After I Gave My Husband Away, He Begged Me to Stay Chapter 06
At noon the next day, Diane had everyone meet at a restaurant.
When I arrived, Robert and Diane were there, along with Ryan, Megan, and Noah.
Noah sat beside Ethan eating shrimp.
Ethan peeled one for him.
“Dad, this one’s hard to peel.”
The entire table went quiet for a second.
Megan quickly tapped the back of his hand.
“Don’t call him that.”
Noah pouted.
“Grandma said I’m supposed to call him Dad when the school asks.”
Diane smiled and put the peeled shrimp into his bowl.
“He’s little. He needs to practice.”
The moment she saw me, she waved.
“Claire, sit down.”
Noah’s kids‘ place setting was already in the chair to Ethan’s right, where I usually sat.
I pulled out the chair at the far end.
Ethan looked up at me.
“Where did you sleep last night?”
“A hotel.”
“Why didn’t you stay with Ryan?”
Ryan cut in. “Because she’s stubborn. I called her last night and she wouldn’t even answer.”
I hung my bag over the back of the chair.
“Why did you ask me here?”
Diane put down her chopsticks.
“The wedding.”
“You canceled everything too fast yesterday.”
“Robert and I talked all night. We think the reception still needs to happen.”
“Who outside the family needs to know the legal part is delayed?”
I looked at Megan.
She kept her head down as she wiped Noah’s mouth.
Diane continued,
“We tell everyone you and Ethan are already legally married.”
“Next year, once Megan and Ethan finalize the divorce, you two can make it official.”
“The date is set. The invitations went out. There’s no reason to waste all of that.”
Ryan joined in.
“Exactly. Once the wedding happens, you’re still part of the Cole family.”
“It’s paperwork, Claire. Stop making it into something bigger.”
I picked up the water pitcher and poured myself half a glass.
“Then what is Megan?”
Ryan frowned.
“You know this marriage isn’t real.”
“Is it fake in the eyes of the law?”
No one answered.
Robert cleared his throat.
“Claire, I know this puts you in a terrible position.”
“But sometimes people have to step up for each other.”
“Someday, if you and Ethan have a child and hit a wall like this, Megan would help you too.”
Megan looked up immediately.
“I would. I absolutely would.”
“Anything you needed.”
I looked at her.
“Get divorced.”
She went rigid.
Ethan’s face darkened first.
“You know we can’t do that right now.”
“Then there’s nothing to discuss.”
I pushed my glass away.
Diane slapped the table.
“Claire Bennett, enough. Stop being so unreasonable.”
“This is a child’s education we’re talking about.”
“You’re thirty–one, not eighteen. What difference does it make if the legal marriage happens a year
later?”
“Ethan owns a condo inside one of the best elementary attendance zones in the area. Letting that go unused would be ridiculous.”
“And Megan is your best friend. You two lived together all through college.”
“If you won’t help her when she’s desperate, then who will?”
Ryan put a piece of fish on my plate.
“Mom’s right.”
“Look at what the last two days have turned into. Ethan barely slept.”
I picked up the fish and put it back on Ryan’s plate.
“What time did you find out last night that they were submitting Noah’s residency documents
day?”
Ryan’s eyes shifted.
“What documents?”
“Don’t.”
I set my phone on the table.
On the screen was a screenshot of a group text.
The group was called [Noah Enrollment Plan]
Six members.
Ethan, Megan, Robert, Diane, Ryan, and Megan’s mother, Linda.
Everyone but me.