Chapter 8

Time flew by. I didn't say much, but Zack seemed to sense I was going through something.

He didn't press me, just casually caught me up on the last two years.

I got a general idea of everything and let out a long sigh.

My 25-year-old self had really loved someone that deeply?

Honestly, my 18-year-old self couldn't even wrap her head around it.

To suddenly fast-forward seven years and realize I'd turned into the kind of lovesick girl I used to roll my eyes at? I couldn't accept it.

Zack and I were talking and laughing when a high-pitched, sugary voice rang out nearby:

"Wait… isn't that Aria? Why is she with Zack?"

A beat, then: "Oh, right! She must be thanking him for saving her yesterday. I mean, Mrs. Sinclair doesn't seem like the kind of woman who meets men in private…"

I turned around to see Ethan standing in front of us, Olivia at his side.

Ethan gave me a cold, hard look. "I told you before, I don't like you hanging around him."

I frowned. "We're getting divorced, remember? What I do isn't your concern."

I still couldn't believe I'd once cut off contact with my own friends just because Ethan didn't approve.

Keeping a healthy distance was one thing, but having no male friends at all? That was ridiculous.

Ethan turned to Zack, his expression unreadable. "You saved my wife yesterday. I've already thanked you with the West Side project. There's no reason for you two to be meeting in private."

Zack gave him a calm, faintly amused smile. "Yesterday, you thanked me as her husband. Today, I'm here as her friend. Let's not confuse the two."

The tension spiked instantly.

I didn't want a scene, not here. I grabbed my bag and stood up. "Zack, let's go somewhere else."

Ethan immediately reached out and grabbed my arm, his voice icy. "Where are you going?"

I yanked my arm back. "That's none of your business." I glanced at Olivia. "Go keep your girlfriend company. And please, send me the divorce papers already. Or she's just going to keep being your side piece."

Ethan opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but I was done listening. I pulled free and left with Zack.

By the time I got home, the sun had already set.

This world still felt strange to me. I needed to find a new place in the next couple of days, because once the divorce was final, I had no idea where I'd go.

Ethan was waiting. He walked over, arms crossed, and said coldly, "So you do remember how to come home."

His tone lit a fire in me. "Can you not monitor my every move? I was out with a friend. It has nothing to do with you!"

As soon as I said it, a sharp pain stabbed through my temple.

My vision blurred as fragmented memories rushed in.

I stumbled back, clutching the arm of the couch for balance.

I'd heard those exact words before…

I looked up at him, my eyes stinging.

And then it hit me.

A memory surfaced, Ethan, coming home late after some social event. I had asked where he'd been, and he'd snapped those very same words at me.

And now here I was, spitting them back at him.

Ethan seemed to realize it too. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

After a long pause, he finally spoke. "My meetings with Olivia… they're not what you think. Our families go way back. Some things aren't so easy to avoid. But I've been distancing myself from her."

"You don't need to do this."

I cut him off, voice low.

"If you're just feeling guilty for not saving me when I fell into the pool, and that's why you're dragging your feet on the divorce, trying to make things right… don't bother."

I shook my head. "You'd be better off just giving me a bigger settlement and calling it even."