“You ended it before you walked out.”
“That’s your interpretation.”
“You want mine?”
“I want you to stop talking like a judge.”
Vivian folded her arms.
“I came back.”
Ethan looked at her.
“So?”
Her face registered genuine surprise.
“So?”
“Yes.”
“I came home.”
“You announced you were coming home.”
“There’s a difference.”
Vivian stared as though he had changed languages.
Then:
“I chose us.”
Ethan felt something in him go very quiet.
“No.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“You didn’t.”
“You have no idea what I did.”
“I know enough.”
“Ethan.”
“You didn’t choose us.”
“You got rejected.”
The color left her face.
For the first time since entering, Vivian looked truly afraid.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mason.”
Silence.
Her lips parted.
No sound.
Ethan continued:
“Tessa called me.”
Vivian’s hand dropped from her elbow.
“Mason’s wife.”
“I know who Tessa is.”
“Apparently.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Make this uglier.”
Ethan laughed.
“You keep saying that as if ugliness started when somebody described your choices.”
Vivian glanced toward the windows.
Then back.
“Tessa is vindictive.”
“She sent messages.”
Vivian froze.
“What messages?”
“The ones where you told Mason I’d wait.”
Her expression collapsed.
Ethan’s voice remained controlled.
“The ones where you called this ‘exploring’ because leaving for one married man made you look like the villain.”
Vivian sat.
Not gracefully.
She lowered herself onto the sofa as though her knees had stopped cooperating.
Ethan remained standing.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Vivian whispered:
“You read private messages.”
“They came through attorneys.”
“You had no right.”
“Tessa owns the device they were synced to.”
“I don’t care.”
“Neither did you when you requested my company valuation behind my back.”
Vivian looked up sharply.
Ethan nodded.
“I know about that too.”
She closed her eyes.
“Jesus.”
“And the money.”
Her eyes opened.
“What money?”
“Forty-two thousand.”
“That is mine too.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
“Then stop talking like I stole it.”
“What did you invest in?”
Vivian looked away.
Ethan waited.
“Mason’s hotel project.”
“How much total?”
She said nothing.
“How much?”
“Sixty-two.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Our joint funds?”
“Partly.”
“How much?”
“Ethan.”