Chapter 10
Ethan surprised me six months later.
He requested a meeting.
Not to return.
To admit something.
“I was angry at Avice.”
I became still.
“Why?”
He looked ashamed.
“Because Vanessa loved her.”
Interesting.
Before the pregnancy, Vanessa and Avice had become close.
Storybooks.
Hair ribbons.
Aquarium visits.
Ethan watched his sister begin building a family inside Lombardi.
He feared that if the relationship ended, Vanessa would lose not only Julian—
but Avice too.
Then pregnancy appeared.
Ethan saw permanence.
His sister would finally have a biological connection nobody could take away.
That mattered to him.
Why?
Their own father had remarried twice.
Stepchildren came and went.
Ethan learned early that affection without blood could disappear overnight.
So when Vanessa discovered there was no baby, he did not see a lie.
He saw the loss of her anchor.
He helped maintain it.
“You thought Avice wasn’t enough.”
His face tightened.
“I thought Avice wasn’t hers.”
There.
Different.
Ugly.
Honest.
He had unconsciously ranked relationships by possession.
A child you love versus a child biologically tied to you.
Vanessa’s fake pregnancy promised permanence.
That was why Diane’s language about family found him easily.
Blood.
Seat.
Belonging.
He accepted it.
Then tonight, Diane yanked Avice’s chair and Ethan did nothing.
Worse.
When truth emerged, he attacked me.
Protecting the lie.
He said:
“I don’t want back in.”
“Good.”
He almost smiled.
“I want you to know why.”
I nodded.
That mattered.
Then he left.
No new job under me.
No redemption arc inside Lombardi.
Sometimes accountability means building a life somewhere else.
I heard later he entered a marine equipment company.
May you like
Appropriate after crashing into half our dive gear.
I enjoyed that detail more than I should.
