“What…?
Why are you looking at me like that?” Vivian asked, her voice trembling.
“Vivian, I don’t believe you…what do you even mean by that?” Ethan frowned.
“Have you not been sleeping with me?
Do you think I’m making this up?” Vivian looked at him.
Ethan’s jaw worked, a rhythmic tightening of muscle beneath his skin.
He walked to the window, turned his back to her, and pressed one hand hard against the cold glass.
His own reflection stared back at him, hollow and exhausted.
Could she be framing that up because I’m not even ready for any marriage.
“Hmmm…The last time we were together, you said you were safe,” Ethan said, his voice was flat.
“I…I…thought I was.
I was wrong.” Vivian’s voice dropped, turning soft.
“I didn’t….did..
didn’t plan this, Ethan.” She stuttered.
“Look Vivian, we cannot have a child right now.
Not with everything that is happening with the firm and the Foundation.
It’s impossible.”
“So what are you saying?
What exactly are you saying to me?” Vivian tilted her head.
“I’m saying you need to think about this…I mean…I’m not ready…um…err…just think about your options.” Ethan stuttered.
The room went completely still.
Vivian’s chin lifted, and her eyes hardened, the softness she’d been projecting vanishing instantly.
“My options.
Wait, don’t tell me you want me to get rid of your child or…?” She kept quiet to confirm his responses.
Ethan was quiet.
“Oooh, Ethan, you want me to get rid of your child.”
Ethan cleared his throat.
“I want you to be realistic.”
“No.
Absolutely not.
I am not doing that.”
She started crying then.
It wasn’t a loud, performative sob; it was just the steady track of tears down her face, while her expression stayed perfectly controlled.
She knew exactly what her tears cost, and she spent them like currency.
“I love you.
I’ve always loved you,” she whispered.
“Three years, Ethan.
Three years I’ve been right here.
And you want me to throw away our child because of a woman who replaced you before the ink on your divorce was even dry.
A woman who has been cheating on you.
A woman who has moved on with her life…Ethan, why?”
The words landed like a physical blow.
He turned from the window, his gaze searching hers for some sign of deception, but he didn’t have an answer that didn’t make him sound like the man she was accusing him of being.
“We are not discussing this tonight,” Ethan said.
“Ethan!
Don’t just change this topic”.
Vivian nagged.
“Vivian, if you continue to bother me, I’d book a hotel to maintain my peace!” He threatened her.
She opened her mouth to utter another word then closed because she had nothing to say and she didn’t want him to sleep out.
“Fine.”
She gritted her teeth, stood up and went to the bedroom, closing the door with a soft, final click.
Ethan stood in the living room alone, the silence stretching out, heavy and thick.
Oh God, I just…i just don’t want to marry this Vivian girl.
He thought.
He went to the bedroom and she was already on the bed.
She tried touching him but he didn’t comply so she stayed on her own.They didn’t speak again that night.
****
Early the next morning, Vivian sneaked out from the bed while Ethan was still asleep.
She looked at the mirror.
Ethan, no matter how much you protest, you are mine now.
This child would pin you to me.
Lily has moved on so you must move on.
You have not say even right now that I’m about to call your mom.
She thought and laughed softly.
She picked up her cell phone and called Margaret and she picked on the second ring.
“Mom, I…I..have something to tell you”.
She started softly while performing.
“What happened?
Is Ethan ok?
Why are you calling this early, huh?” Margaret threw questions at her.
“Mom, calm downnnnn…Its just that I realized that I’m pre…pregnant”.
Vivian said.
There was silence from the other side.
She frowned.
“Mo…”
“Come on, Vivian, is that what is difficult to say?
I’m just so happy.
I hope you are alright”.
“Yes…No…It’s just that it may not sit well with Ethan”.
“Come on my daughter, Ethan doesn’t have any day in this, he’s definitely going to marry you.
You are carrying his child ok?
I’d make sure I see to it, trust me”.
