Chapter 2 - The Word Nobody Could Take Back
Ethan stared at Jenna as if the floor had shifted under him.
“What did she say?”
Jenna tightened her hold on Lily. “You heard her.”
Claire stepped between them. “Babies call everyone Daddy.”
“No,” Margaret said. “They don’t.”
A murmur moved through the ballroom.
Ethan’s best man, Noah, quietly waved the band toward the hallway. The musicians left without being asked twice.
Ethan looked at Lily. She had stopped crying. Her hazel eyes were fixed on him with a familiarity that made his chest tighten.
He had seen those eyes before.
In the mirror.
“Jenna,” he said, “tell me what’s going on.”
Claire laughed once, too loudly. “On our wedding day? Seriously?”
Jenna’s face hardened. “I tried to tell him.”
Claire’s smile disappeared.
Ethan turned. “Tried?”
“Six times.”
“That’s a lie.” Claire pointed at her. “She is doing this because she’s obsessed with you.”
Jenna’s mouth fell open. “I dated him for three years.”
“Before me.”
“Before Lily.”
The word landed like a dropped glass.
Margaret reached for a chair but did not sit. “How old is the child?”
“Eighteen months.”
Ethan calculated automatically. His wedding smile vanished.
Claire grabbed his arm. “She cheated on you. Remember? That was why you left.”
Jenna’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed steady. “No. That was what you told him.”
Ethan pulled his arm away from Claire.
The wedding guests were no longer pretending not to listen.
Jenna reached into her handbag and removed a clear plastic sleeve. Inside was a stack of unopened envelopes, each stamped RETURN TO SENDER.
Ethan recognized his old apartment address.
His handwriting was not on them.
But Claire’s was.
“Where did you get those?” Claire whispered.
Jenna looked at Ethan. “Your doorman gave them back to me after you moved. Someone had been intercepting my mail.”
Ethan took the sleeve.
On the top envelope, in thick black marker, were four words:
May you like
HE DOESN’T WANT HER.
And beneath them were Claire’s initials.
