He Chose His First Love, Then Begged for My Return

My mother answered the door before I could knock twice.

"Evelyn. What on earth happened to your face?"

"Car accident. I'm okay."

She stepped aside, her eyes already moving past me to the street. "Where's Adrian?"

"That's why I'm here."

My father sat in his leather chair in the den with the *Journal* folded across his knee. He didn't stand. He took in my bandaged arm, my limp, the bangs combed over my stitches.

"You look terrible," Richard Hart said. "Sit."

I stayed on my feet. My leg throbbed, but sitting felt like surrender.

"I'm divorcing Adrian."

The newspaper slid off his knee and hit the rug.

My mother laughed, a light, social laugh. The kind she used at charity galas when someone told a bad joke. "Don't be dramatic, sweetheart."

"He left me bleeding in the ER to hold Serena Whitmore's hand. Then he got her a job I was interviewing for."

"Serena who?" Mom asked.

"It doesn't matter who," Dad cut in. He rose at last, and his face had gone dark red. "Do you know what's on my desk right now? The Riverside development. Vale Group is carrying forty percent of the financing. Forty, Evelyn."

"I didn't ask about your project."

"You're about to blow it up." He jabbed a finger at the window, like the deal was parked outside. "Two years of work. And you want to throw it away because your husband visited a sick friend?"

"I had an accident but he was with another woman and didn't show up."

"And you survived."

Mom took my good hand and squeezed it, too hard. Her rings bit my knuckles.

"Listen to me. Men stray. Men get distracted. A smart wife doesn't make it a war. She makes him miss her." She tipped her chin up. "You go home tonight. Wear the green dress. Apologize for the scene at the hospital."

"Apologize. To him."

"Yes."

"Mom, he called me paranoid in front of strangers."

"Then don't give him reasons." Her voice dropped and went cold. "And understand this. If you walk out on that marriage, don't come running here. No a dime from this family."

I pulled my hand back. I'd thought I was done being hurt this week. I was wrong.

"Good to know where I stand."

The doorbell rang.

Mom's face lit up. "That'll be him. I called him the second I saw you on the porch."

...

Adrian walked in with his coat open and his jaw set hard. He kissed my mother's cheek. He shook my father's hand. Only then did he turn to me.

"You blocked my number. My wife vanishes from a hospital against medical advice, and I hear about it from an orderly." He shook his head. "You took a misunderstanding and turned it into a war, Evie."

"It's not a misunderstanding."

"Serena is a friend. She's alone in this city. Someone has to look out for her." He stepped aside. "And she wanted to see you. To fix this."

Serena drifted in from the hallway in a cream sweater. The bandage on her elbow looked fresh, almost decorative. Her eyes were already shining.

"Evelyn." Her voice wobbled. "I'm so, so sorry."

Nobody spoke. My father crossed his arms. My mother put on her hostess smile.

"I never wanted to hurt your marriage. Never." Serena twisted her fingers together. "After the crash, I just… I froze. I couldn't stop shaking. And I don't have anyone. My parents are gone. My brother doesn't speak to me. Adrian was the only one I knew in this city."

She looked up at him through wet lashes.

"I don't have a family to run to. Not like you do."

Adrian's throat moved. He reached out and touched her shoulder, and his whole body softened.

"You don't need to explain yourself to her," he said quietly.

"I do. She thinks I'm a monster."

Mom hissed my name. Serena turned away, shoulders trembling.

I picked up my bag. "I'm leaving."

...

I made it to the top of the staircase before I heard soft footsteps behind me.

"Evelyn, wait."

Serena held a glass of hot water she had brought from the kitchen. Steam curled off the top.

"You forgot to say goodbye," she said. The tremble had left her voice.

"Move."

"He'll never pick you. You know that, right?" She smiled. "He feels sorry for me. You, he just feels stuck with."

Then she tilted the glass.

Hot water spilled across her own wrist. Then she screamed.

"Adrian!"

He took the stairs at once. Serena collapsed against the railing, cradling her arm. The skin was already flushed an angry pink.

"She threw it at me," Serena sobbed. "I only wanted to talk. She threw it."

"I didn't touch her."

Adrian grabbed Serena's wrist and turned it toward the light. A muscle jumped in his cheek. When he looked up at me, I didn't recognize him.

"What is wrong with you?"

"She poured it on herself."

"Listen to yourself!" His voice cracked through the house. "You're out of control. You're insane, and now you're hurting her. This has to stop."

He pulled out his phone. "Gordon. Bring the papers to the Hart house. Now."

...

Gordon Pike arrived within the hour, briefcase already packed. He laid the agreement on my father's desk like a dinner menu.

I flipped through it. Then flipped again, slower.

"Four years, and I leave with my clothes." My fingers left a smudge on the page.

"You left with my respect a long time ago," Adrian said.

Serena sat on the sofa with an ice pack on her wrist, sniffling. My mother was holding the ice pack for her.

My father cleared his throat. "Evelyn. Apologize to the girl. Tell Adrian you made a mistake, and we can all forget it."

"She burned herself, Dad."

"Enough!" He slammed his palm on the desk. "Say sorry and end this."

Mom didn't look at me. She adjusted Serena's ice pack.

My leg burned. My arm ached under the gauze. The stitches on my forehead pulled every time I frowned. Everyone in that room was waiting for me to crawl.

But I picked up Gordon's pen.

"Evie," Adrian said. Something flickered across his face. Doubt, maybe. "Think about what you're doing."

"I did. For four years."

I signed. Evelyn Hart. Not Vale.

Then I twisted the ring off my finger. It caught on the knuckle, and I pulled harder until it came free.

I set it on top of my signature.

"There," I said. "Now you can finally take care of her without any burden."

Adrian stared at the ring. He didn't pick it up.