Chapter 8
Chapter 8
By the time he finished talking, I was already sobbing uncontrollably.
I felt so pathetic, so stupid, so helpless.
All this time, Adrian had been fighting for justice for my parents while I was playing house with their killer.
He pulled me into his arms, his voice still gentle:
“You should be happy. We both should be. You’re finally getting justice, and I get to destroy the person who looked down on me the
most.”
That night, Ethan showed up at my door again.
When he saw Adrian standing beside me, he stayed calm.
“Okay, Mia, I’ll admit it. I’m jealous.”
“And also what happened before… I thought you’d understand the position I was in. Maybe I underestimated how much you love me. But that’s on me. Now I see where I went wrong, and I swear I’ll change.”
“Just come back to me, Mia. Only I can protect you and our twins.”
He stared Adrian down like he’d already won.
Adrian couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head.
I looked at Ethan with disgust:
“Did you not see the gift I left you?”
Ethan waved his hand dismissively:
“We can exchange gifts later. Right now I need you to come home with me.”
“Mia, you can only heal when you’re with me. I’m your guardian angel – you said so yourself. Don’t tell me you forgot.”
He looked so pathetically convinced of his own bullshit. Like he was some tragic romantic hero.
I wanted to puke.
“Yeah, after lying to me for years. I had no idea the man I trusted was the monster who destroyed my family.”
I stared at Ethan. He avoided my eyes guiltily, then turned to Adrian with rage:
“Has he been filling your head with lies? You’re gonna trust some bastard’s word?”
He looked at Adrian, then said with a cold smirk:
“I forgot – just like his slut mother. Guess being a homewrecker runs in the family.”
A loud crack echoed through the air. Ethan hit the ground hard.
The punch was so fast I barely saw Adrian move.
Ethan lay there bleeding from his nose, groaning in pain.
Chapter 8
I grabbed Adrian’s hand and we walked away, heading straight to the police station.
I couldn’t wait to watch this bullshit get what he deserved.
After we submitted all the evidence, my phone buzzed with another text from Ethan.
[Mia, what did he tell you? Why do you believe him over me?]
[Have you forgotten everything we had? Our four years together? I pulled you out of the darkness. You swore you’d only ever love me. Did you forget all of that?]
[I know you’re probably just hormonal right now. I should’ve been more supportive during your pregnancy. That’s my fault. I
should’ve explained everything sooner
soon. We needed the exposure.]
Emma and I were just putting on a show for publicity. You know the company’s going public
[Mia, I’m doing this for our kids. So they can have the best life possible. You understand that, don’t you?]
I stared at his messages for a long time, then finally typed back with shaking fingers:
[The day you ditched my appointment, I heard everything you said in that private room.]
[The babies are gone, Ethan. You didn’t deserve them.]
The typing dots stayed on forever. Ethan was losing his shit:
[Seriously? You’re gonna believe drunk guy talk? Mia, use your brain. After everything we’ve been through, you think I’d just toss you aside? I was wasted and talking out my ass. You can’t throw away years over some stupid bullshit I said.]
I was so done with his games:
[Save it for the cops.]
Then I blocked his ass on everything.
At that moment, Adrian walked out of the station looking like he’d been hit by a truck. He managed a weak smile.
We left together.
He drove me home, and his voice rough:
“This is just round one, Mia. We’re in for a hell of a fight.”
I nodded and squeezed his hand.
3
Yeah. Taking this bastard down was gonna be brutal.
A
++
2
W
+
Over the next few weeks, my phone blew up with anonymous texts. Threats, bribes, pathetic begging – the whole nine yards.
After they officially pressed charges, they brought Ethan in for questioning. I saw him once- crying like a baby, begging me to believe him. I just stared at him coldly. He looked pathetic and disgusting.
Adrian spent months digging up more evidence.
When we finally got to trial, Ethan’s dad had hired this army of hotshot lawyers. But Adrian didn’t back down.
He looked me in the eye:
“Your parents saved my life. I won’t let them down.”
And I squeezed his hand tight:
“You saved mine too. I won’t let you down either.”
The trial dragged on forever. Three separate hearings before we finally nailed Ethan and his parents for everything they’d done.
When it was all over, Adrian and I both collapsed with relief.
We lay together on the grass, and I asked him what about the plan next.
He looked up at the sky, then at me.
“I want to start over. Fresh.”
I turned to meet his eyes.
“I’m with you. Let’s take back everything we lost.”
We kissed on that patch of grass under the open sky.
Everything started over right there.
Chapter 8
1
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