Chapter Thirty

Ethan sat at the circular wooden table in his room, his eyes fixed on the laptop in front of him. The quiet hum of the device filled the otherwise still space. He clicked through some files, absorbed in his work, when a knock at the door broke his concentration.

"Come in," he called, not looking up. 

The door creaked open, and his mother, Nicole, stepped inside. 

"Hey, son," she greeted softly.

Ethan lifted his gaze, his eyes narrowing for a moment. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

Nicole walked in slowly, her movements deliberate. "Is that how you welcome your mother now?" she asked, sitting down across from him with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Ethan muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I just didn't think you'd want to see me after everything that's happened."

Nicole smiled warmly, her expression softening. "No matter what you say or do, I'll always love you, Ethan. You're my son. I'll always understand you."

"Thanks, Mom. That means a lot."

"You're welcome, love," she said gently. 

"Sure," Ethan exhaled slowly, rubbing his forehead.

"Have you seen your kids?"

That reminded him of something he had meant to ask. "Wait, did you really have to tell her?"

"She had the right to know," Nicole replied. "As their mother—and your wife. Were you just going to let her grieve, not telling her the truth until you were satisfied?"

Ethan paused, his fingers lingering over the keyboard. "No... but that would have been nice." 

Nicole's eyes narrowed as she continued, "Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

Ethan sighed. "I thought you'd go looking for it yourself after my wedding."

Nicole studied him for a moment, her eyes searching his. "Does Mia know about this?"

Ethan's shoulders stiffened. "I haven't told her yet."

"Do you think she'll be able to accept Mae?"

"Why does she have to accept Mae?"

Nicole's gaze softened, and her voice dropped to a more serious tone. "No matter how much you try to deny it, you know deep down that you're in love with Mae. Stop fighting it, or it'll drive you crazy."

Ethan's face tightened. "Mom, I'm not in love with her. Falling in love with her... it's like stabbing Courtney's memory in the chest."

Nicole's expression didn't change. "Courtney would understand, son."

"I know," Ethan said, his voice thick with emotion. "And that's what's killing me. Does she always have to put my happiness above hers?"

"Your happiness was Courtney's happiness. She loved you very much, Ethan."

"And I loved her," Ethan whispered. "But the wound's too deep to heal. I feel so much hate for myself every time I see Mia. She's the same as Courtney. How can I love someone when I hate myself?"

Nicole leaned forward slightly, her voice soft but firm. "You love Mia."

"It's different," Ethan muttered.

Nicole's gaze hardened slightly, as though she was preparing to say something more. "I've never told you this before, but I think it's time you know."

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Ethan asked, confused.

"After Courtney's death, you were a mess, Ethan. Going to therapy was the only thing that kept you from ending it all. I felt like my world was falling apart. You were just a kid, and you had to go through all that. I didn't want you to remember what happened the day of the accident. I knew it would only make things worse. But when you said you made a friend, I thought maybe you were finally getting back to your old self. Then on the day of your final test, you found out she left without saying goodbye. That broke you. And then it triggered all the memories from that day."

Ethan's jaw tightened. "You don't need to go through all this again."

"I felt so helpless watching you go through that, Ethan. I couldn't do anything. After that, I decided to find the girl who brought you out of your shell. It wasn't easy, but I finally tracked her down. By then, you were already an adult. I was going to meet her, but the divorce and marriage drama with your father stopped me."

"Then what happened?"

Nicole took a deep breath. "A few months later, your father told me you were getting married. I thought he was just playing a trick on me, but he wasn't. So, I came down to see who you were marrying. That day, when I entered the reception hall, I was shocked. The woman you were getting married to was the girl I'd been looking for all those years." She continued, "At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but then I realized it wasn't. It couldn't be. YI realised with you there just can't be a coincidence. That's when I started digging. I looked into Mae's past. I found nothing suspicious, so I assumed you still had feelings for her after all these years. But then I realized something else. You loved Courtney too much to just marry someone else. And it wasn't just anyone, Ethan. It was the girl who left you thirteen years ago. I thought you wanted revenge, maybe you wanted to make her go through the pain you went through but then I realised you were way better than that. Something bigger was going on and I had to find out what it was so I called Gabriel and asked him what was going on."

"I can't believe he betrayed me."

Nicole nodded sympathetically. "He told me he had no idea, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Courtney's death. So, I went to visit the therapist who treated you when you were younger."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because he's the only one—except for you—who knows what happened the day Courtney died. He told me everything you said, including the sketch of the girl holding a white bunny. That was Mae. It all clicked."

Ethan leaned back in his chair, stunned. "You've been investigating me."

