Chapter 4 - The Secret Ethan Buried
The name on my phone screen made me stop breathing.
Dr. Rebecca Collins.
My fertility specialist.
The woman who had looked me in the eyes that morning and told me I was going to have a baby.
For several seconds, I couldn’t move.
The coffee shop parking lot suddenly felt too quiet.
The rainwater dripping from the roof sounded louder than it should have.
Vanessa stood beside me, watching my face.
“Who is it?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I already knew something was wrong.
Dr. Collins never called me late at night.
Never.
I answered.
“Hello?”
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
“Shara, where are you?”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Dr. Collins?”
“Yes.”
Her voice sounded rushed.
Concerned.
“Are you somewhere safe?”
The question made my stomach drop.
Not “How are you?”
Not “Congratulations.”
Not “I have your test results.”
Are you somewhere safe?
I looked at Vanessa.
She immediately understood.
“Why are you asking me that?”
A pause.
Then Dr. Collins lowered her voice.
“Because someone called the clinic today asking for your medical records.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
“What problem?”
“The person already had information they shouldn’t have.”
I looked toward the dark parking lot.
The photo on my phone flashed in my mind.
The stranger watching me.
The old house key.
Ethan knowing where I was.
“What information?”
Dr. Collins exhaled slowly.
“They knew about your pregnancy before you told anyone.”
My entire body went cold.
Nobody knew.
Nobody.
Not Ethan.
Not Lily.
Not Vanessa.
Only the clinic.
Only me.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Her voice became softer.
“But Shara, there’s something else.”
I closed my eyes.
There was always something else.
“What?”
“The person who called asked about whether your pregnancy was accidental.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“What does that mean?”
Another silence.
Then she said:
“They asked if the pregnancy could be terminated without your consent.”
The world seemed to stop.
I couldn’t hear anything except my own heartbeat.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
She had heard enough.
“Dr. Collins,” I whispered.
“Yes?”
“Who called?”
“I can’t confirm a name.”
“But you know.”
She didn’t answer.
And that was an answer.
“Please tell me.”
Her voice trembled.
“Shara, the call came from a number connected to a company owned by Ethan Whitman.”
I ended the call.
I didn’t say goodbye.
I couldn’t.
Because if I stayed on that phone one more second, I knew I would break.
Vanessa stared at me.
“Shara…”
I looked at her.
For the first time that night, I wasn’t thinking about the affair.
I wasn’t thinking about the woman in my bedroom.
I wasn’t thinking about the anniversary cake.
I was thinking about my baby.
My hand moved over my stomach.
A protective instinct I had never felt before took over.
Ethan wasn’t just leaving me.
He wasn’t just lying.
He had been trying to control a decision that belonged to me.
A decision about my child.
“I need to leave.”
Vanessa nodded immediately.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the truth.
My entire life had been built around one person.
Ethan.
Our house.
Our plans.
Our future.
And in one night, I realized I had been living inside a story he had already rewritten.
Vanessa grabbed her coat.
“I’m coming with you.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“I know you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
The words surprised both of us.
“I hate what happened.”
Her eyes softened.
“But you’re the only person who can tell me what Ethan has been hiding.”
She looked down.
“I can try.”
We drove separately.
I didn’t trust anyone enough to let them know where I was going.
Not anymore.
That was the hardest part.
Realizing the person I had trusted most had become the person I needed protection from.
I followed Vanessa to a small apartment complex outside downtown Nashville.
It wasn’t where I expected her to live.
I expected something luxurious.
Something expensive.
Something matching the woman Ethan had chosen over me.
Instead, her apartment was simple.
A small couch.
A tiny kitchen.
Books stacked beside the window.
A normal life.
I almost hated that.
Because it reminded me she wasn’t a monster.
She was just another person Ethan had manipulated.
Vanessa opened a drawer and pulled out a laptop.
“I need to show you something.”
I sat down.
She opened a folder.
Inside were screenshots.
Messages between her and Ethan.
I read through them slowly.
At first, they seemed normal.
Flirting.
Plans.
Promises.
Then I reached a message from Ethan.
Once Shara is gone, everything becomes easier.
My hands froze.
Gone.
Not divorced.
Not separated.
Gone.
I looked at Vanessa.
“What did he mean?”
She looked away.
“I asked him.”
“And?”
“He said I was overthinking.”
Of course.
That was Ethan’s favorite trick.
Make you question yourself.
Make you feel unreasonable.
Make you apologize for noticing the truth.
I scrolled further.
Another message.
This one was from Ethan.
She trusts me completely. That’s why this works.
I closed my eyes.
That sentence hurt more than the affair.
Because it was true.
I trusted him completely.
I trusted him when he said he loved me.
I trusted him when he said we were a team.
I trusted him when he told me I was enough.
Vanessa whispered:
“There’s more.”
I looked up.
She opened another folder.
This one had documents.
Financial records.
Bank transfers.
My name appeared repeatedly.
“What is this?”
“I found it in Ethan’s office.”
I studied the files.
Payments.
Large payments.
To different accounts.
Some connected to companies I didn’t recognize.
Then I saw a familiar name.
My own.
A transfer labeled:
Medical Consultation Expenses.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Why would he have this?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
My mind started racing.
The fertility treatments.
The appointments.
The medications.
The years of believing my body had failed me.
What if…
No.
I couldn’t even finish the thought.
“What are you thinking?”
I stared at the documents.
“What if Ethan knew something about my fertility that I didn’t?”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“What do you mean?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I remembered something.
A moment from two years earlier.
An appointment.
A doctor who looked uncomfortable.
A conversation Ethan interrupted before it started.
I had forgotten about it.
Or maybe I had forced myself to forget.
That day, the doctor had said:
“Mrs. Whitman, there is something we need to discuss about your previous results.”
Then Ethan walked in.
And the conversation changed.
At the time, I thought it was nothing.
Now I wasn’t sure.
My phone buzzed.
I looked down.
A message.
From Lily.
Shara, Ethan came here. He knows you’re with me.
My heart dropped.
Another message followed.
He said something that scared me.
I immediately called her.
She answered on the first ring.
“Shara.”
Her voice was shaking.
“What happened?”
“He came to my house.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. But Shara…”
“What?”
A pause.
“He wasn’t angry.”
That confused me.
“What do you mean?”
“He was calm.”
I felt a chill.
“What did he say?”
Lily took a breath.
“He said he knew you were pregnant.”
Everything went silent.
I stood up.
“No.”
“He said he knew before you did.”
My blood turned cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“Lily, that’s impossible.”
Another silence.
Then she whispered:
“Shara, there’s something you need to know.”
I gripped the phone.
“What?”
“He didn’t come here to ask where you were.”
My breathing stopped.
“Then why did he come?”
Lily’s voice dropped.
“He came to warn me about you.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He said you were dangerous.”
The room tilted.
“Why would he say that?”
Lily didn’t answer immediately.
Then I heard fear in her voice.
“Because Ethan told me you were not the person he was afraid of.”
I looked at Vanessa.
She looked just as confused.
“Then who?”
Lily whispered:
“He said the person who was helping you was the one who ruined everything.”
My eyes moved slowly toward Vanessa.
And at that exact moment, her phone began ringing.
The screen showed a name.
A name I recognized.
Ethan Whitman.
Vanessa answered.
She didn’t speak.
Neither did I.
Then Ethan’s voice came through the speaker.
“Put Shara on the phone.”
Vanessa looked at me.
Because Ethan didn’t sound angry.
He sounded terrified.
May you like
And then he said the one sentence that made me realize my husband had been hiding something much bigger than an affair.
“Shara needs to know who her real enemy is.”
