CHAPTER 6: Olivia Stops Protecting Him

For months, Olivia had protected Ethan from the full weight of what he had done.
She let his mother believe the marriage was only tired. She let the board believe Ethan's distractions were temporary. She let Vivian remain a rumor because she did not want her child born into headlines.
That restraint had cost her sleep, appetite, and pieces of herself she could not name.
Now she sat in the hospital bed while Dr. Harris adjusted the blanket around her shoulders, and something inside her finally stopped negotiating with pain.
"Ethan," she said.
He turned immediately.
The speed of it would have moved her once. Tonight, it only proved he knew how to listen when fear reached his throat.
"This does not disappear because you are angry at her now."
His face folded slightly, but he did not defend himself.
"I know."
"No," Olivia said. "You are beginning to know. That is not the same thing."
Dr. Harris looked down, giving them privacy without leaving her patient's side.
Ethan nodded once, as if the sentence had entered him like a verdict.
Outside the door, hospital security spoke in low voices. Inside the room, Olivia's silence became the only sound he could not buy his way out of.