The moment the doors of Clark Group closed behind me, the skies opened.
Not a drizzle.
Not a light sprinkle.
A violent, punishing downpour—
like the universe itself was spitting on me.
Cold rain slammed against my skin, soaking through my clothes, chilling me to the bone. I didn't move. Couldn't move. My legs felt like they were made of stone.
Suspended.
Humiliated.
Framed.
Betrayed.
Every word echoed in my skull like a death sentence.
My badge felt heavy in my hand.
The badge I worked myself to death for.
The badge that was stolen from me with a single lie.
I dropped it.
It hit the pavement with a small metallic clink.
And that tiny sound—
that stupid, insignificant sound—
made something inside me snap.
I wanted to scream.
Cry.
Beg someone, anyone, to tell me this wasn't real.
Instead, I just stood there, letting the rain wash down my face.
Maybe it would drown the hurt before it could kill me.
It didn't.
"Ethan!"
Her voice tore through the storm.
Ava.
She ran toward me, breathless, holding an umbrella over her head.
Her hair was plastered to her cheeks, her coat soaked, her heels splashing through puddles.
She looked frantic.
Concerned.
Worried.
For a second—
for the smallest, weakest second—
my heart dared to hope.
That maybe she finally understood.
That maybe she regretted everything.
She reached me, panting, voice trembling.
"Ethan… listen to me—"
I didn't take the umbrella she held out.
Didn't take her hand.
I just stared at her.
The rain drenched me, but it did nothing to numb the ache hollowing out my chest.
Ava looked panicked when I didn't speak.
"Ethan, you need to calm down," she said, voice rising over the storm.
"I'm doing everything I can to help you—"
"Help me?"
My voice cracked.
Cold.
Sharp.
Dead.
"By siding with Leo?
By suggesting I was 'taken advantage of'?
By letting him smear me in front of my father?"
Her eyes widened.
"That's not what I meant. I was trying to protect you—"
"By asking Leo to explain my behavior?"
I stepped closer, rain dripping from my hair to my chin.
"You asked the man who FRAMEd ME if he saw something suspicious."
Ava flinched like I'd slapped her.
"Ethan… I was just trying to reduce the damage. If I said you were innocent outright, your father would think I was biased. He'd fire you on the spot."
"He did fire me," I whispered.
She froze.
Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.
"Suspended," she corrected weakly.
"You were suspended. That's not the same—"
"It's enough," I said, voice empty.
"Enough to show the world that I'm guilty."
The rain kept falling.
Hard.
Unforgiving.
Just like the truth.
I took a breath so shaky it hurt.
"Ava," I said slowly,
"look me in the eyes."
She did.
Reluctantly.
Fearfully.
"Tell me the truth."
My voice was soft, nearly drowned by the storm.
"From the beginning… did you think I wasn't good enough?"
She blinked.
"What?"
"Did you think I didn't belong in the Clark family?
That I was too rough? Too plain? Too… ordinary?"
"Ethan, no—!"
"Or," I continued, my chest tightening painfully,
"did you think Leo was better?"
Her breath hitched.
That was the moment.
The split second.
Where her eyes wavered.
Where she hesitated.
Where she didn't immediately say no.
And hesitation is an answer too.
A cruel one.
A fatal one.
My heart cracked into dust.
"Ava," I whispered,
"I loved you. More than anyone. More than myself."
She opened her mouth, tears mixing with rain.
"Ethan… I just didn't want to lose everything. I didn't want us to get kicked out. I didn't want your parents to hate you—"
"You didn't want them to hate YOU."
The words came out quiet.
Cold.
Accurate.
She froze.
Completely.
"You fit in with them," I said softly.
"You said their names more than you said mine.
You defended them more than you defended me."
Her tears fell harder, frantic, desperate.
"Ethan, please— I only did what I thought was right!"
"But it wasn't right for me," I whispered.
"And I'm your husband."
She shook her head violently, sobbing.
"You are! You ARE! Ethan, don't say that! I—I was just scared—"
I stepped back.
Just one small step.
But it felt like a lifetime.
"Then you should've held onto me," I said, voice flat.
"Not let me drown alone."
The rain pounded around us.
Ava reached for me, but I stepped away again.
Her voice broke into a scream.
"Ethan, I LOVE YOU!"
But her confession came too late.
Too late after all the nights she spent with Leo.
Too late after all the times she defended him over me.
Too late after she helped bury my reputation.
I looked at her one last time.
Really looked.
At the woman I once wanted forever with.
At the woman who let another man take my place in her heart.
At the woman who abandoned me when I needed her most.
"Ava," I said quietly,
"you've already chosen your side."
Her face crumpled.
"No… no, Ethan, please—"
But I turned away.
I walked into the rain without her umbrella.
Without her hand in mine.
Without the last pieces of hope I had left.
Behind me, I heard her sob.
Beg.
Call my name.
"ETHAN!"
But I didn't look back.
Because looking back would've broken me completely.
And I was already ruined enough.