I frowned. “Not anymore.”
Evan froze. Tears welled up, but he angrily
wiped them away. “You have to come home!
Dad’s gonna bring another woman home!”
く
I knew. My phone had been flooded with
taunting messages and pictures of Ethan with
various women. I’d finally just changed my
number. Ethan hadn’t grown up at all. He
thought these tactics still worked.
But I didn’t care about him anymore. I calmly
patted Alex’s back, murmuring soothing words.
To Evan, I said, “Good. Then you can have a
new mommy.”
Disbelief flooded Evan’s face. He realized that
something had shifted. That I was serious. That
I didn’t want him. He started to cry, loud,
gasping sobs. He clung to my leg, refusing to
let go. “You… you have to… come home! You
can’t… be someone else’s… mommy!”
Alex, no longer crying, peered down at him with
wide, curious eyes. He wrinkled his nose.
“Mommy, I don’t want this brother. He’s ugly
when he cries.”
Evan’s sobs hitched. I pulled my leg free and
glanced at Ethan’s driver, who was hovering
nearby. “He’s not your brother. You don’t have
to worry about him.”
<
The driver hesitantly moved to pick up his
young charge. Evan stared up at me,
devastated. But I just turned and walked away with Ashley and Alex, not looking back.
Getting Ethan to sign the divorce papers wasn’t
easy. Especially after he finally learned about
Mom’s death. The parade of women vanished. The harassing messages stopped. He showed
up at my door again, no suit, no styled hair,
looking pale and disheveled. He finally
understood that I was serious.
