I Taught My Son to Call His Father “Uncle Ethan” Chapter 03
Chapter 3 The Sentence He Wouldn’t Let Me Finish
My heart caught.
I looked up.
Ethan crouched beside me and placed the strawberry cake near my hand. His voice carried the old warmth he used to use when he wanted me to soften.
“Zoey, I know what you’re thinking. You think I’ve been too attentive to Serena and neglected you and our son. But I swear, I only feel sorry for her. She’s a single mother. I just don’t want her to suffer so much.”
He lifted my hand and placed it against his chest, solemn as if we were still the couple we used to be.
“Give me a little more time. I’ll deal with Serena and Teddy properly. I won’t let you or our boy feel wronged again.”
I stared at him.
For a second, I almost forgot when he had last looked at me like that.
Maybe at our wedding.
He had stood with me in a white chapel, fingers locked with mine, promising he would love me well for the rest of his life.
Maybe it was the day our son was born.
In the delivery room, he held that tiny baby with shaking hands, kissed my forehead, and said, “Zoey, I’ll never let you or our son suffer.”
I remembered all of it.
And for a long time, I could not speak.
At last, I decided to tell him the truth.
“Ethan, actually…”
“Oh, right.” He suddenly stood. “Where did you put that limited-run building set you bought for our son last time? The one in the study cabinet? Serena said Teddy likes building sets now. I’ll take it, over and let him play with it for a few days.”
‘He did not wait for my answer.
He went into the study, found the set, grabbed his car keys, and left in a rush.
The door shut hard behind him.
I sat there, staring at the empty doorway.
Only after a long silence did I finish the words he had cut off.
“Actually, our son and I already don’t want you.”
We had two days left before leaving.
