I Taught My Son to Call His Father “Uncle Ethan” Chapter 10
Chapter 10 The Door He Couldn’t Open
“What are you doing here?”
His eyes reddened the moment he saw me.
“Zoey, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I didn’t know Serena had been lying. I didn’t know you and Leo had suffered like this.”
His voice shook badly.
“Don’t divorce me, okay? I’ll never see her again. I’ll make it up to you and Leo. I swear.”
I looked at him calmly.
There was a time when I had waited for those exact words until I almost went insane.
Now they had finally arrived.
And I felt nothing.
“Ethan Cross, the divorce agreement is signed. The cooling-off period ends tomorrow. I’ll finalize it.”
His face turned white.
Then he dropped to his knees outside my door.
“Zoey, please. Give me one more chance. For Leo.”
At my son’s name, the last softness in my eyes disappeared.
“Now you remember him?”
Ethan opened his mouth but had no answer.
Behind me, small footsteps approached.
Leo stood there holding his little dinosaur toy.
He looked at Ethan kneeling in the hallway with a calm that did not belong on a child.
Ethan reached toward him like a man reaching for air.
“Leo. Dad’s here. Help Dad talk to Mom, okay? Dad doesn’t want to divorce her.”
He must have thought Leo would still choose him.
After all, Leo used to adore him.
Whenever Ethan came home, Leo would run to him, wrap his arms around his leg, and call him Dad again and again.
But this time. Leo stepped behind me.
Only half a step.
Enough to make his choice clear.
“Uncle Ethan, go be with your other child. Don’t bother Mom and me anymore
Ethan froze.
His hand remained lifted between them.
“Leo, I’m your dad. How can you call me Uncle?”
Leo looked at him with red eyes and no tears.
“Didn’t you stop being my dad first?”
Ethan’s lips trembled.
“I never stopped wanting you.”
“You did.”
Leo’s voice was quiet.
“On my birthday, I wanted to go to Dreamland Studios. You said it was childish. But you took Teddy. When I had a 103.3-degree fever, Mom carried me to the hospital alone. You got one phone call and left to stay with Teddy. My fever was so bad I could barely hear that day, but I kept asking Mom when Dad was coming back.”
Ethan’s face went even paler.
Leo continued.
“You said you would come to my parent-teacher meeting. I practiced my essay three times. The title was ‘My Dad. But you didn’t come. When the teacher asked where my parent was, I used Mom’s phone to ask for leave for you in the group chat.”
Tears slipped down Ethan’s face.
“Leo…”
“And the family portrait.”
Leo’s voice shook.
“I waited half a month. I picked my clothes. Then Teddy called, and you left again. After that, you said you would make it up to me with Dreamland Studios. I believed you again. But you still didn’t come.”
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Uncle Ethan, Mom and I have waited enough. We don’t need you in our lives anymore.”
Ethan looked as if the words had struck him across the face.
He knelt there, swaying.
“Leo, Dad was wrong. I’ll stay with you every day from now on. Okay?”
Leo shook his head.
“No. Stay with Teddy. You like him more.”
Ethan shut his eyes.
“No. That’s not true.”
Leo did not answer.
He simply reached out and pushed the door closed.
“Good night, Uncle Ethan.”
As the door shut, Ethan was still kneeling in the hallway, tears falling onto the carpet.
Leo turned and threw himself into my arms.
His little body shook violently.
“Mom, hold me.”
I picked him up.
He buried his face in my neck.
“Mom, was I bad? Will he be really sad because of what I said?”
My eyes burned.
“No, Leo. You weren’t bad. His sadness is not your fault. It’s what he earned.”
Ethan knelt outside the door all night.
I never opened it.
Leo never asked again.