Margaret said, Vivian could tell that she was smiling from the phone.
“Thanks ma’am”.
Vivian smiled cunningly.
“I’m coming to see you today.” Margaret said.
“No, no…it’s not necessary “.
Vivian said,immediately.
Margaret ended the call before she could protest.
Vivian breathed a sigh of relief.
The doorbell rang at 10 AM.
When Ethan opened it, he found Margaret standing there with a bouquet of cream roses already arranged in her hand.
She looked like she had been planning this moment for years.
When Ethan saw her face, he understood immediately that Vivian had moved faster than he had.
“My son!
a grandchild,” Margaret said, her smile wide and unyielding.
“Finally.”
Ethan rolled his eyes.
“Mother…,”
“Come look Ethan, do not give me that look.
This is good news.
This is exactly what this family needs right now.”
“I am not ready to…,”
“Vivian has been beside you for three years.
She is carrying your child.
What more do you need?
Marry her, Ethan!
Stop this nonsense about Lily Chen and marry the woman who is actually here.”
“Is this all part of your plan?” Ethan asked, his voice shaking.
“Is this what you and Vivian have been building toward?
Is that why you framed Lily?”
Margaret’s expression didn’t flicker with guilt.
It was the patience of a woman who had spent thirty years managing her son.
“I am your mother.
I am asking you to do right by your family.
There is nothing more to it than that and don’t you ever mention that ‘framing’ ever again.”
“You both should suite yourselves, I am not getting married to Vivian.
I am not ready!
What is so hard to understand?” Ethan said angrily.
Ethan grabbed his keys from the counter and walked out the door without another word.
Behind him, he heard his mother say his name once, firmly, the same tone she used his entire life when she decided he was wrong.
He didn’t look back.
“Don’t worry my daughter, ok?
He would me back home.” Margaret gave Vivian a pat.
“Thanks mom.”
*****
He found a bar near the waterfront, a place where the air smelled of salt and stale beer.
What kind of condition is this?
How can I get Lily to understand me?
He was on his third drink when the audacity of the situation pushed him over the edge.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he pulled out his phone.
“Ethan?
It is eleven o’clock,” Lily’s voice came through, cool and wary.
“I know.
I just…
I know this is none of your business but I need to tell you something.
He paused.
“Vivian is pregnant.”
There was silence on the line, the kind of silence that usually preceded a storm.
Lily laughed.
“Why are you telling me this?” Lily asked.
“Um…because I want you to know that it changes nothing for me.
About us.
About what I want.”
“Ethan…There is no us,” Lily said, flatly.
“Listen to me.
My father…what he did to you, what he did to your parents, I know enough of it.
If we work together, we can bring him down.
You don’t have to do it alone.”
“Ethan.
Are you drunk?”
“A little,” he admitted, his head swimming.
“But I mean every word.”
“Who cares?” Lily’s voice turned cold.
“Go home, Ethan.
Go back to your pregnant girlfriend and stop calling me.”
“Lily…”
“I will handle it myself.
I do not need you.
I have never needed you.
Move on.”
She ended the call.
Ethan sat in the dim light of the bar, the phone heavy in his hand.
He called her to say a pregnant woman was carrying his child and that it changed nothing, Lily thought, staring at the ceiling in the dark.
She pressed her palm flat against the mattress, forcing the air out of her lungs.
I do not feel anything, she told herself, repeating it until the lie felt like the truth.
Ethan walked back into the apartment at midnight.
Vivian was on the sofa, waiting.
She didn’t say a word, just watched him with those expectant, knowing eyes.
“Welcome love”.
She said.
Ethan sighed as he staggered.
“Come on, Ethan…you got your self drunk because of what happened?” She said.
“Leave me alone.” Ethan said.
“Ok…um, mom said, she wants to see you so we can…”
Ethan looked at her with rage and answered her.
“Abort it.
Abort that pregnancy, I am not ready”.
Vivians mouth was agape.
“What?”
What if Ethan married Vivian?