Emily felt a wave of nausea, not from morning sickness, but from the crushing weight of betrayal. Five years of marriage, one son, and another child on the way. Twelve weeks along. Did all that mean so little to Ethan?
She wanted to approach them, make a scene, demand an explanation, but something stopped her. Perhaps it was her survival instinct, or her professional discipline to gather all the information before acting.
Emily moved slowly, hiding behind other passengers, close enough to her husband and his mistress to hear their conversation.
“Soon everything will be settled,” Ethan was saying as he stroked Pamela’s cheek. “In court, we will get everything down to the last dime.”
“What if she suspects something?” Pamela’s voice sounded worried.
“Emily is too trusting. She is a doctor, not a lawyer. She does not understand the complexities of estate law.” Ethan smirked dismissively. “Besides, she is pregnant now. Emotionally unstable. Even if she understood something, who would believe her?”
Emily gritted her teeth. Emotionally unstable. She would show him what instability was.
“But what if she sees the documents?” Pamela was still uneasy. “The documents, the evidence, the will.”
“It is all in my red folder, and that folder is in my office. She has no access,” Ethan said confidently. “After the hearing, we will be millionaires.”
“And your wife, your son?”
“We will get a divorce. I will leave her enough so she does not starve. I will take the boy. A boy needs his father.” Ethan paused, then added, “And the one on the way…” Ethan shrugged. “We will see. Maybe it won’t even come to turn with all this stress. You know…”
Emily felt the blood rush to her face. This man, the father of her children, was calmly planning to destroy her life. Not just to leave her, but to rob her and take her son.
“They are calling for boarding for the flight to Miami,” Pamela said, standing up. “It is time to go, honey.”
Miami, not Chicago. Another lie for the collection.
Ethan kissed her on the lips. A long, passionate kiss. Emily had not received a kiss like that from him in over a year.
“In one week,” he whispered to her, “we will be free and rich.”
They stood up and walked towards the boarding gate. Emily watched them, feeling something inside her break. It was not her heart. That was already numb. What had broken were her illusions, trust, faith, and family.