My Husband Betrayed The War Zone Surgeon Who Saved Him Chapter 05
Sign the Papers
I return from my final deployment interview just after noon.
Lily is waiting outside the house.
For a moment, I don’t recognize her.
The girl my mother once helped wore secondhand sweaters and thanked people for schoolbooks.
This Lily wears a cream coat that costs more than some families earn in months.
Her hair falls in perfect waves.
A designer bag hangs from her wrist.
Money has been kind to her.
“Evelyn.”
I keep walking.
She steps in front of me.
“I came to apologize.”
“You don’t need to.”
Her smile flickers.
“I think we should talk.”
“I don’t.”
I move around her.
Her voice sharpens behind me.
“Do you really think acting like you don’t care makes you better than me?”
I stop.
Turn.
Lily folds her arms.
“You’ve known for weeks.”
“You’ve seen the house.”
“You know he pays for everything.”
“And you’re still here.”
Her mouth curves.
“So don’t pretend you’re above this.”
I study her.
“What exactly do you want?”
“To stop waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to leave.”
There it is.
She steps closer.
“Ethan loves me.”
“He’s loved me for years.”
“He put me in that house in the second year of your marriage.”
“You know why he chose me?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Because I understand him.”
Her eyes brighten.
“We’ve both seen what war does to people.”
“We both know what it’s like to help someone who has nothing.”
“You grew up with everything handed to you.”
“You could never understand him the way I do.”
Of all the lies Ethan believes about me, that one might be the cruelest.
Lily mistakes my silence for defeat.
Then she says,
“Your mother couldn’t keep your father either.”
I go still.
Her expression sharpens with satisfaction.
“Maybe it runs in the family.”
The slap echoes across the driveway.
Lily’s head snaps sideways.
She stares at me.
One hand rises slowly to her cheek.
I don’t regret it.
“My mother paid for your education.”
My voice is calm.
“She helped your family when no one else did.”
“You can sleep with my husband if that’s the life you want.”
“But you will not use her name to make yourself feel bigger.”
Lily’s eyes fill with hatred.
“You think you’re so much better than me.”
“No.”
I look at her.
“I just remember who you used to be.”
That lands harder than the slap.
Her face twists.
I turn toward the house.
Then stop.
“One more thing.”
She glares at me.
“The utility notice from Ethan’s other house.”
Her expression changes.
“You sent it to me.”
Silence.
I already have my answer.
“You wanted me to find you.”
Lily lifts her chin.
“So what if I did?”
“Three years is long enough.”
“You should’ve understood and left on your own.”
She steps closer again.
“My background may not impress the Sinclairs.”
“But Ethan doesn’t care.”
“He wants me.”
A car engine sounds behind us.
Lily’s eyes flick past my shoulder.
Then she grabs my wrist.
“What are you doing?”
I pull back.
I barely use any force.
Lily falls.
Hard.
A sharp cry tears from her throat.
Then I see the blood.
For one second, everything in me switches off except training.
I drop beside her.
“Don’t move.”
Her breathing turns ragged.
“Ethan…”
The car door slams.
Footsteps pound toward us.
Ethan appears.
Lily looks at him.
Her face crumples instantly.
“Don’t blame Evelyn.”
I freeze.
“She was just angry.”
“Lily, stop talking.”
I reach for her pulse.
“She didn’t want me to keep your baby.”
Ethan shoves me away.
I hit the pavement with one hand.
“What are you doing?”
His face is white.
His eyes are fixed on the blood.
“Don’t touch her.”
“I’m a surgeon.”
“I said don’t touch her!”
He lifts Lily into his arms.
She buries her face against his chest.
I watch them leave.
Three days later, Ethan comes home.
I’m packing.
He doesn’t knock.
“The baby is gone.”
I fold another shirt.
“I heard.”
He stares at me.
“That’s all you have to say?”
I look up.
“Lily fell on purpose.”
“You expect me to believe she deliberately lost her own child?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To make you hate me enough to divorce me.”
His face changes.
Then hardens.
“She never asked me to leave you.”
“She never asked for your money.”
“She never demanded anything.”
His voice breaks.
“She felt guilty for loving me.”
I say nothing.
Ethan steps closer.
“Do you know what makes this worse?”
I already know.
“You’re a doctor.”
There it is.
“You took an oath to save people.”
His eyes are red.
“And you did this to a pregnant woman because you were jealous?”
The words cut deeper than anything else he has said.
Not because I believe him.
Because he does.
I walk to the dresser.
Open the top drawer.
Take out the signed papers.
And hold them toward him.
“Then divorce me.”
He looks down.
His face goes still.
“If Lily is innocent and I’m everything you think I am…”
I push the papers into his hand.
“Sign.”
He stares at the title.
DIVORCE AGREEMENT.
Then at my signature.
“You already signed this?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Lily lost the baby.”
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I almost laugh.
“You really have to ask?”
His grip tightens around the papers.
I meet his eyes.
“If you love her that much…”
My voice doesn’t shake.
“Then marry her.”