My Pilot Husband Chose Her Mother So I Ruined Him Chapter 06
Every Time, You Choose Her
By noon, Rachel sends me the first set of financial records.
I open them in the hospital cafeteria.
At first, all I see are numbers.
But as I trace the transfers one by one, they all lead to the same place.
Sophie’s project.
There are more transfers than I expected.
Not just the money from the safe.
Not just the account Ethan drained after our fight.
Smaller amounts have been disappearing for months.
One of the accounts was supposed to help cover Mom’s long-term medical and recovery expenses.
He touched that too.
I call Rachel immediately.
“How much?”
“We’re still tracing it.”
“Why would he need this much?”
“That’s what concerns me.”
I hear papers moving on her end.
“On the surface, Sophie’s business looks legitimate. But some of the underlying records don’t make sense. I don’t want to overstate anything until we have evidence.”
“What kind of records?”
“Funding. Ownership. Where some of the money is actually going.”
I stare at the spreadsheet.
“So this may not just be Ethan secretly investing my money.”
“It may not.”
I close my eyes.
“Keep looking.”
“I will.”
Mom is moved out of intensive care three days after surgery.
When I walk into her room that morning, she’s awake.
“Mom.”
“Claire.”
I sit beside her and take her hand.
Dad stands at the window pretending not to cry.
Emma isn’t pretending at all.
She leans over the bed and hugs Mom carefully.
For a while, we talk about nothing important.
Water.
Pain medication.
Whether the room is too cold.
Then Mom looks around.
“Where’s Ethan?”
My hand stills.
Emma looks down.
Dad’s jaw tightens.
Mom notices immediately.
“What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about right now.”
“Claire.”
She knows me too well.
I don’t want to tell her.
But I also don’t want Ethan’s version of the truth reaching her first.
So I tell her slowly.
I tell her about the flight.
About the crew saying the emergency equipment had been moved.
Then I show her Sophie’s post.
The smiling photograph.
The equipment beside Diane’s seat.
The caption saying they never needed it.
Mom stares at the screen for a long time.
“So…”
Her voice trembles.
“It wasn’t that they couldn’t get it to me?”
“Mom—”
“He chose not to.”
I squeeze her hand.
“Don’t think about it right now.”
But she’s already crying.
“I kept telling you he was a good man.”
“Mom.”
“Every time you two fought, I told you marriage takes patience. I told you his job was stressful. I told you to understand him.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“If we hadn’t taken this trip—”
“No.”
I lean over and hug her carefully.
“Don’t do that.”
She shakes against me.
“I should’ve protected you.”
“You did.”
I pull back enough to look at her.
“You gave me a reason to finally see him clearly.”
She cries harder.
I hold her until she calms down.
That afternoon, Ethan appears at the hospital carrying flowers and a gift basket.
The second I see him, my stomach turns.
“Leave.”
He ignores me.
He walks toward Mom’s bed.
“Linda, I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
Mom turns her face away.
“I don’t want anything from you.”
Ethan stops.
“I know you’re upset. What happened on the flight—”
“Don’t.”
Mom’s voice is weak, but clear.
“I don’t want to hear why you thought someone else deserved help before I did.”
“I made the wrong call. I admit that.”
It’s the closest thing to an apology I’ve heard from him.
Then he looks at me.
“But this has gone far enough. We need to stop tearing the family apart.”
I almost laugh.
“You think I’m doing that?”
“I’m trying to fix this.”
“By asking me to withdraw the complaint?”
“By getting everyone to calm down.”
Dad steps forward.
“Leave.”
“Robert—”
“Don’t call me that like we’re family.”
Before Ethan can answer, there’s a knock at the door.
I turn.
Sophie is standing there.
“Linda, I came to apologize.”
Sophie takes one step inside.
“I never wanted any of this to happen. My mom wasn’t feeling well on the flight, and I panicked. I didn’t know how serious your condition was.”
Dad points toward the door.
“Get out.”
Sophie flinches.
“I’m sorry.”
“I said get out.”
She looks at Ethan.
“Ethan, I told you I shouldn’t come.”
And just like that, he moves.
He steps between Sophie and my father.
“That’s enough.”
Dad stares at him.
Ethan’s voice hardens.
“You’re angry with me. Fine. Take it out on me. Don’t treat Sophie like this.”
Dad’s face turns red.
“She walks into my wife’s hospital room after what happened on that plane, and you’re worried we’re hurting her?”
“She came here to apologize.”
“Nobody asked her to.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to bully her.”
The room goes silent.
I look at Ethan.
Really look at him.
Grounded.
Facing an investigation.
His marriage ending.
My mother’s life nearly lost.
My money missing.
And still, the second Sophie cries, he stands in front of her.
Ethan turns toward me.
“What?”
“You keep asking me to believe this is all a misunderstanding.”
“Claire—”
“But you don’t need to explain anything anymore.”
I stand.
“Every time you have to choose, you choose her.”
“You did it on the plane.”
I take another step toward him.
“You did it while my mother was waiting for surgery.”
Another.
“You did it with my money.”
Sophie opens her mouth.
I don’t look at her.
“And you’re doing it again right now.”
Ethan says nothing.
Because there is nothing left to say.
I press the nurse call button.
When the nurse arrives, I point toward the door.
“These two aren’t welcome in my mother’s room.”