My Pilot Husband Chose Her Mother So I Ruined Him Chapter 07
The Sinking Ship
Three days later, I move back in with my parents.
Ethan doesn’t try to stop me.
Not because he’s finally accepted the divorce.
He’s too busy trying to save himself.
The airline has suspended all of his flight duties while the investigation continues.
Crew members are being interviewed.
Records from the flight are under review.
So are the decisions Ethan made after Mom’s condition became a clear medical emergency.
For the first time in years, Captain Ethan Carter has nowhere to fly.
I spend my days helping Mom recover and my nights sorting documents with Rachel.
Bank statements, transfer records, medical reports, screenshots of Sophie’s post and messages from Ethan.
A detailed timeline of everything that happened on the flight.
The more we collect, the worse it looks.
Then Rachel calls.
“I found something.”
I step out of Mom’s room.
“What?”
“Sophie’s project.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“What about it?”
“It’s in much worse shape than we thought.”
Rachel sends me several files.
I open them one by one.
The polished business Sophie showed online is nowhere to be found.
Her social media makes it look successful, beautiful promotional photos, expensive events, glowing posts about expansion.
The records tell a different story.
“How long has this been happening?” I ask.
“Long enough that Ethan should’ve asked questions before putting money into it.”
There are transfers I don’t recognize.
Not from my accounts.
From Ethan’s.
A lot of them.
“Rachel.”
“I saw them.”
“He put his own money in too?”
“Most of what we can trace, yes.”
I sit down slowly.
Suddenly, pieces begin falling into place.
The constant messages.
The way Ethan always dropped everything when Sophie called.
The money disappearing.
His panic when I threatened to involve the police.
His desperation to stop Rachel from digging.
It wasn’t just affection.
Ethan had tied himself financially to Sophie.
He wasn’t standing beside a sinking ship.
He was already on it.
“Does this change anything for me?”
“It explains some things,” Rachel says. “It doesn’t excuse any of them.”
“I know.”
“And I want to be careful here. There are serious irregularities, but we don’t have enough to label the entire business fraudulent. Not yet.”
“What happens if it collapses?”
“A lot of people could lose money.”
“Including Ethan.”
“Especially Ethan.”
I stare at the transfers.
For seven years, Ethan treated me like the irrational one.
“Keep tracing my money,” I say.
“I will.”
That evening, I get a message from Ethan.
We need to talk.
I don’t answer.
Twenty minutes later, Dad looks out the window.
“He’s downstairs.”
I almost tell him to send Ethan away.
There won’t be many conversations left between us.
I go down.
Ethan is standing beside his car.
He looks at me.
“Sophie’s project has some temporary cash-flow problems.”
I fold my arms.
“Temporary?”
“You’ve been talking to your lawyer.”
“Of course I have.”
“Tell her to stop digging.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
He drags a hand over his face.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“I understand you took my money and put it into a business that was already struggling.”
“I was trying to protect an investment.”
“With a forged signature?”
“I told you I’ll pay you back.”
“With what?”
That lands.
He looks away.
I continue.
“Your own money is trapped in it too, isn’t it?”
His head snaps back toward me.
For a second, his expression gives him away.
Then anger takes over.
“Rachel had no right—”
“So it’s true.”
He goes silent.
I shake my head.
“How much did you give her?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You made it my business when you started using my money.”
“The project can recover.”
“Then why are you here?”
His mouth tightens.
I wait.
Finally, he says, “If people start asking questions, investors will panic. If investors panic, the whole thing could collapse.”
“So?”
“So stop.”
His voice rises.
“Stop the lawyer. Don’t go to the police about the transfers. Don’t push the airline investigation any further.”
“You still think I’m responsible for everything falling apart.”
“You are making it worse.”
“No, Ethan. I’m just refusing to hide it.”
He steps toward me.
“If this blows up, I lose money too.”
“I know.”
“Everything I’ve saved.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you acting like that doesn’t matter?”
I stare at him.
“My mother almost died.”
“You looked at me and told me you’d make the same choice again.”
His expression shifts.
“Claire—”
“You took money we’d set aside for her recovery and put it into Sophie’s business.”
“I didn’t know she’d need—”
“Stop.”
My voice isn’t loud.
He stops anyway.
“Every time you talk, you make it worse.”
For several seconds, neither of us speaks.
“Seven years, Claire,” Ethan says.
I look at him.
“We were married for seven years.”
“And?”
“You really feel nothing?”
There was a time that question would’ve destroyed me.
Now I only think of Mom unconscious on the plane.
The captain says to wait.
“I remember all seven years.”
“Then don’t throw them away.”
“I didn’t.”
I shake my head.
“You did.”
“Fine.”
The softness disappears as quickly as it came.
“If you’re determined to do this, don’t come to me when things get difficult.”
I nod.
“I won’t.”
“You think you can handle everything yourself?”
“I don’t have to.”
I glance toward the apartment upstairs.
“My family is right there.”
He follows my eyes.
Something bitter crosses his face.
Then he opens his car door.
“You’re going to regret this.”
It’s the same thing he’s told me since I asked for the divorce.
This time, I smile.
“No, Ethan.”
I step back.
“You are.”