Something dark flickers across Hades' face."What you do and where you live isn't his business anymore."
"Try telling him that."
"I will if he shows up here trying to dictate terms.Want me to handle it?"
The offer is casual, but there's steel underneath it, the promise of violence barely leashed.It should scare me.
Instead, it makes me feel protected in a way I've never experienced before.
"I can handle him."
"I know you can.Doesn't mean you should have to."
Before I can respond to that loaded statement, the front door opens and Ethan strides in like he has the right to be here.He's wearing one of his expensive suits, his face tight with frustration and something that looks dangerously like desperation.
"Enough," he says without preamble."This ridiculous charade has gone on long enough."
"Ethan, you can't just walk into?—"
"I gave you time, Evangeline, but clearly you’ve lost your mind."His voice is clipped, controlled, but there's an edge of panic underneath."You're coming home with me.Tonight."
"I am home."
"You're living with a criminal, pretending you're their mother.This isn't the woman I fell in love with."
"Maybe the woman you fell in love with never really existed."
His face flushes red."Don't be dramatic.You're having some kind of breakdown, clearly triggered by your brother's death, and I'm here to help you through it.But this..."He gestures around Hades' living room with obvious disgust."This ends now."
"You don't get to decide that."
"Don't I?We were together for two years.We had plans, a future.You can't just throw that away because you're having some kind of crisis."
"I'm not having a crisis.I'm making choices.My own choices, for the first time in years."
Ethan's jaw tightens."You’re blowing up our life.Do you even care what people are saying?What my parents think?"
"I don't care what your parents think."
"Well you should.They're as concerned as I am about your mental state.About the decisions you're making while you're obviously not thinking clearly."
The condescending tone, the way he talks about me like I'm a child having a tantrum, makes my blood boil.
“I am thinking clearly.I’m just done with your dictation of my life.It ends now.This is my life now and it has nothing to do with you.”
Ethan's jaw tightens."No, it's not.This is you having some kind of breakdown and making decisions you'll regret later.When you come to your senses, you'll realize I was right."
"I'm not having a breakdown.I'm taking care of my family."
"They’re not your kids.You feel guilty, fine, but this fantasy?It's not the answer."
The dismissive way he talks about the children, about my choices, about everything that's become important to me, makes me see red.
"Get out."
"Evangeline—"
"I said get out.You have no right to be here, no right to tell me what to do with my life or theirs."
