Chapter 2

Dr. Thorne listened, her expression unreadable.

"Alright, Mr. Walker. Let's start with a full physical assessment of the leg. And we can discuss pain management options. As for the PTSD, proactive therapy, stress management techniques... we have options. But it requires commitment from you."

"I'm committed," Ethan said. He was more than committed; he was desperate.

He left Dr. Thorne' s office with a referral to a physical therapist in a nearby larger town and a prescription for a non-opiate pain reliever. He also had a list of mental health resources.

It was a start. A different start.

When Ethan returned to the house he still technically shared with Sarah, he found her in the living room, staring out at the grey Alaskan waters of the Kachemak Bay.

Her shoulders were slumped. The usual confident set of her jaw was absent.

She turned as he entered. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

"The papers were delivered," she said, her voice quiet. "A man came to the door. It was... humiliating."

Ethan said nothing. He started gathering some of his clothes from the closet in the hallway.

"Ethan, please," she said, following him. "Talk to me. What is this really about? Is it... is it because I' ve been so focused on the town council? Is it Liam?"

Liam. The name hung in the air.

Ethan paused, a duffel bag half-full in his hands. He remembered how Liam was supposed to arrive in a few months, a sob story about needing family, needing help. In his first life, Ethan hadn't known then that Liam and Sarah had been in contact for weeks prior, Sarah already laying the groundwork for his arrival, already swayed by his tales of woe and her father' s dying wish.

Captain Hayes, her father, a revered Coast Guard captain, had made Sarah promise on his deathbed to "make things right" for Liam, the half-brother he felt he' d neglected. A potent guilt trip Liam had expertly exploited.

"This isn't about one thing, Sarah," Ethan said, his voice carefully neutral. He couldn't tell her about the rebirth, about the future he' d already lived. She' d think he was insane. "We've grown apart. It happens."

"Grown apart?" She sounded incredulous. "We built this life together. This house. We have Ben."

Ben. His son. The thought of Ben was a sharp ache in his chest. In the first life, Liam had convinced Sarah to send Ben to that harsh boarding school, severing Ethan' s daily contact. That was a pain he was determined to avoid this time.

"The divorce doesn't have to affect Ben negatively," Ethan said. "We can co-parent. Be civil."

"Civil?" Sarah' s voice rose. "You' re tearing our family apart, and you talk about being civil?"

He saw the charismatic politician emerge, the one who could sway a crowd, her voice filled with passion and righteous indignation.

He simply zipped up his duffel bag. "I'm moving out today. I found a small cabin to rent down by the old cannery."

Sarah stared at him, her mouth slightly open. "You... you already found a place?"

The speed of his actions seemed to finally break through her disbelief. This wasn't a cry for attention. This was real.

"I told you," he said. "I've made my decision."

He walked towards the door.

"Ethan, wait!"

He didn't stop. He couldn't. If he stayed, if he listened to her pleas, he risked falling back into the old patterns, the old pain.

He stepped out into the crisp Alaskan air, the scent of salt and pine a welcome change from the suffocating atmosphere in the house.

He was loading his meager belongings into his old pickup truck when a sleek sedan pulled up.

Liam Hayes stepped out.

Ethan froze.

Liam wasn't due for months.

He looked different than Ethan remembered from the start of the first life. Younger, yes, but also... more polished. Less like a down-on-his-luck relative and more like someone who knew exactly what he was doing.

He was supposed to arrive feigning distress, escaping a "troubled past."

This Liam looked anything but distressed. He had an expensive haircut, wore a stylish jacket.

Sarah rushed out of the house. "Liam! You're early! I wasn't expecting you until next week at the earliest!"

Her voice was bright, a little too bright. Strained.

Liam' s smile was smooth, charming. "Sarah! I couldn't wait to see my big sister. And Port Grace. Dad always talked about it."

He enveloped Sarah in a hug, his eyes flicking over her shoulder to meet Ethan' s. There was a glint of something in their depths – triumph? Calculation?

Ethan felt a cold dread. Liam arriving now, with Ethan already moving out, changed the game.

"Ethan," Sarah said, pulling away from Liam, her composure somewhat regained. "This is my brother, Liam Hayes. Liam, this is... Ethan."

The hesitation before his name was telling.

"Heard a lot about you," Liam said, extending a hand. His grip was firm, confident. Too confident.

Ethan just nodded, not taking the offered hand. He threw his last bag into the truck bed.

An awkward silence fell.

Sarah wrung her hands. "Well, this is... unexpected. Ethan was just... stepping out."

"Stepping out?" Liam raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the loaded truck. "Looks more like moving out."

His tone was light, almost playful, but the undercurrent was sharp.

"It's complicated, Liam," Sarah said quickly. "We can talk inside."

She tried to steer Liam towards the house.

Liam resisted, his attention still on Ethan. "So, what' s the story, Ethan? Trouble in paradise?"

Ethan met his gaze. He saw the same manipulative intelligence he' d come to recognize too late in his first life.

"Something like that," Ethan said, his voice tight. He slammed the tailgate shut.

He got into the driver's seat.

Sarah looked torn, her gaze darting between Ethan and Liam. The politician in her wanted to smooth things over, control the narrative. The woman in her looked genuinely distressed.

"Ethan, can't we just talk about this later?" she pleaded, her hand on his truck door. "When things are... calmer?"

"There's nothing more to talk about, Sarah," Ethan said, starting the engine. "My lawyer will be in touch with yours."

He didn't look at Liam as he pulled away from the curb.

But he could feel Liam' s eyes on him, a cold, assessing stare.

The game had just become a lot more dangerous. Liam was here, earlier than anticipated, and Ethan was already on the defensive, his plans for a quiet, controlled separation upended.

Sarah, caught between her loyalty to her father's dying wish and the sudden implosion of her marriage, would be more vulnerable to Liam' s manipulations than ever.

Ethan gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white.

He had to protect Ben. That was the priority.

And he had to protect himself from being dragged back into the abyss.