Ethan's Point of View
She has my son.
The phrases echo in my mind like cathedral bells. Noisy. Repeatedly. She possesses my son. My child. A young man I have not encountered. A three-year-old boy.
I gaze at Isabella. Her brown eyes look terrified like a deer trapped in headlights. She parts her lips, yet no sounds come out
Her hands tremble.
"Answer me." My voice sounds rough like sandpaper. "Do you have my son?"
People around us stop talking. They lean in to hear better. A person captures a photo using their mobile device. The flash startles Isabella.
"Ethan, I ask you." Her voice is so gentle I can hardly hear it
"Not present." "Not in this way."
"Then to where?" I move nearer to her. She has the scent of blossoms. The identical fragrance she wore during our marriage. "When will it be, Isabella?" "When were you planning to inform me that I have a child?"
Her eyes brim with tears, yet she remains without crying. She raises her chin high. Powerful. Courageous. Exactly as she was when I first encountered her in that quaint bookstore.
"I didn't plan on informing you."
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut
Not ever. She was never going to reveal anything about my son.
"How could you?" My hands shake with anger. "How could you keep my child from me?"
"The same way you kept your heart from me."
Her words are quiet but they cut deep. I remember. The long days at work. The nights I came home late. The times she tried to talk and I was too busy. So concentrated on earning money that I failed to notice I was losing everything important.
"That was unique."
"Indeed, it was not." Isabella brushes a tear away from her face. "You prioritized your job over our relationship." Above us. "Therefore, I decided to shield my son from you."
My child. She continually tells my son. I have a son, yet I'm unaware of his name.
Veronica still stands beside me. She watches us fight like it is a movie. She smiles like she is happy about the pain she just caused.
"This is so touching," Veronica says. Her voice sounds sweet but her eyes are mean. "A family reunion. How nice."
"Get out of here, Veronica." I do not look at her. I keep staring at Isabella.
"But Ethan, darling, I thought you would want to thank me. I just gave you the most wonderful news. You are a daddy."
Isabella looks at Veronica with hate in her eyes. "You planned this. You knew I would be here tonight."
Veronica laughs. "Oh, sweetheart. I know everything. I know where you live. I know where your little boy goes to school. I know you need this job tonight because you are broke."
"Stop." I grab Veronica's arm. Hard. "Leave. Now."
Veronica looks surprised. She thought I would be on her side. She thought wrong.
"Ethan, what are you doing? She left you. She took your child and disappeared. I am the one who stayed. I am the one who helped you."
"You helped yourself." I let go of her arm. "Get out of my sight."
Veronica looks angry now. Her pretty face turns ugly. "You will regret this, Ethan. Both of you will regret this."
She walks away. Her high heels click on the floor like an angry bird. People move out of her way. They whisper and point.
Now it is just me and Isabella. And three years of hurt between us.
"What is his name?" I ask.
Isabella looks surprised by the question. "What?"
"My son. What is his name?"
She is quiet for a long time. Then she whispers, "Oliver."
Oliver. My child's name is Oliver. I think it in my mind
Oliver Blackwell. Or maybe Oliver Morgan. Does he have my name or hers?
"Is he aware of my existence?"
Isabella nods her head
"He thinks his daddy went far away."
Went far away. Not dead. Not missing. Just far away. Like I chose to leave him.
"I want to see him."
"No."
"He is my son, Isabella."
"He is MY son. I carried him. I gave birth to him alone. I cared for him when he was unwell. I held two jobs to purchase food and clothing for him. "Just because you contributed to his creation, that doesn't mean you can be his father."
Her words sting, but they are factual. I wasn't present. I was completely unaware of his existence.
"That is not my responsibility."
You left without telling me you were pregnant."
"I left because I found you with her." Isabella looks toward where Veronica disappeared. "I left because you chose your work and your secretary over your wife."
"I never touched Veronica. Not once."
Isabella laughs but it sounds sad. "I saw you, Ethan. That night in your office. She was in your arms."
I remember that night. Veronica was crying about her mother being sick. She hugged me. Just a hug. However, Isabella entered at an inopportune moment. She witnessed the embrace and interpreted it differently
"It was not what you think."
"It does not matter anymore." Isabella looks tired. "That was three years ago. We are different people now."
"Are we? "When I look at you, I see the same woman I fell in love with."
Isabella's face relaxes briefly
Then she complicates things once more.
That woman has left. "She passed away the evening she discovered her spouse with another female."
"I was never with Veronica. Not then. Not ever."
"Stop lying."
"I am telling the truth." I extend my hand to hers, yet she withdraws it. "Isabella, I ask you." "Allow me to clarify."
"There is nothing that needs explaining." She scans the space.
People are still watching us. Still whispering. "I need to go."
"You cannot leave. Not again."
"Watch me."
She starts to walk away. I follow her. My feet move fast across the floor. She walks faster. Her red dress flows behind her like fire.
"Isabella, wait."
She does not stop. She strolls amidst the throng of individuals. They step aside for her. She is nearly at the entrance.
I reached her in the lobby. I softly take her arm.
"Please. Do not run away again."
She turns to look at me. Tears run down her face now. "Let me go, Ethan."
"I cannot. I recently learned that I have a son
"You have nothing. He is my child. My responsibility. My joy. You gave up any right to him when you chose work over family."
"I was young. I was stupid. I made mistakes."
"Your mistakes cost me everything. They cost Oliver a father for three years."
"Then let me fix it. Let me be his father now."
Isabella shakes her head. "It is too late."
"It is never too late."
"Yes, it is." She pulls her arm away from me. "Stay away from us, Ethan. Oliver is happy. He does not need you to ruin his life too."
She begins to walk back to the door.
"If you step through that door, I will track you down," I shouted after her. "I will locate both of you."
She halts. She still has her back to me.
"Is that a warning?"
"It is a promise. He is my son too. I have rights."
She turns around slowly. Her eyes are full of fire now. Not tears. Anger.
"Rights? You want to talk about rights?" Her voice gets louder. "Where were your rights when I was throwing up every morning for three months? Where were your rights when I went to doctor visits alone? Where were your rights when I held Oliver all night because he had a fever and I was scared he might die?"
Others in the lobby pause to observe us. Hotel staff feign busyness, yet they are also listening.
"Isabella, I implore you."
Lower your voice."
"No." She steps closer to me. "You want to claim him now? After three years? You want to walk into his life and be his daddy?"
"Yes."
"At that point, you will need to engage lawyers." "Since I won't allow you to harm him as you harmed me."
The words struck me like a splash of ice water. Attorneys. Courtroom. Battling for my own child.
"It doesn't need to be this way."
"Indeed, it does." Isabella moves towards the door. "You confirmed that three years ago."
She pushes open the glass doors and steps outside. I observe her enter a taxi. The cab departs in the evening.
I am in the deserted lobby. My heart races within my chest. I recently discovered that I have a son.
A son named Oliver. A son who does not know I exist.
I take out my phone and call my lawyer.
"Marcus? I require you to complete a task for me. I require you to gather all existing information regarding Isabella Morgan.
Where she lives. Where she works. Where she
takes my son to school."
"Your son?"
"Yes. I have a son. And I am going to fight for him."
I hung up the phone. Tomorrow, the war begins.