Ethan barreled into the living room, his tie askew and shirt wrinkled like he’d been tugging at it all the way home. His phone was still in his hand, and Margot’s name flashed bright at the top. He shoved it into his pocket quickly, as though he knew better than to let me see.
My heart sank even more. I should’ve known that him missing the appointment had something to do with my mother-in-law. One of her favorite pastimes was finding ways to wedge herself between us. Not that he ever seemed to notice.
“Callie—” He stopped short, his gaze darting to where I stood by the sofa. He looked frantic, panicked, as if the world had tilted beneath his feet. But instead of soothing me, the sight only hollowed me out further.
“I’m so sorry.”
I crossed my arms tight over my chest, taking in the sheen of sweat at his temples, the rumpled lines in his suit pants, and the way his ice-blue eyes searched mine for forgiveness.
Any other time, I might have run into his arms, taken his panic as proof that he cared.
Tonight, it felt like too little, too late.
“You should be sorry. You left me alone, Ethan!” The words burst out of me before I even realized I was shouting. “That appointment was for our future! The one you said you wanted so much.”
He scrubbed a palm down his face, hiding his pained expression for a moment. “I didn’t plan to miss it, Callie. Mom showed up at the office and wanted to go to lunch?—”
“That makes it worse.” My voice cracked as the heat behind my eyes spilled over. “You chose her over me. After she’s been so unwelcoming.”
“That’s not fair,” he argued, shaking his head as he moved around the couch to stand in front of me. “She helped us, didn’t she? She practically planned our whole wedding when you were buried in your defense, formatting your dissertation, doing interviews?—”
I let out a sharp laugh, the sound brittle. “You mean she hijacked it so she could hold the wedding of the year at Thornleigh and parade me in front of her friends? Make sure it measured up to her precious standards, even if half the guest list were strangers to me?”
His face paled. “I never realized you felt like that.”
“Neither did I,” I whispered harshly. “Not until my life slowed down long enough for me to see that she didn’t offer to make my life easier. It wasn’t help. It was control.”
Ethan flinched, his hands lifting helplessly before dropping to his sides. “Callie, that’s?—”
“You knew there was a good chance she was going to draw blood today,” I cut in, my hands trembling as I clutched my stomach. The image of the nurse snapping on the rubber tourniquet slammed back into my mind, bringing with it thesting of the needle. “I faced my fears alone…because you chose lunch with your mother.”
The accusation tore from my throat, shredded and raw.
Ethan’s expression cracked, as if I’d ripped the ground out from under him. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, because I couldn’t stand the way he was looking at me—like he was the one who’d been betrayed.
Blinking through the blur of tears, my chest heaved with the weight of everything I’d held back for months. The subtle barbs. Cancelled plans. It all pressed down at once, and I was drowning in them while he stood there, stunned by my anger.
“I needed you,” I whispered, voice ragged. “But you weren’t there.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” Ethan dragged a hand through his hair. “I never got the calendar reminder.”
A sharp, humorless laugh clawed out of my chest. “Your precious alert failed, Ethan. But you should’ve remembered without it or at least checked your damn calendar yourself.”
His mouth opened, then shut, like he was scrambling for an answer that wouldn’t make things worse.
The silence between us stretched, too tight, too sharp. And then the words tumbled out because I couldn’t hold them back anymore. “Today was the worst because of what you missed, but it’s more than that. You’ve come home late without texting. Cancelled dates because of work. Yet every time your mom calls, you answer. Even if we’re in the middle of something.”
Ethan flinched like I’d slapped him, but I kept going.
“The little digs, the comments she makes when you’re not listening?” My throat tightened, but I pushed the words out anyway. “I’ve smiled through them all. I’ve let her call me lucky, as if she didn’t mean for it to sound like I’m unworthy to be a Prescott. And I kept my opinions to myself every time shereminded me who decorated this place, like I’m a guest in my own home.”
His head drew back in shock, but I didn’t stop.
“I let it all roll off my back because I thought it would take her some time to adjust to sharing you with me. Reminded myself that she’s all alone except for you,” I admitted, my voice cracking. “But after today, I can’t keep pretending it doesn’t affect me.”
Ethan took a step forward, reaching out before dropping his hand like he was afraid I’d flinch away from his touch. “Callie…I didn’t know.”
