Chapter 3

The kiss was soft and familiar, a safe harbor in a storm I thought I had left behind. When I pulled away, I saw Stella' s face. It was a mask of pure shock.

Her eyes darted from Maria to me and back again, her mind struggling to process the scene.

"Who... who is this?" Stella stammered.

Maria, sensing the tension, linked her arm through mine. "I' m Maria Hughes," she said, her voice calm and steady. "Ethan' s wife."

Stella let out a sharp, ugly laugh. "Wife? Don' t make me laugh. You' re a downgrade, a temporary rebound. He came back to Austin for me. We have eighteen years of history. What do you have?"

"I have his heart," Maria replied simply, her composure unshaken. "And his name. You' re the past, a closed chapter. I' d appreciate it if you left my husband alone."

The quiet dignity in Maria' s voice seemed to enrage Stella more than any insult could have. Her face twisted with jealousy.

"You bitch," she snarled, and her hand flew up, aiming to slap Maria across the face.

I moved without thinking. I shoved Stella, hard. She stumbled backward, crashing into the hallway wall.

I immediately turned to Maria, my hands cupping her face. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

"I' m fine, Ethan," Maria whispered, her hand covering mine.

Stella, crumpled against the wall, started to sob. It was a performance, designed for maximum effect.

"You pushed me," she wailed, tears streaming down her face. "After everything I did for you, you pushed me for her. You betrayed our love, Ethan. You broke your promise."

I felt a surge of disgust. Her promises. Her love. It was all a lie.

"You still want to get married?" she cried, misinterpreting my silence as weakness. "We can still do it! We can have a family, just like you always wanted. You always wanted kids, remember?"

The words hit me like a physical blow. Kids.

Another memory, one I had buried deep, clawed its way to the surface. Years ago, Stella had gotten pregnant. I was over the moon, already picturing our life together, a family.

Then, one day, she told me she' d had an abortion. She hadn' t even discussed it with me. Her reason? A baby would "tie her down." And worse, she said it would make Caleb, who was struggling with his own family issues, feel bad. She chose to protect Caleb' s fragile feelings over our unborn child.

"We can just make another one," she was saying now, her voice filled with a desperate, delusional hope.

Just then, the suite door opened wider. A small figure with pigtails and bright, curious eyes ran out and wrapped her arms around my leg.

"Daddy!" Lily chirped, looking up at me. "Mommy said we could get ice cream."