He Let Her Be Mom, I Walked Away

“Exactly! Nora’s our lucky charm. You piss her off, you piss all of us off.”

I glanced down at my glass, then reached for it.

Under their eager gazes, I slowly raised the glass—and poured it over Nora’s head.

The room went dead silent.

“Ah!”

Nora yelped, stumbling backward into Ethan’s arms.

“Claire, what the hell is wrong with you?!”

Ethan roared and shoved me hard.

My lower back slammed against the table, pain shooting through me.

But he didn’t even look at me—he just fumbled for napkins to wipe Nora off.

“You okay? Did it get in your eyes?”

Nora pouted pitifully, then forced a gracious smile, holding Ethan’s hand down.

“It’s fine. Claire’s just taking her anger out on me.”

“I get it—women overthink things. I won’t hold it against her.”

Ethan’s anger flared even hotter.

“Claire, look at yourself—acting like some hysterical shrew. Apologize to Nora right now.”

I stared at him, at the way he was shielding Nora, and my nose stung.

For a moment, I saw a flash of guilt in his eyes—

as if he remembered how, when he first started his business, I had humbled myself begging for investors just to give him a chance.

He once swore to me he’d never let me suffer again, never let me shed another tear.

But now, for this so-called “friend,” he had done all of this.

After a brief pause, his face hardened even more.

“You think crying makes you right? Right is right, wrong is wrong. You won’t get away with this.”

“I won’t let you run wild. Today you will apologize to Nora.”

My tears instantly dried up.

He wasn’t worth crying for.

I let out a small laugh, my voice eerily calm.

“Ethan, I want a divorce.”

Then I turned and walked out.

He clearly hadn’t expected me to say that, frozen in place.

It wasn’t until I opened the door that he snapped out of it and tried to go after me.

“Claire! Get back here and say that again!”

“Let her go, man.” One of his friends grabbed him.

“If you cave now, she’ll walk all over you for life. Get a grip.”

“Yeah, you can’t spoil a woman like that. Divorce? Who’s she trying to scare?”

Nora looked upset but still clung to his arm, pretending to mediate.

“Don’t fight over me. Maybe… maybe I should just get rid of the baby.”

Her voice broke as if she were making the ultimate sacrifice.

That set Ethan off completely.

He gripped Nora’s hand tightly and shouted after me,

“Claire, you really want to make a scene for everyone to see?”

“Nora came here fighting morning sickness to celebrate our anniversary. This is how you repay her?”

“All you do is get jealous of my friends. You’re being completely unreasonable!”

I didn’t stop.

Just before the door shut, I heard him bark,

“Forget her, Nora! She’s just trying to scare me—she won’t really leave.”

“Come on, guys. The cake isn’t even cut yet.”

The winter wind outside cut like knives.

I pulled my coat tighter, wiped my cold tears away, and headed home to pack my things.