Nicole's lips curled into a faint smile. "You're not exactly a hard person to figure out, Ethan."

"Wow, Mom. You should consider a career change. You'd make an excellent private investigator."

"Thanks, son," she said, unbothered by his sarcasm. "But I haven't finished yet."

"What more did you discover?" Ethan asked, though he was beginning to dread the answer.

"The real reason you married Mae."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it was for revenge."

"Well, that's what you made yourself believe," Nicole corrected. "But that's not the reason."

"Then what is?"

Nicole leaned in, her voice low. "You married Mae because she got pregnant. You knew her father wouldn't let her make the same mistake he did. He wasn't going to let her have a child out of wedlock, and he definitely wasn't going to let her become a single mother. So, you decided to marry her."

Ethan let out a quiet laugh, a dark edge to it. "I'm impressed, Mother."

"No, you're not," she said firmly. "Because you know that's just the excuse you gave Mae to make her believe it."

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, finally meeting her eyes.

"Wow you finally decided to look at me. That means you know what I'm going to say next."

"Mother."

"Getting married to Mae wasn't part of your plan to have revenge right? Her getting pregnant was just a mistake that gave you a perfect opportunity to do a great deal of damage to her and her family."

"What are you talking about?"

Nicole's gaze hardened. "Your real plan was to get Mae to marry Shaun. You thought you could use Shaun to punish Mae and use Mae to keep him in check. That way, you'd have the perfect revenge—one that would hurt both of them. But then Mae got pregnant, and that ruined your perfect plan, didn't it?"

Ethan stared at her in shock. "Yes, it was a mistake."

"Maybe for Mae, but not for you," she said, her voice sharp. "It takes two people who know what they're doing to make a baby."

"We were drugged and intoxicated."

"Mae, yes. You, no".

"What does that mean?"

"You don't eat at social gatherings Ethan and neither do you drink anything either because it's too much of a risk knowing how much people are after you. Since Mae was six months gone before she delivered it's safe to say you two did it the week you hosted Kelly at RX hotel. The night of the celebration party of a new hotel opening right son?"

"When and how?"

"You're surprised. Don't be son I'm your mother and you can't hide anything from me".

"Did you place me under surveillance?"

"Not at all child. All I had to do was ask questions and put the pieces of the puzzle together. That's how I know that you weren't intoxicated that night. You had a make out session with Mae fully aware of what you were doing. The only one who was intoxicated was Mae. Does she know the truth?"

"It was a mistake mom".

"Was it though?"

"Are you implying that I slept with Mae because I wanted to?"

"Yes".

"Why would I have ever done that?"

"Well it's because you're in love with her".

"How's that even possible mom? We hadn't even known each other for two weeks".

"Ethan stop trying to fool me. I said you can't hide anything from me".

"I'm not trying to hide anything from you mother".

"Don't lie to me," she said, her voice hardening. "I know the truth. You didn't meet Mae just eight months ago. You met her when she was nineteen. You lied to her about your identity, and you kept in touch with her because you were planning your revenge. But fate doesn't work like that, does it? You found yourself falling in love with her. That's why you broke up with Kelly. It wasn't because of the proposal or the vow you made to Ryan. You broke up with her because of Mae. And now, you're shut off from love because you can't face it. Tell me son, does Mae know about this other identity?"

Ethan's gaze hardened. "If you knew all these why didn't you try to stop me?"

Nicole shook her head. "Trying to stop you would have just made you do something crazier."

"So you let me have my way hoping that Mae will be able to change me."

"Yes."

"Well your plans might have worked out if Mae doesn't want a divorce."

Nicole's eyes widened. "She filed for a divorce?"

"Yes and the papers are coming in tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Once again she wants to leave."

"She must have a reason this time."

"I don't want to know. When the papers get here tomorrow I'm going to sign them."

"No you can't do that Ethan."

"Why not?"

"I want you to fight for her. She fought for you. Don't let this go."

"The only reason why she fought for me was because she didn't want to be a bad mother. She didn't want them to end up like her".

"She loves you".

Ethan looked at her, his voice cold. "I've made my decision. I'm getting a divorce, and that's final."

Nicole's face twisted with pain. "You don't know what you're doing, Ethan."

"Maybe not," he said, standing up and walking toward the door. "But I'm done with this conversation. I have an online meeting in a few minutes and I'd like to finish my preparations."

Nicole hesitated but stood, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I hope you won't regret this when your kids grow up."

Ethan's voice was distant as he replied. "I won't, Mom."

With that, Nicole turned and walked out, leaving Ethan sitting in the silence of the room, his heart heavy with the weight of everything he had just heard.