting two toy blocks together loudly. The room had been painted weeks ago after Victor insisted and until now I avoided opening the door not because I forgot because opening it made everything real.Another baby and another piece of Ethan and another child who would grow up hearing stories instead of memories. I took a breath before pushing the door open the first thing Eli did was crawl inside happily like he owned the place already and that made me smile before I could stop it and the realization surprised me.Pregnancy changes strange things and motherhood too.Eli pulled himself up against the crib laughing a

Ethan's povI spent most of the next day trying to convince myself that overhearing Maya's call meant nothing because people argue and they hide things and maybe Ryan was an old contact of Maya's and maybe the fact that he was in prison had absolutely nothing to do with me. The problem was that every explanation I gave myself sounded weaker the longer I sat with it because suspicion changes the way you look at people.Once doubt appears it spreads and I started to noticed everything now from the way Maya answered questions too quickly whenever I mentioned Lena the way every story about my past sounded rehearsed, almost polished and the way entire years of my life felt empty while emotions remained painfully strong.I remembered love without remembering who I loved I remembered grief without understanding what I lost and nothing made sense anymore.By breakfast exhaustion sat heavy behind my eyes because sleep had become frustrating lately. I either dreamed too much or not at all, and

Daniel's PovPeople think loyalty ends when somebody dies but I learned seven months ago that it does not. Loyalty becomes something heavier after death because suddenly you carry pieces of a person they left behind. Their family their secrets their unfinished work their wife and their children.I stopped sleeping properly the day we buried Ethan. No not buried because we buried an empty damn casket because nobody found enough of him to prove anything.I still remembered standing beside Victor while rain soaked through my suit and Lena stared ahead holding Eli in her arms. She looked pale that day everybody cried. Caroline nearly broke, John looked ten years older, Keenan drank himself sick afterward and Victor stayed quiet.Lena thanked people for flowers and I hated that most because women should not thank people at their husband's funeral while carrying a baby afterward she sat beside the casket long after everyone left. I remember because I stayed back she looked at the wood and w

Ethan's POVDaniel had taken me to a safe house nearly an hour outside Lake Como while we waited for the private jet to arrive. I still did not remember much and the missing pieces frustrated me more now because every answer created ten new questions but I remembered enough to know Lena was my wife and enough to know we had a son named Eli and another baby on the way. My daughter or at least I thought it was one daughter.The articles only said pregnancy everything else I learned through photographs and strangers and the realization still sat badly inside me because fathers are supposed to know these things.I stood near the window of the small house Daniel rented under a fake name while rain moved steadily over the trees outside. The place looked temporary it has bare furniture and one suitcase near the door and bottle of whiskey untouched on the counter.Daniel sat at the kitchen table with two phones and a laptop open in front of him while speaking quietly to somebody. "No, do not

Lena's POVWaking felt wrong not painful exactly but heavy as though my body knew something my mind had not caught up to yet and decided staying asleep would be safer. My cheeks felt damp and for several seconds I lay still trying to understand why. Pregnancy made sleep strange lately. Some mornings I woke convinced I heard Ethan moving around downstairs or opening the wardrobe beside our bed and grief had become cruel enough over the months that I stopped trusting the first few moments after opening my eyes.Then I heard Eli with soft uneven sound he made while sleeping against someone and my eyes opened immediately the room stayed dim despite daylight. Curtains mostly closed and my first instinct was panic because Eli rarely slept away from me unless exhausted.I turned my head.Daniel sat near the bedroom window with Eli curled against his chest. My son looked impossibly small from here one fist still wrapped stubbornly around Daniel’s shirt while his curls fell over his forehead.